The Journal of

  Background: One of the most important factors for increasing clients ^' satisfaction is the relationship between health care providers ^' capability in communicating appropriately with their clients .To this aim, we decided to compare the effect of communication skills training of health staff , either written or lecture, on clients^' satisfaction in Shiraz health centers.

  Method: Totally 25 health care workers of six health centers of Shiraz and about 1000 clients participated in this study . The data on the relationship of health workers to their clients was collected by a questionnaire before and after the intervention. After the first phase, the participants were divided into two groups .One group was trained by speech and the other by written skills. After a six- week intervention, the data for second phase were collected by the same tool. Data were then analyzed by SPSS software and some tests such as chi-square and regression.

  Result : There was a significant difference between the mean scores of satisfaction of speech groups before and after the intervention (p<0.0001). The mean score of satisfaction of speech group was 37.47 before intervention which increased to 44.86 after the intervention.In the written group however it raised from 39 to 40.5 (P=0.016). The full satisfaction with speech group was29.8%

  before intervention which raised to 81.3% after the intervention.

  Conclusion : The results of this study showed that the education intervention had a positive role on clients' and health care workers' satisfaction. The effect of training through speech was more than the written one. It is therefore proposed that there should be an education intervention for health care workers on communication skills.