Addressing health disparities can seem overwhelming, especially at a time when health professionals are already under immense demands–and pressures to be almost superhuman. Yet often, the providers I talk to espouse values of equity and justice. National Minority Health Month draws attention to how Americans have experienced variable access to care based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic […]
Clinical Communication
Learn two steps to help improve your health communication
“I was listening for the pain. I kept listening for the pain.” This was what a physician said during our debriefing after a role-play. She was the ‘attending,’ another physician played the ‘patient,’ and I was the observer. The role-play was a brief initial patient consultation. During the debrief, we were focused on communication. The […]
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 […]
Why I started Health Communication Partners
The start of a new year reminds us to reflect. In the last few weeks of 2018, I had fun going back into the articles and podcasts here on the site to see which were the most popular. This was a kind of reflection. But I’d also been thinking about why I do what I […]
Top Ten Most Popular Articles in 2018
Health communication, patient education, health literacy. You care about these; that’s why you’re here. You also like reaching all patients. And saving time. No matter what you think of Top 10 lists, they’re effective and efficient. So here’s your chance to combine all of these: A Top 10 list of articles about health communication, health […]