Quality consultations.

Interpersonal communication skills are not often emphasized during the professional training of health workers. Accordingly, many people who visit health facilities do not receive the attention and information they need due to poor interpersonal communication. The Quality Assurance Project developed a course to train 26 health workers in Honduras in one-to-one communication skills under the assumption that people who are relatively better satisfied with the service they receive from health workers will be more likely to follow health workers' advice and enjoy improved health. The course addressed good social skills, problem solving skills, and counseling and education methods. Participants practiced their new skills through role play and discussion with their peers of tape-recorded consultations with an actual patient. New communication skills were then summarized in a pocket-sized booklet given to all participants as a reminder of what they learned, while each participant was also given a more detailed training manual. Initial results indicate that training resulted in a significant improvement in communication skills and a decrease in poor communication behavior such as criticizing people or interrupting them. The Ministry of Health expressed interest in incorporating the training course into its ongoing staff training. The course has now been adapted and run in Egypt and Trinidad, demonstrating that it can be adapted to suit different settings and cultures.