Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Sağlık Bilimlerinde Eğitim Dergisi, cilt.6, sa.1, ss.10-24, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi)
Students who will provide healthcare services are expected to have good communication and empathy skills
while meeting with patients. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of integrating communication
skills training, combined with creative drama (CD), on physiotherapy students, specifically examining its effects
on their communication and empathy skills with patients, as well as their perceived anxiety, stress, and
motivation levels. In this study, second-year students were randomly classified into two groups: those who did
not receive CD education (control group, n=20) and those who received CD education (CD group, n=20). At the
beginning and after 14 weeks of the training period, all students were assessed using the interpersonal
communication questionnaire (ICQ) and Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professional Students (JSE-HS); the
assessments of anxiety, stress, and motivation levels were conducted using the visual analog scale. Regarding the
ICQ results, communication anxiety (p=0.027) and confidence score (p=0.050) were positive changes in the CD
group than in the control group. With respect to the scores of the JSE-HS questionnaire, no intergroup or
intragroup differences were identified between the two groups (p>0.05). Anxiety and stres levels were
significantly lower in the CD group than in the control group (p=0.032, p=0.007). Physiotherapy students have
participated the effective communication course with CD in healthcare demonstrated a positive change in
communication anxiety and perceived anxiety and stres levels, as well as increased confidence. However, no
significant difference was found in empathy skills. Nonetheless, further research is needed in this area.