When a patient lies down to receive radiotherapy treatment their world gets a little smaller as they can only really respond to audible cues and communication. 7% of communication is spoken word with another 38% tone of voice but the remaining 55% is through body language therefore over half of our communication as healthcare professionals to our patients and over half of our patients’ communication to us is lost because a patient’s field of view during treatment set up is purely the ceiling tiles above their head.
Patients continue to express how important non-verbal communication is to them in developing a rapport with their healthcare professionals, building trust, in reducing their anxiety and in feeling 'seen'. Having treatment in an upright orientation could facilitate this and open a patient's world back up by allowing them to see it during the treatment process.
Research has shown that healthcare professionals who smile are perceived as more friendly and caring which helps reduce patients' anxiety. Also physical nearness and attention expressed by leaning forward towards the patient greatly impacts on patients' positive perceptions of that therapist including their competence.
Eye contact is one of the most extensively researched non-verbal communication tool in healthcare. Eye contact is shown to has been shown to impact on patient-centeredness, rapport, physician awareness of patients’ psychological distress and patients’ physical and cognitive functioning.
An article by Keck, Hubner and Buntzel (2023) looked into the experience of cancer treatment from the perspective of patients with a hearing impairment. See the results below:
Receiving treatment in an upright position will allow hearing impaired patients to engage in eye contact and lip read or be able to see sign language interpretations to better support their understanding, comprehension and allow them to give informed consent and feel comfortable communicating with the healthcare professional treating them.