Abstract

People with a chronic kidney condition can live with their disease for several years, during which the illness becomes “an integral aspect of life” and requires “an arduous and continuous process of adaptation at multiple levels: cognitive, emotional and physical”. Often, communicating with doctors is not helpful to these patients in understanding what is happening and reorganizing their lives, as ineffective communication strategies are employed. It is in fact necessary to overcome obstacles such as the use of incomprehensible technical language, ambiguity, the lack of communication training and the abundance of stressful situations.

Chronically ill patients have the right to be informed in a simple, clear and impartial way about their condition and its possible treatments; this information will help them manage their kidney disease, “accept” it and find the motivation to adhere to medical prescriptions over time.

Keywords: Communication, doctor, nurse, chronic patient