Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick
Evidence shows that verbal communication is just one of the ways patients indicate their wishes. For a sufficiently careful communication, we should also grasp other five unusual though evident languages: (a) body language, (b) the way patients manage their environment, (c) unconscious language, (d)...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Nursing Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4403/12/4/72 |
| _version_ | 1797455904452378624 |
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| author | Carlo Valerio Bellieni |
| author_facet | Carlo Valerio Bellieni |
| author_sort | Carlo Valerio Bellieni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evidence shows that verbal communication is just one of the ways patients indicate their wishes. For a sufficiently careful communication, we should also grasp other five unusual though evident languages: (a) body language, (b) the way patients manage their environment, (c) unconscious language, (d) lab-evidenced language, and (e) the way they master technology. So, we have six languages that should be intertwined to understand the real language of the sick. Grasping these languages helps health professionals frame the patient’s mood, their level of suffering or mental growth, and understand what words alone cannot express. Words cannot express completely what a patient senses: for subjection, shyness, because some patients are still non-verbal or because verbal communication is just a useful way of freezing concept but has not the same fluidity and liberty of the other above-described languages. It is mandatory for caregivers to wonder how many of these languages they are actually decrypting during an interview with the patient. On the other hand, caregivers unconsciously communicate much through two unexpected languages: the architectural language and the language of medical procedures. The way they welcome or obstruct the patient, their hesitations across a treatment, or in showing a serene collegiality are forms of subtle communication. A paradigmatic scenario where all these languages should be implemented is the “informed consent” process, which should be turned into a “shared therapeutic pathway”, summing up all the communicative modes illustrated in the text. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:00:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0695565700ec48fe92d1e5b3f57ca357 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2039-439X 2039-4403 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:00:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nursing Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-0695565700ec48fe92d1e5b3f57ca3572023-11-24T17:06:41ZengMDPI AGNursing Reports2039-439X2039-44032022-10-0112472673210.3390/nursrep12040072Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the SickCarlo Valerio Bellieni0Department of Molecular Medicine and Development, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, ItalyEvidence shows that verbal communication is just one of the ways patients indicate their wishes. For a sufficiently careful communication, we should also grasp other five unusual though evident languages: (a) body language, (b) the way patients manage their environment, (c) unconscious language, (d) lab-evidenced language, and (e) the way they master technology. So, we have six languages that should be intertwined to understand the real language of the sick. Grasping these languages helps health professionals frame the patient’s mood, their level of suffering or mental growth, and understand what words alone cannot express. Words cannot express completely what a patient senses: for subjection, shyness, because some patients are still non-verbal or because verbal communication is just a useful way of freezing concept but has not the same fluidity and liberty of the other above-described languages. It is mandatory for caregivers to wonder how many of these languages they are actually decrypting during an interview with the patient. On the other hand, caregivers unconsciously communicate much through two unexpected languages: the architectural language and the language of medical procedures. The way they welcome or obstruct the patient, their hesitations across a treatment, or in showing a serene collegiality are forms of subtle communication. A paradigmatic scenario where all these languages should be implemented is the “informed consent” process, which should be turned into a “shared therapeutic pathway”, summing up all the communicative modes illustrated in the text.https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4403/12/4/72communicationpalliative careholistic carepainlanguage |
| spellingShingle | Carlo Valerio Bellieni Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick Nursing Reports communication palliative care holistic care pain language |
| title | Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick |
| title_full | Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick |
| title_fullStr | Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick |
| title_full_unstemmed | Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick |
| title_short | Verbal Communication with the Patient Is Not Enough: The Six Languages of the Sick |
| title_sort | verbal communication with the patient is not enough the six languages of the sick |
| topic | communication palliative care holistic care pain language |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4403/12/4/72 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT carlovaleriobellieni verbalcommunicationwiththepatientisnotenoughthesixlanguagesofthesick |