Effective communication skills

To be an effective healthcare provider, it is necessary to understand the patient’s perspective. It is vitally important as a pharmacist to be able to put oneself in the patient’s shoes, thereby facilitating patient self-expression.

Effective communication skills require four important aspects.
*rapport building
*questioning and listening skills
*explaining skills
*non-verbal skills.

The pharmacist needs to use his/her personal judgment and personal experience to quickly sense any embarrassment on the patient side. In the current community pharmacy setup, an enclosed counseling room is not available. Hence, the pharmacist should quickly suggest moving to a quieter part of the premise to continue the conversation.

Health professionals and patients have different priorities for information about drug treatment. Most patients now are keen to know more about the side effects. Pharmacist needs to understand the best way to present this information.

The information must not be too complex or theoretical for patients to follow or it may instill too fear causing the patient apprehension in taking the medication.