Last week, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal followed up a series of letters to medical leaders with an open Request for Information about “the misuse of race within clinical care.” We told you about the series of letters in this post. Apparently, Chairman Neal received so many responses from health professionals that he hadn’t originally […]
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Dr. Renata Schiavo talks about health equity in health communication
How might health equity show up in health communication? In the latest episode of “10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication,” Dr. Renata Schiavo, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Communication in Healthcare and Senior Lecturer at Columbia University, tells us her approach. There’s also a twist: turns out, focusing on health equity in communication can also save […]
How common terminology may perpetuate mental health stigma
A few weeks ago, I read a tweet from Dr. Javeed Sukhera about terminology and mental health. The tweet had ‘gone viral,’ and it’s stayed in my mind since then. Next time someone says "mental health" what if we took out "mental" and just said "health?" "I need time off for my health." "I need […]
Communication, and the death of a pet
“We’ll see you and Katie on Monday. Take it easy this weekend,” the vet tech says on the other end of the phone. “Thanks,” I say, and my voice can’t escape cracking, and I hang up the phone and cry. It’s Saturday. The Monday appointment will likely have only one outcome. I am standing at […]
Are you making these 6 mistakes in your cross-cultural communication?
Cross-cultural communication is one of the more critical communication issues in healthcare today. And for good reason. Cross-cultural communication training is helpful to numerous outcomes. And when it’s missing, outcomes suffer. Here are some common pitfalls when it comes to communicating across difference – and what you can do to avoid them. Mistake #1: Forgetting yourself. […]
The easily-overlooked first step in cross-cultural communication
An OB-GYN and I were talking about a recent presentation she’d seen from a leader in her field. I heard in her voice how much she’d enjoyed the presentation, and we spent some significant time talking about it. She was encouraged by this physician’s thoughtful comments on some of the complexities in physician/patient communication. She […]