[Should health care information be provided in more than words? Experiences of plastic surgery in patients at looking at clinical photos].

INTRODUCTION: This article deals with an empirical study on the use of clinical photos as part of the information/communication between health professionals and patients. Normally the verbal method is used to provide information to patients. The hypothesis is that figurative and illustrative material can be a useful supplement to the spoken word. The study focused on patients' experience of looking at clinical photos.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research was conducted in the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burn Care, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. The study was a quality, explorative and descriptive interview research including 10 patients.
RESULTS: This study shows that patients find it positive to look at clinical photos, because it gives them knowledge and understanding, as well as realistic expectations and a sense of security in having made the right decision. The photographs help confirm or invalidate their expectations. The combination of listening to verbal information and looking at pictures makes sense to the patient. DISCUSSION: This study shows that looking at clinical photos is one way to improve the information/communication between patient and health professionals. Clinical photos contribute to the emotional and bodily part of gaining knowledge and thereby complement the verbal information, which is primarily cognitive. The study shows that patients experience photos as a positive element in their treatment and demonstrates that photos give them an answer to how they will appear after surgery, which is difficult to describe in words. In this study age, sex and diagnosis did not seem to matter for the experiences of the patients.