Recent research has shown how public health, medical care, and human service providers can unintentionally contribute to racial and ethnic health disparities. This is distressing, and almost unbelievable, considering that most health professionals genuinely seek to give good care to all patients and clients. Yet, there are documented links between health care professionals’ unconscious bias, and […]
Health Communication
One way you can improve your health communication right now
The end of the year gives us all a reason to look back, and take stock. As I was reflecting on my work in health communication this year, I saw a pattern I thought I’d share with you. It’s about a commonality in many of the conversations I’ve had, that might be helpful to you. […]
10 (free) health communication resources I’m grateful for
It’s Thanksgiving time around here, and in that spirit, I want to share with you some health communication resources that I am thankful for this year. Some of these might be new to you. Some of these, perhaps you’ve heard of, but might not be using. And for the ones you are already using, I […]
Being mindful of your metaphors in medicine
The genetic program. The tree of life. A battle against cancer. These health-related metaphors have become so ubiquitous that they can slip past our notice. Metaphor has been recognized as one of the most important rhetorical devices of all time, ever since Aristotle treated it in his Art of rhetoric. Metaphors are as sophisticated as […]
3 Common patient communication roadblocks (and how to get past them)
I’ll get right down to business: You care about patient communication because you know what a difference it makes to the care you provide. The many health care professionals I’ve talked to over the years, like you, care about patient communication. And over time, I have heard some common problems, challenges, and requests when it […]
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 […]