Everyone I meet in health care and public health wants to do well at their job, and move the needle on health equity. The problem is that when it comes to professional development, too often stand-alone, one-time courses are all people get. Here’s why they don’t work at making change. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT As an educator, […]
Patient Centered
Removing common obstacles to equity in communication
Communication impacts people’s access to health care and their health outcomes. Health disparities persist in the U.S., and some have recently worsened, especially for poor and uninsured populations (1). Social and cultural inequalities permeate the health care system, and can affect patients through individual- and systems-level communication (2). Health systems’ failure to address language, health […]
Our Top 10 Most Popular Episodes of 2022
It’s the countdown time of year! Catch up really quickly on what everyone was listening to from “10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication.” This episode is about the Top 10 most downloaded episodes from 2022. You’re reflective. You get how much communication is connected to equity. You get how the ways we educate are connected […]
25 ways to elicit important patient information
A Family Practice Physician recently spoke to a group I was in. He underscored the importance of follow-up questions, even when they seem irrelevant or off-topic. The example he used was asking a patient, “Do you smoke?” If their answer is “no,” there’s danger in your briskly moving on to the next issue. He said […]
Episode 138 Dr. Paul Ranelli and using the arts to explore rare diseases
It’s a paradox that rare diseases are not so rare; one in ten people has a rare disease. Yet each rare disease, and each person’s experience with a rare disease, is different. This makes for complex communication with family and health professionals. Hear how Dr. Paul Ranelli uses the arts to delve into the complexities […]
Episode 132 Why we should take seriously the differences between “pee-pee” and “urine”
No, really. There are important differences between the terms “pee-pee” and “urine.” Here’s what they are, and why anyone who cares about patient communication and education should take these differences seriously. Listen here and read the transcript below. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Aww shucks. It’s happened. I got COVID. And the timing! Last episode we made our […]