Clinician-patient communication in a glaucoma clinic in India

We compiled data from nonparticipant observations of clinician-patient communication in clinical interactions in a tertiary care eye hospital in India. Applying elements of the French philosopher Michel Foucault's concept of power and knowledge, we deconstructed the structuring and moderating influences on the expert/nonexpert dyad. We found that clinicians enforce their "disciplining power" through varying degrees of communicativeness to bring about compliance in the patient. Clinicians appear to classify the patient as "participant" or "deviant" based on the patient's "internalization" of instructions, and then communicate in predictable ways with the patient. Patients can also wield power, communicating it by understanding and following or not understanding and not clarifying/verifying instructions in the clinic, and thereafter failing to comply with the clinician's advice. We suggest that clinicians need to hone their communication skills both to optimally utilize interactions in the clinic and to encourage patient compliance, thereby making possible better treatment outcomes.