Communication through touch

The New York Times Well blog has an interesting discussion today about a recent JAMA essay. In the JAMA essay, a medical student contemplates even and when it is appropriate to hold a patient's hand. Some of the Well commenters were mystified that a medical student would even need to ask if it is appropriate to hold a patient's hand and show compassion. But in the current medical culture, students are taught to be very aware of how actions, even as simple an action as holding a hand, may be viewed.

It is the reality of physician-patient communication, that the physician may always have some level of concern about communication being misconstrued. And this fear has the real potential to limit high-quality communication between physician and patient. All communication involves some risk, the risk of being misunderstood. But a physician taking a risk and offering a hand to a patient at a difficult moment can mean the world to a patient.