How do trained raters take context factors into account when assessing GP trainee communication performance? An...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Communication Studies
• Psychology

Background:

• Assessing communication in medical consultations is challenging.
• Generic instruments for communication assessment have limitations in capturing context-specific nuances.
• Contextual factors implicitly influence communication but are not always explicitly addressed in assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors observed by trained raters during workplace communication assessments.
• To understand how raters incorporate context factors when using generic assessment tools.
• To explore the challenges faced by general practitioners (GPs) in assessing communication.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a think-aloud protocol with 19 GPs assessing videotaped consultations.
• Conducted interviews to gather explicit feedback on contextual influences.
• Employed a grounded theory approach for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified numerous context factors influencing communication, categorized as doctor-related, patient-related, consultation-related, and education-related.
• Observed varied approaches among raters regarding the incorporation of context.
• Highlighted a struggle in integrating contextual influences into generic communication assessments.

Conclusions:

• Contextual factors significantly impact communication in GP consultations.
• Raters require additional support and guidance to effectively handle specific contextual factors in assessments.
• Improved methods are needed for assessing communication performance in real-world practice settings.