A few weeks ago, I read a tweet from Dr. Javeed Sukhera about terminology and mental health. The tweet had ‘gone viral,’ and it’s stayed in my mind since then. Next time someone says "mental health" what if we took out "mental" and just said "health?" "I need time off for my health." "I need […]
How individual providers can help address health disparities
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 […]
Infographic: 13 ways to reflect on patient/client communication
Here at Health Communication Partners, we think (and talk and write) about health communication all the time. It’s, y’know, in our name. Of all the possible ways of approaching the issue of communicating with patients, this is one of my favorites. That’s partly because when it comes to communicating as professionals, reflective practice can help […]
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 […]
One thought on health communication and chronic disease
“Well, like the food for instance, it wasn’t a very extensive list of what you could eat, it was very limited and most of the food I eat wasn’t on it…” (participant, Carolan Gill & Steele 2012) You can’t be in health communication and health literacy without hearing about chronic disease, non-communicable diseases, and disease […]
When you want to do something about health literacy right now
Some people talk about health literacy like it’s something out there. Something that’s big, immutable, remote. I don’t have time for that. And neither do you. Health literacy is real. It’s not new. And it happens nearly everywhere, every day, with everyone. Still, concrete examples of what you can do about health literacy are hard […]
