Health · Healthcare & Policy · 19 hrs ago
How doctors communicate can affect patients’ treatment and recovery
The way doctors speak with patients can affect how they understand and experience treatment.
Sven Benson, a medical education specialist at University Hospital Essen in Germany, says communication matters alongside medical knowledge and care.
Clear, supportive conversations can help patients explain their concerns and raise problems rather than quietly stop taking a prescribed medicine.
The wording used to discuss side effects may also shape expectations: negative expectations can contribute to the nocebo effect, in which symptoms worsen or treatment seems less effective.
Poor communication may lead people to follow treatment less closely, stop it, try ineffective alternatives or make more doctor visits.
Information in medicine leaflets and on social media can also affect patients’ expectations.
Communication trainer Wolfgang Kölfen says doctors should take patients’ online or AI-assisted research seriously and build trust from the first meeting.
Doctors’ choice of words and tone can affect how patients understand and experience treatment, Handelsblatt reports.
Sven Benson, a medical education institute director at Essen University Hospital, says communication can influence patients’ trust, motivation and use of medicines.
Negative expectations can contribute to nocebo effects, in which symptoms worsen or treatment appears less effective.
Poor communication may reduce adherence, lead patients to stop treatment or prompt use of ineffective alternatives.
Communication trainer Wolfgang Kölfen says doctors should take patients’ online research and AI-generated answers seriously rather than dismissing them.
- Who
- Doctors and patients, including comments from Sven Benson and Wolfgang Kölfen.
- What
- The article examines how doctor-patient communication can affect trust, treatment adherence and recovery.
- When
- Published on 11 October 2026.
- Where
- Berlin; the article also cites research and expertise from Essen University Hospital.
- Why
- Communication can shape patients’ expectations, understanding and willingness to follow treatment.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Ja, definitiv
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- Publication date
- 11 October 2026
- Institution
- Institute for Medical Education, Essen University Hospital
- Example of positive framing
- 9 von 10 Patienten vertragen das Medikament gut
- Drug in cited experiment
- Remifentanil
Sources
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