Today we added seven new 2-day courses in the Norwegian version of the Four Habits – 4 gode vaner – to our calendar and courses. These courses build on the development of the Four Habits Approach to Effective Clinical Communication in Kaiser Permanente, California, USA since 1989. Following their important contribution and a pilot in Oslo in August 2006, we developed an adjusted Norwegian version that was tested in a randomised controlled trial in 2007-08. We found that a condensed 20-hour training over two days was effective and changed physician behavior. Also, more than three years after the course, 60% of the physicians stated that the course had changed their practice ever after. Later, the approach has been used in Sweden and Germany, and research projects are launched in Cologne and drafted in Uppsala. Akershus University Hospital and the University of Oslo currently invest in the development of a teach-the-teachers program in order to foster a higher capacity for post-graduate teaching and supervision.
Oslo Communication in Healthcare Education and Research