Communication Competences are the Key! A Model of Communication for the Health Professional to Optimize the Health Literacy – Assertiveness, Clear Language and Positivity

Communication is an essential dimension of human life and of social spheres, such as health sphere, and concretely of therapeutic relations. And having health decides the human well-being. However, Europeans face an urging problem related with low levels of health literacy and human communication in doctor-patient relationship has not concentrated in doses of an effective comprehension, indispensable to the health treatment. There are several studies on the need to use communication competences due to better health outcomes are based on the ability to communicate with patients. And studies show that a fragile communication quality within health professional influences the relationship between low health literacy and a deficient health. This article focuses on the contribution of communication competences, used by healthcare professionals in the clinical relationship with patients, to improve therapeutic adherence through a better understanding of health instructions and, hence, higher competences in health literacy. It is a main and specific goal to construct and validate by health specialists a model of communication competences, that includes the interdependent use of assertiveness, clear language and positivity by the healthcare professional.