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. […]
Patient Centered
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 […]
5 steps to improve your patient education
Frequently, when I am talking to providers about heath communication, or health literacy, we end up talking about patient education. That makes sense; there are many connections among these subjects. And I’m an educator. But physicians are often frustrated when their patient education doesn’t have its intended effect. One physician put it to me this […]
“We want to spend time with our patients.”
“We want to spend time with our patients,” the speaker said. The audience nodded, and sighed. I was a researcher at a conference for physicians, medical educators, researchers, and public health professionals. Among all the cutting-edge research, amidst all the promising practices, this one statement stood out. “We want to spend time with our patients. […]