A qualitative study of women's experiences of communication in antenatal care: Identifying areas for action

To identify key features of communication across antenatal (prenatal) care that are evaluated positively or negatively by service users. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were used to explore communication experiences of thirty pregnant women from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds affiliated to a large London hospital. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Women reported a wide diversity of experiences. From the users’ perspective, constructive communication on the part of health care providers was characterised by an empathic conversational style, openness to questions, allowing sufficient time to talk through any concerns, and pro-active contact by providers (e.g. text message appointment reminders). These features created reassurance, facilitated information exchange, improved appointment attendance and fostered tolerance in stressful situations. Salient features of poor communication were a lack of information provision, especially about the overal

You are happy and safe: a discourse analysis of a diagnostic disclosure of dementia

Research indicates that the way in which a clinical diagnosis is delivered impacts on the quality of life post diagnosis. This study explores local and global discursive influences on diagnostic feedback of dementia diagnosis across two NHS memory assessment services. Eight feedback sessions were audio-recorded over a three month period. The recordings were transcribed and analysed using a discourse analytic approach. The transcripts were analysed in terms of their interpersonal and wider discourse features and the ways in which meanings were constructed in the delivery of a dementia diagnosis. The findings suggest that carers, clients and practitioners construct dementia as largely a memory problem, drawing on wider discourses which associates memory with the mind, and that there are interpersonal advantages in downplaying the range of cognitive difficulties that dementia involves. Clinical implications such as post diagnosis procedures and the scope for future research examining the diagnostic delivery methods of different health professionals are presented