A practitioner's guide to interpersonal communication theory: an overview and exploration of selected theories

Objective: To provide a brief overview of selected interpersonal theories and models, and to present examples of their use in healthcare communication research.

Results: Nine interpersonal communication theories and their application to healthcare communication are discussed.

Conclusion: As healthcare communication interactions often occur at an interpersonal level, familiarity with theories of interpersonal communication may reinforce existing best practices and lead to the development of novel communication approaches with patients.

Practice implications: This article serves as an introductory primer to theories of interpersonal communication that have been or could be applied to healthcare communication research. Understanding key constructs and general formulations of these theories may provide practitioners with additional theoretical frameworks to use when interacting with patients.