Founding Rector of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, drew attention to the problems experienced in the healthcare sector in Turkey at the “Istanbul Public and Private Healthcare Institutions Health Communication Program” organized by the Ministry of Health. Emphasizing that an unfortunate period is being experienced not only in Turkey but all over the world in terms of the value given to healthcare professionals, Tarhan said, “Doctors need to be made to feel that they are valuable and important. This needs to be done at the highest volume, from the highest authority and to the greatest extent. Unless this is done, physicians feel that they are subjected to negative discrimination due to the uncertainty and anxiety they experience. There is a perception that physicians and healthcare workers only work for money. Due to this perception, physicians are very uncomfortable.”
Organized by the Ministry of Health and developed in cooperation with many universities, including Üsküdar University, the ‘Health Communication Program, The Pulse of Health Beats in Gaziosmanpaşa’ was held at Gaziosmanpaşa Municipality, a stakeholder in the project.
“Communication established in the field of health has a great impact on human psychology”
Tarhan, as a psychiatrist, drew attention to the importance of communication in healthcare; “The issue of communication in health is a very important topic today. I thank everyone who has gathered today to try to find solutions on this matter. Strong communication in the field of health is very important because there is currently a staff confusion and chaos in healthcare. Physicians seriously want to go abroad. There are those who have started courses in the Netherlands and Belgium. Overseas plans have become people's Plan A, not Plan B. The topics to be discussed and the solutions to be found here are important in many respects. Especially as someone who deals with human psychology, I want to address the psychological dimension of communication in healthcare. In violence against physicians, one side uses violence while the other wants to help the doctor. Here, there is a patient-physician relationship, meaning a clinical communication is established. There are situations in these incidents that need to be analyzed from the perspective of clinical communication.”
“An invisible agreement is signed between patients and healthcare professionals”
Tarhan noted that a patient comes to the hospital under certain conditions, stating, “When someone comes to the emergency room or polyclinic, they arrive having implicitly made a mutual secret agreement. This agreement has five articles. In healthcare clinical communication, there are actors: the patient, the physician, the healthcare worker, the one receiving help, and the one requesting help. According to the first article of the agreement: ‘If you become my listener, I will become yours.’ In the second, both parties – the one receiving and the one giving help – say: ‘Everything you say interests me.’ Then, thirdly: ‘I must be willing and intent on understanding’ – both the helper and the one seeking help should have this mindset. In such a relationship, the physician or healthcare worker has a knowledge set that provides solutions to a health problem, wound, or issue. The other party does not know this knowledge set; they need it. Then, you instill in the other party the feelings that ‘your life and experiences are important to me.’ Here, there should be both sides, but in clinical communication, the healthcare worker is the leader of the relationship concerning therapeutic alliance and therapeutic cooperation. The healthcare worker must not lose this leadership. That is, the perception that ‘I need your knowledge set, and for this, I accept your leadership’ must be created. When we cannot create this perception, a crisis arises.”
“The physician must establish their leadership in treatment”
Tarhan, pointing out the issues to be considered in patient treatment, stated that patients always come to the hospital with fear. Tarhan said; “Patients often come to the hospital with the fear given by uncertainty. In such situations, when pets are to be vaccinated, the animal bites the vaccinator—why? Because it is afraid, it is afraid of being hurt. To protect against this, they either put a mask on its head, hold it still, or forcibly tie it down; they do it this way. But if the owner is there, they can do it by stroking its head. But of course, when it is a human-to-human relationship, in such situations, it is necessary to make them feel that the physician or healthcare worker is the leader of the treatment.”
“‘Clinical Communication’ should be taught as a course”
Tarhan stated that an unfortunate period is being experienced worldwide regarding the approach to healthcare professionals, adding that courses under the name ‘Clinical Communication’ should begin. Tarhan said; “Currently, not only in Turkey but globally, there is an unfortunate period regarding healthcare professionals. In studies on institutional loyalty, when we consider a person's institutional attachment, the first is loving the institution and their job. Second, seeing their future secure there. Third, the salary they receive. In Turkey, according to healthcare policymakers, there is a perception that physicians and healthcare workers only work for money, which is the third point. Due to this perception, physicians are very uncomfortable. When decision-makers encounter a problem in this area, their first solution is an approach like increasing wages. Doctors need to be made to feel that they are valuable and important. This needs to be done at the highest volume, from the highest authority and to the greatest extent. Unless this is done, the fear of uncertainty and anxiety experienced by physicians increases, and they think and feel that they are subjected to negative discrimination. It is beneficial to consider these issues in this meeting. Within the framework of this information, I believe that the conclusions drawn here should definitely be taught as a course or a course topic under the name ‘Clinical Communication’ in Medical Faculties.”