The authors worked together during their PhD programmes and in writing the draft of this PhD report.

The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com The aim of these two PhD thesis are to develop a guideline on doctor-patient communication skills based on cultural characteristics of Southeast Asian context and to develop communication skills training for nurses to enhance their contri-bution to the informed consent and shared decision making process, in the same context. These studies started with qualitative methods; including grounded theory methodology, by exploring doctors’, patients’, medical students ’ and nurses ’ per-ceptions on the current and desired communication skills in which influenced by culture. Based on the results, we design communication skills training and evaluate the training with quantitative methods, using pre and post test studies. Southeast Asian desired ideal partnership style in communicating with their doctors. More emphasize on basic skills such as listening to subtle non-verbal cues are needed for doctors and nurses. A guideline on doctor-patient communication tailored to local culture was developed as well as training for nurses using 4CID design to enhanc