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Patient misunderstanding

In this video a daughter asks her father what the doctor said, but he is unable to reproduce this information.

Patients often come out of consultations with healthcare professionals, not knowing exactly what it is they should do. We know from research that half of what a person is told is forgotten and half of what they remember is misunderstood.

Please watch the video of Mr Jay talking to his daughter Alexia about his appointment with the cardiologist he had this morning. Emily asks her father several questions which he is unable to answer.

What could have gone wrong in the consultation to result in the patient being unable to answer? Try to answer this question by reflecting on previous learning from Week 1, Week 2 and earlier this week.


If you want to read more about patients’ memory for medical information:

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Working with Patients with Limited Health Literacy

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FutureLearn - Learning For Life

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