The health workers recommend the covid vaccine more if they receive training on communication with the patient

MURCIA (EUROPA PRESS). Health personnel feel more confident when recommending the vaccination against covid-19 after receiving training on communication with the patient, according to a study carried out by the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO) after training hundreds of doctors on the European continent.

“Since the training, I have started to listen more, to be thoughtful. Patients who had not been vaccinated until now are at least considering vaccination. “Having some communication guidelines and relevant knowledge helps me in terms of self-confidence “, have commented some of the doctors participating in this training workshop.

Confidence in the covid-19 vaccine was highest immediately after the training, and remained high both one month and three months later. Participants experienced a significant increase in their use of some of their newly acquired communication skills, describing the skills as “easy to use and effective” when conversations with patients about vaccination are difficult.

In addition, the participants expressed their intention to continue using the new skills, not only for vaccination against covid-19, but also for consultations about medical conditions in daily clinical practice. “I certainly intend to use these tools, because they can make my daily practice easier,” another doctor noted.

The evaluation also identified possible secondary outcomes of the training: there was a strong consensus among the participants that the skills learned in the training contribute to building trusting relationships with patients.

The training also had a positive impact on the well-being of the participants, resulting in improved cooperation with patients and co-workers and a feeling of being more effective in their efforts at work. Some also say that communication skills “help strengthen social relationships at work by improving social support, teamwork and conflict resolution.”

To date, WHO Europe has delivered 40 training courses for health workers on communicating with patients about covid-19 vaccination in Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro , Romania, Serbia and Turkmenistan, as well as in Kosovo. More than 3,000 health workers have participated in the courses, including general practitioners, medical specialists, nurses and pharmacists.