Building Relationships on the Model of Trust

Abstract

This chapter will examine a practical application of the trust model. By building trust it is possible to disclose and learn about the real problems in healthcare management, for patients and physicians. This chapter describes a research project that was designed to build trust with informers and researchers alike, in order to learn about healthcare issues. The research model used the concept of trust not only to design the research question and questionnaires but to support the data collection process itself. This chapter will describe a study in Italy that investigated the communication process between patients and their oncologists over QoL issues. It will describe the importance of the trust model in designing research when patient participation is necessary.