Family practice
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The government has proposed a 48-hour target for GP availability. Although many practices are moving towards delivering that goal, recent national patient surveys have reported a deterioration in patients' reports of doctor availability. What practice factors contribute to patients' perceptions of doctor availability? ⋯ Some practices may have difficulty in meeting the target for GP availability. Meeting the target will involve careful review of practice administrative procedures.
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Comparative Study
A comparative study on attitudes, mental health and job stress amongst GPs participating, or not, in a rural out-of-hours co-operative.
To test the study hypothesis that GPs participating in co-operatives will have more positive attitudes towards co-operatives, better mental health and less stress than GPs using traditional out-of-hours arrangements. ⋯ The anticipated differences in mental health and job stress among participating GPs were not shown. As the new generation of GPs resemble the NoWDOC participants in their preferences for multi-partner practices with limited out-of-hours care provision, clarification of these findings is important.
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It is important for physicians to recognize and address potential cross-cultural communication barriers with their patients. Several studies have demonstrated the importance of trained medical interpreters for ensuring effective patient-provider communication. Medical interpreters also represent an untapped source of insight into common communication problems. Such insights can contribute to strengthening physicians' cross cultural communication skills. ⋯ Interpreters described three domains where physicians and patients were likely to differ, and where mutual lack of awareness of those differences could lead to misunderstandings. These were: (1) ideas about the patient's health problem; (2) expectations of the clinical encounter; and (3) verbal and non-verbal communication styles. Interpreters recommended that cultural competence training for physicians focus on raising awareness about potential sources of misunderstanding and about the difficulties inherent in medical translation; providing basic background knowledge of patients' countries of origin; and adapting to patients' communication styles. While physicians' own perceptions of communication difficulties are important for developing learner-centered training activities, interpreters' bilingual and bicultural position allows for the identification of communication barriers that may be difficult for physicians to recognize.