Healthcare professionals' trust in patients: A review of the empirical and theoretical literatures

• Published in: Sociology compass Vol. 14; no. 10; pp. 1 - 15
• Main Authors: Sousa‐Duarte, Fernanda, Brown, Patrick, Mendes, Ana Magnólia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.10.2020
• Subjects: distrust; healthcare professional; healthcare provider perspective; patient–professional relationship; trust; uncertainty; vulnerability
• ISSN: 1751-9020; 1751-9020
• DOI: 10.1111/soc4.12828

Trust is considered as an important process in establishing positive patient–professional relationships and healthcare outcomes. While many studies denote the mutual–reciprocal nature of trust, there is a strong tendency to consider professionals merely as trustees. This article presents a review of literature addressing healthcare professionals' trust in patients, aiming to identify and compare more theoretical and more empirical contributions on the topic as a basis for developing a research agenda. We examine 31 theoretical and empirical peer‐reviewed articles that address healthcare professionals' trust in patients, either as the primary or secondary focus. We found that healthcare professionals' trust in patients is still overlooked in empirical trust studies into healthcare, despite several theoretical and review articles emphasising the relevance of the topic. We propose that future empirical research considers professionals' uncertainties and vulnerabilities, and that theoretical studies reflect more on methodological approaches for researching their conceptualisations. Moreover, our findings suggest that while system‐based understandings have been seen as important for considering how patients trust in their healthcare, we argue that these same systems—professional, ethical, organisational and legal—are vital to understanding how doctors become vulnerable, and therefore, how trust in their patients becomes pertinent, in their everyday work.