This week, I’ll start with a scary story. The clock is ticking. The spotlight is on you. You’re the person everyone wants a part of. And you’re in the middle of educating a patient on a crucial topic. But it’s going nowhere. Crickets. “The strategy I’ve been recommending for years was not working.” “I was […]
Patient Centered
Make this one change to improve your patient education
A while ago, I wrote a piece called 5 steps to improve your patient education. I promised I would gradually dig deeper into each of the 5 steps. Last month I dove into the topic of patients’ background knowledge and how it can help you. This time, it’s about your subject matter. Your medical knowledge. […]
Why addressing unconscious bias can make people nervous
Last week I was in Baltimore, at the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare/Health Literacy Annual Research Conference. Every one of the keynote addresses discussed biases and stereotypes. Every one. (Biases and stereotypes was not the conference theme.) The importance of examining and addressing unconscious biases seems to be well understood in the research community. […]
5 ways patient background knowledge can help you (and your patient)
A few weeks ago I wrote about 5 steps you could take to improve your patient education. I promised I would dig deeper into that material. That’s what this article is about. Specifically, we’re taking a closer look at patient knowledge. Let’s start with some data: Elisabeth is describing her first meeting with her new […]
Infographic: 25 phrases to help resolve conflict
Conflict is part of life. And that includes the health care setting. Each of us encounters conflict in our professional and personal lives. Handling conflict well is an important part of communication (and an essential ingredient in leadership). Last week, I wrote about resolving conflict in patient interactions. I shared a set of questions and […]
Reach more patients by reducing cultural bias in your metaphors and analogies
Metaphors and analogies are favored tools of poets — and doctors. They invite us to see a person, idea, or object differently, by inviting comparisons. Providers use them often, to explain complex physiological phenomena to patients. They may even improve physicians’ communication. So what’s the problem? Sometimes they don’t work. They can even give patients […]