A brief article, Ask patients What matters to you?” rather than “What’s the matter? by Sosena Kebede in the British Medical Journal is well worth reading.
“A lot of what matters to our patients is outside of what we can offer them as physicians, and our success in meeting their needs demands our ability to integrate our care with their lives outside of our hospitals and offices.” As an example, the Dr. Kebede recently “asked one of her patients what mattered to her, after attempted pain control did not alleviate her distress. In between tears, my patient told me about her hobbies and family. This gave a new perspective on patient care.”
For full article: Download What Matters by Kebede
photo from The Guardian, August 2015