Doctor–patient relationships amid changes in contemporary society: a view from the health communication field

Abstract

In this article, we propose to understand the doctor–patient relationship (DPR) using a health communications perspective, as it is located in the sociohistorical framework of modernising processes. The paper analyses the academic literature about the doctor-patient relationship (DPR) during the period of 1980–2015, gathered from key words in digital collections and indexed magazines available in three electronic databases (SISBI, SciELO and DIALNET). Eighty-four articles were selected from the initial search. The results suggest three axes of thematisation of the DPR over the period analysed: patient satisfaction, models of relationship between professionals and patients, and eHealth. The latter, eHealth, demonstrates the current transformation of social and communication order and is the main axis of reflection and investigation.