Doctor-Patient Communication Styles: A Comparison Between The United States And Three Asian Countries

Keywords

Asia; culture; decision making; doctor-patient communication; health; interaction; Japan; Pakistan; relationship; talk; Thailand; United States

Abstract

This article compares the doctor-patient communication styles of the United States with those of three Asian countries: Pakistan, Japan, and Thailand. Based on intercultural comparisons drawn between those countries, this analysis reveals that, overall, the United States has very little in common with the philosophical, cultural, societal, and communicative approaches to the traditional doctor-patient communication styles used in these three Asian nations. However, major similarities have been found across all three Asian nations. Although the doctor-patient relationship has been studied extensively in the United States and most of the Western world, rarely do those studies integrate, concurrently within their doctor-patient communication framework, dimensions such as power distance, individualism-collectivism, and communication styles. These are three important concepts in this analysis; they improve our understanding of what constitutes effective doctor-patient communication across dissimilar cultures.

Publication Date

11-17-2015

Publication Title

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Volume

25

Issue

8

Number of Pages

871-884

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2015.1035148

Socpus ID

84942200294 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84942200294

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS