Understanding intercultural medical communication in general practice

Intercultural medical communication is known to be less effective and adequate than intracultural communication. One possible explanation is that the amount of patient participation during medical consultations is lower when doctors and patients have dissimilar ethnic and cultural backgrounds as compared to consultations in which doctors and patients share the same background. Though, it is unclear why this is the case. The aim of this research project is therefore to unravel differences between Dutch and Turkish-Dutch patients in the determinants of patient participation (willingness to participate, ability to participate and concordance) and the relationship between patient participation and communication outcomes (fulfillment of information needs, patient satisfaction and understanding of information) among these patient groups. Investigating these differences enhances knowledge on why intercultural communication is less effective and ladequate than intracultural communication. The knowledge derived from this research project provides more understanding of intercultural medical communication and can be used to design effective interventions to improve the communication between Turkish-Dutch patients and Dutch doctors.