Listening & Empathic ersponding:
Listening : is an active process while the hearing is passive, it takes efforts to get clarification & accurately see the world as patient sees it.
Listening process starts with :
• Willing or tendency : pharmacist must first will or tend himself to listen , must say to himself " I m going to listen ". then,
• Must give complete & undivided attention: giving patients attention is one powerful way to let them know that they are important . Giving patients attention takes willingness & efforts & requires that you not be distracted or interrupted & hurriedly saying " Go ahead , I m Listening ". Attention not means saying " I m listening " only but means that you focus your energy on needs of this patient.
How can the pharmacist improve his attending behaviors?
Listening well involves understanding both the content of the information being provided and the feelings being conveyed.
Skills that are useful in effective listening include:
1) summarizing,
2) paraphrasing, and
3) empathic responding.
Empathic responding, as described below, includes “reflection of feeling” statements that verbally convey your understanding of the essence or emotional meaning of another person’s communication. In addition, nonverbal communication that shows caring and attention to the patient is a crucial component of effective listening.
1. SUMMARIZING
When a patient is providing information, such as during a medication history interview, it is necessary for you to try to summarize the critical pieces of information. Summarizing allows you to be sure you understood accurately all that the patient conveyed and allows the patient to add new information that may have been forgotten. Frequent summary statements serve to identify misunderstandings that may exist, especially when there are barriers in communication, such as language barriers.
2. PARAPHRASING
When using this technique, you attempt to convey back to the patient the
essence of what he or she has just said. Paraphrasing condenses aspects of
content as well as some superficial recognition of the patient’s attitudes or feelings.
The following are examples of paraphrasing:
Patient #1: I don’t know about my doctor. One time I go to him and he’s
as nice as he can be. The next time he’s so rude I swear I won’t go back again.
Pharmacist #1: He seems to be very inconsistent.
Patient #2: I’m glad I moved into the retirement village. Every day there is something new to do. There are always lots of things going on—I’m never bored.
Pharmacist #2: So there are a lot of activities to choose from.