A Study On Interpersonal Communication In HIV Voluntary Testing

HIV voluntary testing, an important method to discover the potential HIV positives and the embodiment of one’s responsibility consciousness of health, plays an significant role in AIDS prevention and control work. In recent years, this issue in our country has received attention from scholars in public health management, epidemiology and other fields. But lacking researches from test recipient, theoretical perspective of this issue is relatively narrow. After referring to some foreign research results, this article investigates the doctor-patient communication in HIV voluntary testing work from the perspective of interpersonal communication. This article uses the method of depth interview and survey and discusses the issue from the angle of test recipients.Using the theories of scheme,this paper discovers that the different response of interpersonal communication will lead to different psychological changes which have different influences on testing activities’ in HIV voluntary testing. Firstly, this article illustrates that test recipients’uncertainty management influences whether we should conduct doctor-patient communication or not. Through the analysis of "Pre-contact" conducts, this article points out four standards which affects the cognition of test recipients in doctor-patient communication, thus knowledge about HIV and testing, the doctor’s trust, equity and respect, emotional reception or support. Later, this paper analyses specific contents of doctor-patient communication,which includes the image of health care provider, talking contents and methods, space settings and facilities, real-name registration system. All the contents mentioned above have influences on the mental state of test recipients and communication results. Finally, through the analysis of principal-agent relationship between patient and physician, this article points out doctors’ dominant position and test recipients’ action strategies. Combining with the above results, this paper puts forward a person-centered HIV voluntary testing service mode. This paper emphasizes that we should pay more attention to patients in doctor-patient communication and interpersonal communication plays a significant role in AIDS prevention and public health communication.