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Updated: Aug 28, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
The dialogue of care: A study on the evolution of clinical communication in oncology and narrative medicine's
Ismael Traba Outes1, Diego Gómez-Carmona1, Araceli Galiano-Coronil1
1Faculty of Social Sciences and Communications, Cadiz University, La Asunción University Campus, Avda de la Universidad 5, Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain; Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo Social Sostenible (INDESS), Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain.
Objectives:
To analyze the intellectual structure and thematic evolution of clinical communication in oncology and to examine how narrative medicine has contributed to its conceptual consolidation as a core component of cancer care.
Methods:
A bibliometric study was conducted on 792 publications indexed in Scopus from 1972 to 2025. The methodological design followed the PRISMA 2020 framework and applied bibliometric techniques, including co-occurrence, co-citation, and thematic mapping, using R (Bibliometrix).
Results:
The analysis revealed a mature but asymmetrically developed domain, structured around the consolidation of patient-provider communication as its intellectual core. Classic frameworks such as Social Cognitive Theory and Health Literacy converge with narrative and ethical models proposed by Charon, Buckman, and Bultz, reflecting a shift from procedural to interpretive paradigms. Persistent gaps were identified in interprofessional coordination, family communication, and the integration of digital health and teleoncology.
Conclusions:
Clinical communication in oncology has evolved from a peripheral skill to a structural component of cancer care. The field demonstrates conceptual maturity and interdisciplinary integration, though certain areas remain underdeveloped.
Practice Implications:
Strengthening communication competencies, integrating communicative outcomes into clinical trials, and advancing ethical and narrative approaches in palliative and survivorship care can reinforce a communicative model of care where empathy, collaboration, and narrative understanding are measurable dimensions of clinical excellence.
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