About Us
Measurable, Actionable Insights Into Communication
Health Communication Partners LLC (HCP) works to improve patient relationships and employee retention through more equitable communication. Our experts provide consulting, online courses, and educational materials that focus on connecting with diverse people in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways.
The resources and services HCP provides are research-driven, spearheaded by Dr. Anne Marie Liebel, an Ivy League-educated literacy expert, mixed-methods researcher, and lifelong educator. Dr. Liebel’s “Courses + Action” process bridges the gap between academic research and clinical practice, allowing participants to immediately put what they learn into motion.
We also provide a members-only content platform of free, research-based tools and strategies, in addition to the podcast series “10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication.”
With HCP, you can develop your own tool-box for overcoming obstacles to effective communication as a health professional. Right now you can access:
- On-demand digital learning
- Research-based articles,
- Podcast series
- A free member library
“What we particularly appreciated about her approach was the lasting value she was able to deliver to our organization–that we have the opportunity to carry forward in our journey on equity and equality in healthcare and health communications.”
Kelly Kelso, Karius Diagnostics
“Our facilitators appreciated the dialogue raising awareness of microaggressions and the challenges related to how bias plays into our relationships, while also exchanging ideas on how others in the group have managed similar challenges.”
Amy Windover, Ph.D. Director, Center for Excellence in Healthcare Communication, Cleveland Clinic
“Our website had been associated with public health research projects for several years. Our site usage dipped, and I was looking for ways to boost site engagement and improve the way we were communicating with our users. Dr. Liebel pointed out that some of our images, words, and other ways of communicating with users were not showing ourselves as culturally- and geographically-focused. This was hard to hear, but important to note, so we could do what we wanted to do (and thought we were doing)!”
Dr. Carole Hutchinson, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, administrator for GetHealthyHarlem.org
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Why I Started Health Communication Partners
As a former teacher in public schools and a professor of education at Clemson University, I’ve long been aware that most teachers look and sound like me, but most students do not. And over the years, the student body has become much more diverse, but teaching staff have not.
Teachers love all their kids, so it’s hard to grapple with the fact that we do a better job at educating certain children than others. As a teacher myself, I had to think deeply about what assumptions I made and what baggage I brought to the classroom. And I knew we could do a better job of teaching ALL students.
After I got involved in a research project at Clemson on patient-physician communication, I realized that much of what we know about teacher talk and how schools structure relationships between teachers and students also applies to health care. Taking an equity lens to communication in health care helps providers think about patients who are not well served by current systems and helps them create materials that work well for everyone.
That’s why I started Health Communication Partners (HCP). And over the past few years, more people in the corporate world have started talking about equity as well. More and more businesses of all kinds now have an equity strategy. And that’s great!
However, implementation has been difficult, so the needle hasn’t moved much. Therefore, there’s been a widespread call for additional tools, concepts, and approaches. My cutting-edge Courses + Action approach, backed by research based on methodologies from the University of Pennsylvania, brings a frame that allows people to investigate language use in a way that deals directly with culture and context.
The great thing about this approach is it’s not “one more thing” that has to be done. It actually turbocharges existing equity strategies by teaching people how to put an equity lens on their communications. It expands upon the good you’re already doing!
Of course, money is tied to everything in health care and in business. Hospitals save billions or even trillions of dollars when people are healthier. Businesses are more successful when they can retain their skilled, diverse workforce. That’s why my approach works: It utilizes innovative research that provides my clients with statistically significant results they can put to work right away.
When you learn to optimize your core processes by looking at them through an equity lens, it allows you to make changes in communication that have immediate impact. There isn’t a core process that communication doesn’t touch—whether in education, health care, or business.
Dr. Anne Marie Liebel, Ed.D.
Anne Marie
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