Do you care about communication and education in health care? Good. This episode is for you. No matter what your role is as a health professional, what your specialty or topic is, or who your audience is, this episode is about the single best piece of advice I can give you. That is all. Just […]
4 tips for sharing information with a patient or client
Last week, I was at the Chronic Disease Prevention Symposium, where I gave a plenary session on health literacy. After my talk, there was time for questions. Eventually, one physician raised his hand. Taking the microphone, he said he’d appreciated my talk. Then, he asked (as closely as I can recall): What if we need […]
13 prompts to help you reflect on your patient communication
As you might expect, I often talk with providers about their patient communication, and sometimes those providers are physicians. As with any providers, physicians have their own reasons for seeking some communication support. For instance, one physician put it to me this way: “I do some of the right stuff you’re talking about, but I […]
Chronic disease apps and health literacy
What does health literacy have to do with apps specifically for chronic disease? Quite a lot, it turns out. In this episode you’ll learn about issues of engagement, accessibility, and relevance when it comes to apps for chronic disease management. You’ll also learn three things you can do to bring into focus the health literacy […]
Health literacy as an interaction, Part 2
“We’re burned by, ‘Tell ‘em what they need to know, and hope they heard.’ It’s the cultural legacy…” A surgeon told me this when we were talking about health literacy. His candor startled me. He went on to make the point that he was convinced he (and his colleagues) could be doing better. Despite […]
Two structural concerns that can bog down interprofessional communication
I was talking recently to a health administrator about communication between different groups in the hospital system. He said, “Interdepartmental communication has been historically very difficult. There were different incentives that made working together something people didn’t want to do. If your department didn’t make the numbers, you’re in trouble, you’re the one out of […]