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 […]
Patient Centered
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. […]