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Taking an interdisciplinary approach to conceptualise interpersonal trust between patients and medical practitioners, Katja Beitat introduces a unique model to describe the dynamics of trust building and deterioration with particular relevance to incidents in health care. Empirical findings from studies in Australia and Germany, the two systems focused on in this book, broadly support and expand the proposed dynamic model of trust. Specific communication, competence and care related aspects impact on the trust relationship between patients and practitioners which in return is considered essential for other trust relations in health care.

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Conceptualising Trust.- Communicating about Health Care Incidents.- Experiences of Patients and Medical Practitioners.- Factors Influencing Interpersonal Trust.- Recommendations for Future Research.

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Since 2007 Katja Beitat has been working for the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission, an independent statutory body in Sydney/Australia. She completed her PhD thesis at the University of Leipzig/Germany and has been a visiting scholar at the Centre for Health Communication at the University of Technology, Sydney.

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