Dealing With the Difficult Patient

The Patient, the Physician, or the Relationship: Who or What Is “Difficult”, Exactly? an Approach for Managing Conflicts between Patients and Physicians

“…The fact that a physician has labeled a patient as “difficult” should not impact dealing with him. Instead, this label should invite the physician to respect the significant rules of communication, keep behaving normally, and adapt to the patient’s needs [ 23 ]. Such an approach facilitates the relations with “difficult” patients and prevents sticking such a label on many others.…”

“…These illustrations have improved the understanding of both parties' points of view to create mutual and efficient empathy. These illustrations bring open questions that allow the patient to ponder his interactions with the physician while permitting the latter to understand better how the patient finds himself [23]. Questions such as "What does the physician need to know about the patient?…”

“…These illustrations have improved the understanding of both parties’ points of view to create mutual and efficient empathy. These illustrations bring open questions that allow the patient to ponder his interactions with the physician while permitting the latter to understand better how the patient finds himself [ 23 ]. Questions such as “What does the physician need to know about the patient?”, “What does the patient need to know about the physician?”, “What actions could the physician have performed or changed to improve his interactions with the patient?”, or even “What other actions could the patient have taken to improve his interaction with the physician?” help create and foster a reciprocal empathy [ 24 ].…”