Communication impacts people’s access to health care and their health outcomes. The cost of not addressing communication barriers in hospitals has been estimated at $6.8 billion annually [1].
Our video course Foundations of Equitable Interpersonal Communication has a statistically significant impact on participants’ communication. Our exclusive BRIDGES approach connects equity to communication in an actionable way to reduce health disparities.
This on-demand course for all patient-facing employees is about improving health care quality, patient safety, patient engagement, and the experiences individuals have within the health care system. Specifically, this course teaches all patient-facing employees how to recognize and address structural obstacles to equitable communication that may contribute to miscommunication.
There was a statistically significant increase in participants’ reported knowledge, skill, and confidence in communication after the course (M = 28.36, SD = 1.96) compared to before the course [(M = 25.73, SD = 2.97), t(10) = 3.04, p= .0062.]
Participants’ reported their comfort with analyzing their own communication grew an average of 15%. Their reported awareness of the ways that communication can accidentally contribute to health disparities increased an average of 13.6%. These two topics are instrumental in understanding and acting on health inequalities related to communication.
Overall, participants reported that their communication knowledge improved by an average of 12%.
When your organization purchases access to Foundations of Equitable Interpersonal Communication, it includes a one hour, live, group meeting for course participants, after they complete the course. In this one hour, live, group meeting, we discuss how learners can turn to action and apply what they’ve learned in their specific contexts.
For more information, watch the video and fill out the form below.
- Hurtig, R. R., Alper, R. M., & Berkowitz, B. (2018). The cost of not addressing the communication barriers faced by hospitalized patients. Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groups, 3(12), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1044/persp3.SIG12.99
