Explaining Illness, Need for

Researchers have argued that it is important to understand the need for illness explanations before focusing on the process of explaining illness. Numerous studies across illness contexts and types of health care providers note that explaining illness is an important part of health interactions. The dearth of explanations reported by most patients is particularly troubling. Evidence suggests that medical professionals underestimate patients' and family members' need for information and often overestimate their own ability to communicate illness explanations.

The need for explaining illness is also evident in research that demonstrates the positive implications for patients who receive adequate explanations. Scholars suggest that patients are more likely to adhere to treatment recommendations, recover more quickly after surgery, and are generally healthier. When health professionals do explain illness to a patient or their family, the clarity of information communicated is questionable. Much research has examined the amount of information rather than the quality of the information or its efficacy in explaining illness from the patient's perspective, and this research begs the question of whether or not the patient can actually make sense of or use the information to positively impact their health. Data point to the fact that patients do not have the same biomedical framework for understanding illness explanations as health care providers, which further highlights the need for clear explanations.

Research also suggests that health care providers' explanations are often influenced by cultural/racial biases. When contextualized in terms of literacy level, and perhaps more important health literacy level, the importance of clear illness explanations is even more obviously essential to improve the provider–patient relationship and patient outcomes.

Explaining illness is further complicated by the challenge of communicating what is often an uncertain prognosis. Given the uncertainty associated with most illnesses and reports from patients that they do not receive sufficient information during health interactions, and that the information communicated is not always clear, it is important to consider the important role that managing uncertainty may play in explaining illness.

Much of the literature on the need for explaining illness has focused on the information that should be communicated. Research demonstrates that health care professionals' use of medical jargon to communicate complex messages often confuses patients. Investigations have also found that generally patients do not remember the details of illness explanations and are more likely to provide their own interpretation of the interaction to others. Communication scholars working with medical professionals suggest that illness explanations should adapt to the patient's knowledge, literacy levels, and specific concerns. Other research highlights that illness explanations should communicate information but should also communicate interest and caring. Data suggest that the best illness explanations clearly describe the specific procedures and what patients may feel as a result of the medical treatment in clear, jargon-free messages. For example, several studies highlight that health care professionals who combine clear explanations with empathy or humor are perceived as validating the experience of the patient. Demonstrating empathy often helps the patient better understand and assess their situation. Clear explanations that attend to both the patients' need for information and need for emotional support have been associated with more adaptive coping.

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