Nerurkar L, van der Scheer I, Stevenson F. Engagement with emotional concerns in general practice: a thematic analysis of GP consultations.
BJGP Open 2024;
8:BJGPO.2023.0202. [PMID:
37940141 PMCID:
PMC11169977 DOI:
10.3399/bjgpo.2023.0202]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Emotional concerns (defined as any expression of low mood, anxiety, or psychosocial stress) are an important part of the biopsychosocial care model used in modern medical practice. Previous work has demonstrated variable engagement with emotional concerns and that improved communication has been associated with reductions in emotional distress.
AIM
To examine how emotional concerns are engaged with during routine GP consultations.
DESIGN & SETTING
Secondary study using the Harnessing Resources from the Internet (HaRI) database. The available dataset contains 231 recordings from 10 GPs across eight urban and suburban practices recorded in 2017 and 2018.
METHOD
The dataset was reviewed to identify any consultations containing emotional concerns (as defined as any expression of low mood, anxiety, or psychosocial stress) before being imported into NVivo (version 12) to facilitate thematic analysis and coding. Reflexive inductive thematic analysis resulted in two major themes.
RESULTS
The two main themes were as follows: engagement with emotional concerns as dynamic throughout consultations; and GPs engage with emotional concerns both diagnostically and therapeutically. In theme 1, this dynamism relates to competing areas of focus, immediate versus delayed engagement and reiteration of concerns throughout consultations. Emotional concerns can be engaged with in a similar way to physical concerns (theme 2) using a diagnostic and treatment-based approach; however, in addition to this, therapeutic listening and conversation is utilised.
CONCLUSION
Awareness of the dynamic nature of emotional concerns within consultations and encouraging engagement with concerns in a flexible and patient-oriented manner may help improve doctor-patient communication. In addition, investigating how GPs and patients build shared understanding around emotional concerns may identify methods to reduce patients' emotional distress.
Collapse