AIM: To increase awareness of active listening strategies.

INTRODUCTION: Active listening is an important part of effective interactions; active listening involves more than just hearing what has been said.  Active listening is a skill which shows that you have both heard and are interested in what the patient is saying.  Some effective active listening techniques include:

  • backchannelling (saying things like ah huh, mm, I see)
  • showing empathy (showing that you understand the patient’s situation and/or feelings)
  • using gestures
  • mirroring or repeating part or all of what the patient says
  • asking relevant questions

INSTRUCTIONS: Watch this section of the video and decide how well you think the doctor demonstrates each of the following active listening strategies (1 = badly, 5 = very well.)

Please answer every question before continuing.

FOLLOW-UP: Watch the other videos and see how well the doctors demonstrate active listening strategies.