Supplemental Digital Content 1:
CURRICULLUM OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM
Week 1
Subject
Aims
Process
Week 2
Subject
Aims
Process
Week 3
Subject
Communication Skills
1. Introducing the aims of the psycho-education program
2. Theoretical information about the function of the communication and
effective communication techniques.
1. Participants were instructed of the rules of group work and applied training
2. Previously chosen pretests for evaluating the efficiency of the study were
applied to participants.
3. Participants attended a seminar that included basic information about
communication skills
Empathy
Empathy, levels of empathy and theoretical information about the development of
empathy skills
Participants attended a seminar of the relevant subject.
In terms of effective communication skills building, the differences between
assertive, aggressive, avoidant behaviors, non-verbal communication
Aims
1. To introduce group members to the differences between assertive,
aggressive, avoidant behaviors and to give them an opportunity to
differentiate these behaviors via proper applications
2. To show group members the importance of nonverbal communication in
daily life activities and in the physician-patient relationship and how it
works in the physician-patient relationship.
Process
1. Assertive, avoidant and aggressive behaviors were defined separately,
Focused on the benefits of assertive behaviors. The pre-set over five
different problem-case scenarios, assertive, avoidant and aggressive
behavior and assertive behavior differences between the effects of being
in effective communication are discussed.
2. Space in interpersonal relationships, position of the body, eye contact,
hand and arm movements, way of speaking and nonverbal communication
behaviors like unsuitable hand and arm movements were defined.
Exercises were made which helps to distinguish nonverbal communication
of recklessness, shyness and aggressiveness.
3. Homework was given which includes the indication of the reckless, shy
and aggressive behaviors acted in the frame of patient-doctor
relationships that they experienced until the following session and the
results of those behaviors.
4. Homework was given which includes observation and recording of the
nonverbal behaviors that they acted until the following session.
Week 4
Subject
Aims
Process
Active listening
Increasing awareness on contributions of active listening on communication and
empathic approach
1. A short summary of the first session was made. There was a conversation
about the homework.
2. Open ended questions asked about how the participants listen to the
people they communicate with in their daily lives.
Listening skill was emphasized. For that aim, participants were exercised:
Participants were requested to talk about a subject that they decided for
five minutes, and the remaining participants requested to get a nonlistening position. After the talks, there was a conversation about the
effects of the non-listening situation. Then, the same exercise was
repeated with the listening position.
4. After the exercise finished, the relationship between active listening and
active communication, empathy was described and the activity terminated
3.
Week 5
Subject
Aims
Process
Week 6
Subject
Aims
Process
Recognition and understanding of emotions and indicating negative emotions
1. To learn how recognizing emotions, distinguishing emotions from thoughts
and behaviors and how emotions affect behaviors helps to form empathy
2. To provide telling the positive and negative emotions directly and
accepting the negative emotions with tolerance.
1. Exercises were made which aimed participants to distinguish emotion,
thought and behaviors with example cases and role playing technique.
2. An exercise was made about participants’ telling positive and negative
views directly about each other without hurting the other. During this
exercise the importance of using ‘I language’ and differences between ‘I
language’ and ‘you language’ from the perspective of communication
conflicts were discussed.
3. Homework was given which includes case examples about the subjects
which was exercised until the next session.
Establishing empathy and placing oneself in someone else’s shoes
Establishing the concept of empathy, differences between the concepts of
empathy and sympathy, increasing awareness on placing oneself in someone
else’s shoes and understanding the emotions and thoughts
By reading the participants a patient-doctor relationship scenario prepared
previously, emotions and thoughts (both the patient’s and the doctor’s) of the
characters of the scenario were attempted to be decided and understood.
1. Similarly, by reading another scenario, participants were requested to put
themselves into the characters’ shoes. By this way, empathic perception
tried to be developed.
2. After the psycho-education, effectiveness of the exercise was discussed.
3. To evaluate the results of the psycho-education, with the tests which were
used in first session posttest application was made.