Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, 2019

Other than the science behind medical healing, doctor-patient communication plays a significant role in assuring patient outcomes. In the Philippines, where the public health system is far from perfect, good and quality communication can sometimes compensate to the lack of facilities and human power. In Baguio Rural Health Unit (RHU), one doctor accommodates to approximately 200 patients in a day which may affect the doctor-patient interaction during the consultation due to the doctor-patient gap and ratio. Hence, the study sought to find out what goes on in the medical consultation in Baguio RHU. The researcher aimed to identify the specific communicative behaviors that the doctors and patients portray and find out how they negotiate the patient?s treatment and health status. All of these are for an objective of understanding the doctor-patient communication in Baguio RHU. To do this, the researcher used Ong, de Haes, Hoos, and Lammes? (1995) holistic theoretical framework of doctor-patient relationships which shows that background variables of doctors and patients affect the actual content of communication during medical consultation. This study was done through a grounded theorizing technique. The researcher employed a case study design and accomplished data gathering techniques such as naturalistic observation and in-depth interviews to answer the research problems. The researcher analyzed the doctor and patient's verbal codes in order to examine their communicative behaviors, and finding out their instrumental and affective behaviors. By the end of the data analysis, the researcher came up with his own and expanded version of Ong et. Al.'s (1005) holistic theoretical framework of doctor patient-relationships incorporating the data that he gathered from doctor-patient interaction. The researcher found out that the doctor-patient communication in Baguio RHU is not holistic, as there is an imbalance between instrumental and affective behaviors. Also, the consultation was greatly paternalistic having the doctor as the authority figure in the doctor-patient ration in Baguio RHU.