Several months ago, I was talking to an oncologist about provider education. He told me about his usual experience with provider education at his organization, with an edge to his voice: “We are always, always being asked to do one more thing. Things added on. Little things…and it’s constant and it’s so frustrating.” This ‘one […]
Patient Education
Why health literacy matters to your patient education
What does health literacy have to do with patient education? I’ve been asked this question many times over the years, directly and indirectly. The question itself makes sense. As providers, you want patients to have health information in a way that they can use. You want to share what you know, in a way that […]
My single best piece of advice for health professionals
Recently, we celebrated the first anniversary here at the Health Communication Partners website. If you’ve been following along, you know that at HCP we believe in taking a resource perspective rather than deficit perspective. On everyone—providers and patients. We understand that health communication is a subset of everyday communication. We know everyone can learn (and […]
It’s the first anniversary of the HCP website! Check out our exclusive, free resources
We’re gonna party like it’s our birthday Because it is! And the presents are all for you. You know here at HCP, it’s all exclusive information. This is totally original content you won’t find anywhere else. It’s all research based, all resource-based. Always patient centered. Always culturally and linguistically appropriate. And there’s no deficit perspective…on […]
1 thing you can do to save time in patient education
The nurse administrator looked at me and said, “Time. Everything is about time.” I had asked her about some front-burner issues she was facing in the oncology department. She continued, with a look on her face that was almost apologetic. “The docs want more time with their patients. They want more time.” Over the course […]
25 different ways to elicit important information
I recently heard a Family Practice Physician comment on the importance of follow-up questions. He mentioned how it’s easy to ask a patient, “Do you smoke?” and if their answer is “no,” to move on to the next issue. He said providers were “missing opportunities for follow up questions,” even though the patient had said […]