Aim To examine the existing situation, barriers and consequences of the intercultural communication in health institutions and to offer training models for strengthening and improving communication skills of health professionals in the Republic of Macedonia. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess the relationship between patients and health professionals. A total of 813 health professionals (302 physicians and 511 other medical staff) from different healthcare institutions, and 1016 patients participated in cross-sectional survey performed in autumn 2010. Results The research has showed that each third examined patient thought that his/her physician or the other medical personnel had no understanding for his/her emotions and gave no answer to all of his/her questions. From the other side, 60% of the physicians declare that they have a good communication with patients speaking other language than their mother tongue. Only 60% of physicians said that they know good the culture of their patient and 52% of the other medical staff said that they adjusted the treatment to the patient culture (religion, attitudes, language, life style). Conclusion There are some gaps in current provision of health care practice in an aspect of effective interactions and communication skills of health professionals to meet patient needs in a multicultural and multilingual setting. A training model is proposed for strengthening communication skills of health professionals.
Key words: communication, health management, physician, patient, health professionals, culture, cultural sensitivity, cultural competencies.
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