Anxiety reduction and emotional self-care using the U-technique in radiology departments

Abstract

Daily clinical practice is an important source of stress and emotional exhaustion. In the health field, patients could experience a significant number of emotional reactions. There are high levels of anxiety in patients referred for medical imaging, and these levels are even higher in patients undergoing complicated diagnostic procedures. All this shows the need to understand that anxiety must be diagnosed and treated. This situation forces radiologist to develop emotional and social skills to resolve difficulties that may arise in the communicative act. In the patient-radiologist interaction, many elements have been analysed, being communication and communicative skills one of the most important elements. The objective is to present an emotional management tool, the U-technique. It consists of four movements: sympathize, empathize, feel the antidote emotion and spread the antidote emotion in order that the health professionals recognize their emotional state in each moment of the relationship with the patient.

Effectiveness of Different Interventions to Reduce Anxiety in Oncological Patients during PET/CT Studies: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

“…The patient should receive clear, complete and personalized information so as to make him feel welcomed, and doubts and concerns should be answered in order to generate a climate of trust in which patientes understand everything related to the problem and can express hisemotional state. A patient who has been well informed about pathology and treatment is better suited to the different situations and his anxiety or other emotional responses are thus reduced; he better understands the explanations received and is more satisfied with the relationship with the professional [4,[32][33][34][35]. It is necessary to ensure good and individual information regarding their pathology and the consequences it will have for them, the treatment they will have to undergo.…”

Stres I Anksioznost U Radiologiji

“…Na taj način se izgrađuje klima povjerenja, u kojoj radiološki tehnolog objašnjava proces, a sa druge strane pacijent razumije problem, izražava mišljenje ili emocionalno stanje sa njim te se u konačnici suočava. Unutar odnosa između pacijenta i radiološkog tehnologa nije samo potrebno da se nauči prepoznati emocionalni odgovor pacijenta, već i da pacijent prepozna reakciju radiologa, što omogućava uspostavu učinkovitijeg, intimnijeg, personaliziranijeg te kvalitetnijeg odgovora i rješenja (27). Radiološki tehnolog prije pretrage mora objasniti da postoji puno faktora koji utječu na razinu anksioznosti tijekom same pretrage.…”

Letter to the Editor

“…Indeed, for this purpose we have a tool, the ''U technique'' [4], of application in the health care field, including radiology and oncology. The goal is to achieve an adequate emotional management, whether what we are trying to manage are our own emotions or what we are managing is the emotional response of someone, getting an emotional response suitable for each situation in life, and, especially, in a health environment.…”