Table 2.

Systematic reviews on communication in healthcare

Systematic review	Clinical context	PCC focus	# Studies reviewed	Key findings
Beck, Daughtridge & Sloane [29]	Primary Care	Yes	22	• Physician behavior linked with positive patient outcomes, adherence, and patient satisfaction
Chan et al. [30]	Pre-operative Care	Yes	11	• Sharing information, family involvement, autonomy, and professionalism are key
				• Knowledgeable clinicians with positive attitudes enhance patient “journey”
Davis et al. [31]	Oncology	Yes	21	• Complementary and alternative medicine use in patients with cancer must be discussed using effective communication skills in order to avoid patients failing to disclose use with clinician
Edwards et al. [32]	Genetics	Yes	28	• Clinician provision of support and sharing emotion proven to be more beneficial to patients than sharing information
Edwards et al. [33]	Primary Care	Yes	96	• Including patients in risk estimates during discussion between patients and clinicians regarding genetic screening results is productive
Egan et al. [34]	Alzheimer’s Disease	Not Clear	13	• Employing memory aids and specific caregiver training programs enhances verbal communication, specifically information uptake with patients with Alzheimer’s Disease
Eggenberger, Heimerl & Bennett [35]	Dementia	Yes	12	• Enhancing communication skills of professionals working with dementia patients results in improvements of patient quality of life, positive interactions with peers, and organization of care
Fawole et al. [36]	Palliative Care	Yes	20	• Improving palliative care communication with patients includes improving healthcare utilization and patient/family consultations
Finke, Light & Kitko [37]	Nursing	Not Clear	12	• Improving communication between nurses and non-verbal patients is necessary to reduce patient frustration
Hancock et al. [38]	Palliative Care	Not Clear	51	• Patients’ perceptions of shared information are inconsistent with healthcare professional’s perceptions of the information provided
				• Healthcare professionals “underestimate” patient need for information and “overestimate” patient understanding of illness
Harrington, Noble & Newman [39]	Primary Care	Yes	25	• Improvements in perceptions of autonomy impacts information recall, adherence, attendance, and clinical outcomes following intervention studies aimed to augment patient participation in medical interactions
Henry et al. [40]	Primary Care	Yes	26	• Increased patient satisfaction was correlated with positive/warm clinician interactions with active listening
Janssen & Largo-Janssen [41]	Gynecology	Yes	9	• Patient-centered communication styles increase patient satisfaction
Laidsaar-Powell et al. [42]	Primary Care	Yes	52	• Triadic communication (patient-clinician-family member) involves: encouraging family involvement in care, re-enforcing positive family contributions, identifying roles of patients and family members
Oliveira et al. [43]	Primary Care	Yes	27	• Communication indicating valuing patient autonomy is correlated with high patient satisfaction
Parker et al. [44]	Palliative Care	Not Clear	123	• At end-of-life, patients want less information sharing and caregivers want more information sharing
				• Patients value empathic and honest clinicians who encourage questions and facilitate discussions
Pinto et al. [45]	Rehabilitation	Yes	12	• The “therapeutic alliance” is enhanced by emotional support provision and patient participation during consultation
Rodin et al. [46]	Oncology	Yes	21	• Patients have varying communication needs and may prefer professional-centric communication over patient-centered communication, therefore clinicians are encouraged to individualize their communication styles to patient needs
Scheunemann et al. [47]	Intensive Care	Yes	2841	• Printed communication aids, structured communication from the healthcare team, and ethics consultations improve emotional outcomes for families in the ICU
Slort et al. [48]	Palliative Care	Yes	15	• Clinician availability and openness to facilitating discussions about end-of-life care, including reflection on poor outcomes, facilitates patient-clinician communication
Tay, Hegney & Ang [49]	Nursing	Not Clear	8	• While patient and clinician characteristics are found to influence communication, the role of the environment in effective communication between these two parties is not well documented
				• Reception to patient cues and effective information sharing builds relationships with patients and maintains open communication
Thompson & McCabe [50]	Psychiatry	Not Clear	23	• A strong clinician-patient relationship that involves effective communication is correlated with adherence
				• Clinicians wishing to promote patient-clinician collaboration must attempt to find common ground with patients and share decision making roles
Uitterhoeve et al. [51]	Oncology	Not Clear	7	• No correlation was found between effective communication training and patient distress outcomes
Vasse et al. [52]	Dementia	Not Clear	19	• Improving communication with patients with dementia can improve daily care activities and intervention outcomes; however, has little impact on neuropsychiatric symptoms
Wanyonyi & Themessl-Huber [53]	Primary Care	Yes	6	• Clinicians should allocate time to “discover their patients’ psycho-social characteristics” in order to achieve health promotion