Authors
Candib, Lucy M.UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Family Medicine and Community HealthDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2006-09-28Keywords
*Communication*Comprehension
*Hispanic Americans
Humans
*Physician-Patient Relations
Life Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Experience with seeing Latino patients at a community health center has taught a family physician that the patient's response, "Si, doctora [Yes, doctor]" can have multiple meanings. Patients might say "yes" during consultations to avoid conflict or to defer to the more powerful doctor. The clinician's understanding had to move to deeper levels when a visiting Ecuadorian friend learning English used "yes" multiple times in conversation, but not as an indicator of agreement or even comprehension. The family doctor realized that she could not assume what the patient implies by this simple expression. The apparent agreement of "yes" requires more. When a patient says, "Si, doctora," the doctor must probe with more questions and listen hard to the answers.Source
Ann Fam Med. 2006 Sep-Oct;4(5):460-2. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1370/afm.572Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/38828PubMed ID
17003149Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1370/afm.572