ETHICS AND COMMUNICATION: THESE COMPETENCIES ARE HIGHLY VALUED AT FAMILY PHYSICIAN?

Communication Competencies and Professionalism are essential to Family Physician. There are directly associated with doctor-patient relationship and patient safety. The aim of this study is to analyze which communication competencies and professionalism were appointed by health users, workers and managers as the more important that doctors has to have. Methods: The subjects were members of district health council (users, workers and managers) that participated in a mensal council meeting. They responded a questionnaire with key competencies about communication and professionalism. The statistic analyze used was: descriptive, ANOVA, and T-test. Results: 201 counselors responded the research. The mean age is 49.2 years (SD: 11.6), 65.5% are woman, 47.3% are health users, 33.8% managers and 18.9% workers. 30 key competencies were evaluated, the competencies with high scores were: Communicate effectively; Knowing and applying ethics, acting with honesty and respecting moral values; and Act with interest and dedication. The competencies considered less important were: Prioritize the interests of patients / family / community with reference to own; demonstrate leadership skills; engage in the management of human and health care resources; and support the decision making on the needs and interests of the patient. There were not statistics differences between classes of responders in 86.7% of key competencies. The competencies involved with leadership and shared decision were less important. The competencies with high scores are involved with ethical. This highlights how difficult is to change the role of doctors in special when implicates transformation of perspective.