Dietitian-patient communication: a critical appraisal and approach to training.

This paper argues that dietetic interviews are strongly influenced by the traditional model of the medical consultation. Evidence concerning the limitations of this model, in terms of patient satisfaction and compliance, for both doctor-patient and dietitian-patient communication, is reviewed. The interpretation of this evidence suggests that dissatisfaction and non-compliance are related to two sets of variables: cognitive and socio-emotional. A programme of training on communication and counselling skills for dietetic students, which aims to enable students to address these problems, is described and a short-term evaluation by the students of this programme is reported. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the course by staff members and some comments as to possible future trends in dietetic education.