effect of physician communication on a pain experience

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20005106

Patient centered care is a healthcare movement that supports patients' active involvement in their health through building a quality relationship with physicians and sharing in decision making. The provider can foster patient centered care through their own verbal and nonverbal behavior. Patient centered care has been associated with many positive outcomes for patients including increased satisfaction, adherence, and less shopping around for physicians. But less research has focused on the direct impact of patient centered care on health outcomes. The present research aimed to first validate skin conductance as a measure of pain intensity in Study 1. Study 2 examined the effect and impact of physician patient centered vs. clinician centered nonverbal and verbal behavior on participants' pain experience. Finally, Study 3 examined the impact of physician communication style from Study 2, on new onlookers' assessments of pain.