Purpose Patients with communication impairments including speech, language, cognition, or hearing disorders face many barriers to communication in health care settings. These patients report loss of autonomy in health care decision making, are at increased risk for medical errors, and are less satisfied with health care than patients without communication disorders. Although medical students receive training in effective patient-provider communication, most of this training assumes patients have intact communication abilities. Medical students and other health care providers are often unprepared to meet the communication needs of patients with communication disorders in health care encounters. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a curriculum for training medical students to communicate effectively with patients who have a range of communication disorders. Method Twenty-six 2nd-year medical students volunteered for assessments before and after a required workshop in a class. This workshop included instruction about different types of communication disorders and communication strategies, followed by practice with standardized patients portraying different communication disorders. Outcome measures included a knowledge test, ratings of self-efficacy, and evaluation of students' skills when interviewing standardized patients portraying aphasia and dysarthria. Results Medical students demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge, self-efficacy, and use of recommended communication techniques. Conclusions The curriculum appeared effective in changing medical students' knowledge and skills for working with patients with communication disorders. Equipping medical students to meet the needs of patients with communication disorders is 1 key element for improving the quality of health care for this patient population.

中文翻译：

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教医学生与沟通障碍患者进行有效沟通的技巧。

目的患有言语，语言，认知或听力障碍等沟通障碍的患者在医疗机构中面临许多沟通障碍。与没有沟通障碍的患者相比，这些患者报告其在医疗保健决策中失去自主权，医疗错误风险增加，对医疗保健的满意度较低。尽管医学生接受了有效的患者与提供者沟通的培训，但大多数此类培训都假定患者具有完整的沟通能力。医学生和其他医疗保健提供者通常没有做好准备，无法满足医疗保健中遇到交流障碍的患者的交流需求。这项研究的目的是评估培训医学生与患有多种沟通障碍的患者进行有效沟通的课程的影响。方法26名2年级的医学生自愿在课堂上所需的研讨会前后进行了评估。该讲习班包括有关不同类型的沟通障碍和沟通策略的指导，然后是描述不同沟通障碍的标准化患者的实践。结果测量包括知识测验，自我效能等级以及在采访表现失语和构音障碍的标准化患者时评估学生的技能。结果医学生在知识，自我效能和推荐的沟通技巧的使用方面表现出显着的进步。结论该课程似乎有效地改变了医学生与沟通障碍患者一起工作的知识和技能。使医学生满足交流障碍患者的需求是提高该患者群体医疗质量的关键因素之一。