Rapport Building
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- In this episode Preston and Margaret explore the complex concept of rapport in healthcare. They reflect on the challenges of building meaningful connections with patients and the impact these relationships have on medical outcomes. From awkward early encounters in medical school to techniques they've developed as psychiatry residents, this episode unpacks what it means to truly connect.
Takeaways:
Rapport Is More Than Liking: Building rapport isn’t just about being liked; it’s about creating trust, safety, and understanding between clinician and patient.
Authenticity Matters: Patients respond to doctors who show up as their authentic selves. Balancing professionalism with humanity is key to trust-building.
Rapport Shapes Outcomes: Research shows that strong patient-clinician relationships lead to better health outcomes, regardless of the treatment modality used.
Tailor Your Approach: Building rapport requires adapting to each patient’s unique personality and background. What works for one patient may not work for another.
Empathy Is a Skill: Empathy takes practice, energy, and intentionality. It's not about agreeing with patients, but about understanding them deeply.
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Watch on UA-cam: @itspresro
Listen Anywhere You Podcast: Apple, Spotify, PodChaser, etc.
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Produced by Dr Glaucomflecken & Human Content
Get in Touch: howtobepatientpod.com
Do you have any tips for building rapport?
Paramedic here, typically a CALMING PRESENCE is the key. I'm just super chill and agreeable and give tons of options even if the options always lead to what I want. Good way to build rapport is making it seem like a team effort.
@@EdwardGallegos-jj7rx Agree so hard dude. Nursing student, I see so many nurses just escalate people's agitation by being really combative in their language and their behaviour etc. Mostly the older, "seasoned" nurses. I am generally a relaxed person, and I feel as though patients respond much better to my presence and the presence of nurses with that more relaxed personality than those who want to try and rile up patients. It almost seems as though people who act like that towards patients feel as though they have to "win" every interaction, if that makes sense.
As a nurse I make my patients feel valuable by thanking them for being my teacher. They all teach me something about the body, the mind or the spirit. Giving them these understanding builds rapport.
Admitting when you don't know something and common humanity. I learned this kind of by accident working as a float nurse. It was a chaotic series of environments to learn how to be a nurse and I rarely knew more beyond the basics when I was just starting out, so I was always asking questions from multiple other nurses and doctors to clarify things for patients or looking them up in our reference library to double check something I hadn't seen more than once in school. It often put me an hour behind with charting but I put my patients first and kept them safe and treated at the end of the day. The attitude of "I don't know but I'll find out" built a lot of trust.
And humility - I don't recommend it, but as a baby nurse on my 3rd solo shift (off of orientation) I was 2 hours behind on my tasks the whole day, including a sweet old lady's pain meds. I had built such a strong, professional rapport with her in the morning and having to face her knowing I was late and let her down and in pain and feeling like an inadequate mess of a person, I started crying and said "I'm sorry I'm not the nurse you needed today." And she said "Honey, come here and give me a hug. You are the nurse I have and you're here now because you didn't forget about me." Do I recommend having a mental breakdown in front of all your patients? No, and I never did that again lol but it taught me that showing some humanity (while doing your best to be safe and professional) and genuine empathy for your patients' discomfort can do wonders when it comes to building trust. And sometimes imperfection while trying to do your best can have...surprisingly therapeutic results?
I’ve been really enjoying the episodes you’ve released so far. Keep up the great work! I’m a mental health OT working in an outpatient clinic for psychotic disorders. I’m very eager to hear more about your with folks with psychosis. I really liked Preston’s short on insight and would love to hear more about how to collaborate and build trust with people who have paranoid symptoms.
Something I personally struggle with is the notion of wielding power as a health professional. The functional evaluations I do have a tremendous impact on a person’s life in terms of where and how they live. I really struggle when the patient and myself have differing views on their level of functioning. I would love to hear how you maintain a collaborative relationship when you have differing viewpoints with your patients.
Telling the truth and being very honest with whoever you're dealing with, makes a huge difference. If people feel like you're BSing them, you've lost them. Not every question has an known answer, and it's OK to acknowledge that. Conveying the idea that no matter what's going on, together you can both walk the path to see if there is a way to find wellness in the end. And if full remission and recovery isn't possible, at least a more comfortable way to live with chronic disease. Also acknowledging that their pain is real and mental health pain is just as real as any other pain they might experience. An invitation to seek out other help if they don't feel, for whatever reason, you're the best fit for them to find their wellness, and it's not personal.
Thank you so much for this podcast Doctor. I'm just a PA student done with my clincial year but I have struggled with this. In an OSCE a pt actually wrote a comment that she felt I was not empathetic which made me doubt whether I should even be in a field like this if I was so awkward. Empathy n rapport building is a skill I'm still trying to learn so I will follow this podcast.
The medicine itself acting as an avatar for the relationship between the prescriber and the patient is such a great point/perspective.
Do you guys have the same headphones? Cute! (my attempt at building rapport inside of a parasocial interaction.)
Preston, Here is a joke I saw on a laffy taffy years and years ago (42 here). It actually made me laugh and the people around me. They couldnt believe it was on a laffy taffy. "What do you call a sleep walking nun? A roamin' (Roman) Catholic"
No one besides me is going to care about this but the quote about breaking the rules is from Picasso not Van Gogh
super adorable 😍
OCTOBER😮
Sir do you earn more than 400k dollars a year as a doctor? Please reply in yes or no. Thanks a lot.
No I’m a trainee I earn much less
@itspresro sir how much do you expect to earn after trainee period as a doctor? Please reply. Thanks a lot.
Forget about medical school if your benchmark for a desirable career is money. Becoming a doctor can be one of the least efficient ways to make money for a highly capable person.
@@Onemanzoo Amen. The higher salaries are mostly compensation for the significant sacrifices you have to make with your time, home life...