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.
There are no right or wrong answers here, as each person will respond differently. Some of these features may be more relevant to some interactions than others but it is important to always demonstrate attentiveness by using some form of active listening strategy.
FOLLOW-UP: Watch the other videos and see how well the doctors demonstrate active listening strategies.
