We’re celebrating! It’s true that it may seem kind of a stretch to celebrate right now, with these overlapping epidemics of COVID-19 and racial and social inequality. Of course COVID-19 is new but the other epidemics aren’t. Still, we’re celebrating. We’re celebrating because more people than ever are speaking up about centering equity and justice in […]
Patient Centered
Patient communication during COVID with Dr. Beverly Zavaleta
What does COVID mean for clinician-patient communication? Dr. Beverly Zavaleta talks to us from the front lines about the significant communication challenges presented by COVID, how she and her team are dealing with them, and what’s she’s learned about making words matter. Listen here, and read the transcript below. Communication from clinicians to their patients, […]
How Freire can help with communication about COVID-19
The world is facing an unprecedented health crisis. With that, comes the urgent need for effective education about this health crisis. If you’re a health professional, educating patients or the public, this is for you. I’m going to tell you one thing you can do—one important change you can make right now—that will improve how […]
Dr. Beverly Zavaleta talks about how getting cancer changed her approach to patients
When this physician was diagnosed with cancer, she confronted her assumptions about patients, communication, and education. Board-certified family physician Dr. Beverly Zavaleta tells us what happened, and how it changed her practice. Listen below, or read the transcript. At Health Communication Partners, we work quite a lot with communication between patients and clinicians. But what happens […]
A resource for addressing microaggressions in healthcare
Everyone has bias. Implicit bias has been shown to contribute to health disparities. Recent research has shown how public health, medical care, and human service providers can unintentionally contribute to health disparities. The evidence that physician behavior and decision making may contribute to racial inequalities in health care is difficult to reconcile with the fact […]
How can patients’ misconceptions be helpful?
An Ob-Gyn told me, with some frustration, that she regularly encounters adult patients who have misconceptions about basic female anatomy. An Ob-patient educator agreed: “Sure. I’m often saying to patients, ‘our plumbing and our other parts are close together down there.’” Whether it’s about anatomy or something else, misconceptions happen. Patients may walk into the […]