What does health literacy have to do with patient education? I’ve been asked this question many times over the years, directly and indirectly. The question itself makes sense. As providers, you want patients to have health information in a way that they can use. You want to share what you know, in a way that […]
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First anniversary episode: Some health literacy basics
It’s the first anniversary of the “10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication” podcast series! We’re proud, and we’re grateful to you our listeners. We’re celebrating Health Literacy Month as well. If you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss is about when it comes to health literacy, this is for you. You’ll learn some of the […]
My single best piece of advice for health professionals
Recently, we celebrated the first anniversary here at the Health Communication Partners website. If you’ve been following along, you know that at HCP we believe in taking a resource perspective rather than deficit perspective. On everyone—providers and patients. We understand that health communication is a subset of everyday communication. We know everyone can learn (and […]
5 quick wins for your patient communication
Sometimes you just need a quick win. A panel I attended last week spent about 90 minutes really getting into the weeds of some serious issues around patient communication. Toward the end, the moderator turned to the panel and said, “Well, everyone wants a quick win.” He then put the panel members on the spot: […]
“Any conversation about care is also a conversation about culture.”
How do you communicate with patients with whom it seems you have little in common? You know by now that cross-cultural communication matters to outcomes. But it is complex work that merits support. In this episode, you’ll learn about the easily-overlooked first step in cross-cultural communication. And it’s something you can do on your own. […]
How your organization’s digital health tools can leave patients behind (and what can be done about it)
A health care administrator was talking with me about digital health tools. They’re everywhere, he acknowledged, pointing to several apps on his own smart phone. But he knew sometimes they weren’t all they’d cracked up to be. And this often fell at the foot of the provider. Of course, providers usually aren’t the developers or […]