Apologies and Uncertainty in Clinical Communication: The Role of Gender and Nonverbal Behavior
With the growth of patient-centered models of care, healthcare providers are increasingly expected to engage in behaviors that might threaten perceptions of their competence, including acknowledging medical uncertainty and apologizing for medical errors. Previous research suggests that how apologies or uncertainty is delivered can impact the patients' response to these behaviors. Additionally, expectations based on provider gender may impact patients' response. I will present the findings from two experimental, analogue patient studies, one on clinical apologies and one on communicated uncertainty, which begin to untangle the complex relationship between physician gender and nonverbal behavior on patient perceptions and response to apologies and uncertainty. I will also discuss work in progress on how the emotional state conveyed nonverbally by both the provider and the patient impacts perceptions of apologies and uncertainty.