RESUMO
<b>Purpose</b> : To investigate the desirable communication methods, which can be used during home medical care visits of patients with intractable neurological disorders (INDs) who are unable to use any communication tools (hereinafter referred to as “communication methods”).<br><b>Methods</b> : Interview surveys were conducted with the spouses of the patients with INDs who were unable to use any communication tools, and among bereaved family members of patients with INDs to whom home medical care had previously been provided. At the interviews, both voice recording and dictation were utilized to prepare a verbatim record, with which qualitative analyses were later conducted.<br><b>Results</b> : In respect of communication methods, three concepts were apparent ; 1) family members who were present during home medical care visits “interpreted” and “inferred” what the patient wanted to convey to the medical care provider, 2) the family and the medical care provider conversed away from the patient in order to reduce patient anxiety and to provide reassurance, and 3) the medical care provider judged the correct timing for communication between himself/herself and the family, and exceptionally in the absence of the patient.<br><b>Conclusion</b> : A hypothesis was formulated, which is that “communication with the patient in the presence of the family” is the basic “communication method.”