title: The Video Interaction Guidance approach applied to teaching communication skills in dentistry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine dentists' views of a novel video review technique to improve communication skills in complex clinical situations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dentists (n = 3) participated in a video review known as Video Interaction Guidance to encourage more attuned interactions with their patients (n = 4). Part of this process is to identify where dentists and patients reacted positively and effectively. Each dentist was presented with short segments of video footage taken during an appointment with a patient with intellectual disabilities and communication difficulties. Having observed their interactions with patients, dentists were asked to reflect on their communication strategies with the assistance of a trained VIG specialist.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dentists reflected that their VIG session had been insightful and considered the review process as beneficial to communication skills training in dentistry. They believed that this technique could significantly improve the way dentists interact and communicate with patients. The VIG sessions increased their awareness of the communication strategies they use with their patients and were perceived as neither uncomfortable nor threatening.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The VIG session was beneficial in this exploratory investigation because the dentists could identify when their interactions were most effective. Awareness of their non-verbal communication strategies and the need to adopt these behaviours frequently were identified as key benefits of this training approach. One dentist suggested that the video review method was supportive because it was undertaken by a behavioural scientist rather than a professional counterpart.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Some evidence supports the VIG approach in this specialist area of communication skills and dental training.
authors.affiliation: Dental Health Services Research Unit, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: School of Computing, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herron
authors.affiliation: School of Computing, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menzies
authors.affiliation: School of Computing, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: School of Computing, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Computing, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waller
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Humphris
authors.affiliation: Dental Health Services Research Unit, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D003813:Dentistry; D004497:Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D013663:Teaching
keywords: Video Interaction Guidance; communication; communication disabilities; dentistry; intellectual disabilities; special care dentistry