Communication In Medical Care

This 2006 volume provides a comprehensive discussion of communication between doctors and patients in primary care consultations. It brings together a team of leading contributors from the fields of linguistics, sociology and medicine to describe each phase of the primary care consultation, identifying the distinctive tasks, goals and activities that make up each phase of primary care as social interaction. Using conversation analysis techniques, the authors analyze the sequential unfolding of a visit, and describe the dilemmas and conflicts faced by physicians and patients as they work through each of these activities. The result is a view of the medical encounter that takes the perspective of both physicians and patients in a way that is both rigorous and humane. Clear and comprehensive, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers in sociolinguistics, communication studies, sociology, and medicine.

Communication within the context of health and social care faces many challenges. Our understanding of how language and communication information is processed by the brain is increasing our awareness of the complexities involved and the influence of normal ageing on communication processing. Care systems are becoming more complex and service users demand more information and choice. At the same time, the range of service users encountered by practitioners includes more people with varied language backgrounds, and greater language and cultural diversity is occurring among health and social care staff. This volume explores current challenges to achieving effective communication in health and social care. It outlines how practitioners communicate, innovative methods for teaching communication skills, and methodologies to include children and people with communication difficulties in research and in consultation processes about healthcare. Particular communication issues, within the context of healthcare, for population groups such as older people, asylum seekers, young offenders and people with mental health problems are also addressed.

Ensure you have the skills to effectively communicate with patients and other healthcare professionals! With its easy-to-read style, Effective Communication for Health Professionals, 2nd edition, is loaded with useful tips and exercises to help you learn the universal (and necessary) practice of communication. This full-color second edition reflects current therapeutic techniques, including Communication Guidelines feature boxes, Words at Work dialogue boxes, added case studies, and all-new content exploring the most current communication tools in the modern health care setting. In addition, interactive exercises on the Evolve companion website encourages you to practice therapeutic communication techniques in real-life situations. UNIQUE! Interactive activities on accompanying Evolve site include a variety of application exercises such as scenarios with voice mail messages and patient/caregiver interviews. Easy-to-read style provides practical information, hints, and tips. Test Your Communication IQ boxes provide you with a short self-assessment test at the beginning of each chapter. Spotlight on Success boxes provide you with useful, practical tips for improving workplace habits and communication. Expanding Critical Thinking boxes provide actual case examples and activities with useful tips to help you apply what you’ve learned to practice. Legal Eagle boxes provide useful tips that focus on honesty, as well as ethical and legal communication between patients and healthcare workers. End-of-chapter questions and exercises help you to use knowledge learned from topics presented in the chapter. NEW! Chapter devoted to cross-cultural communication promotes understanding of care in a diverse workplace NEW! Chapter on diseases and disorders discusses communication with patients experiencing specific physical and mental illnesses and disorders. NEW and UNIQUE! Words at Work dialogue boxes demonstrate actual conversations between healthcare workers and clients. UPDATED! Content reflects the most current communication tools for the modern healthcare setting. NEW! Full-color design and art program promote engagement. NEW and UNIQUE! Communication Guidelines boxes direct you to best practices for the effective exchange of information. NEW! Additional Taking the Chapter to Work case studies demonstrate real-life communication pitfalls and successes.

Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

For patients and their loved ones, no care decisions are more profound than those made near the end of life. Unfortunately, the experience of dying in the United States is often characterized by fragmented care, inadequate treatment of distressing symptoms, frequent transitions among care settings, and enormous care responsibilities for families. According to this report, the current health care system of rendering more intensive services than are necessary and desired by patients, and the lack of coordination among programs increases risks to patients and creates avoidable burdens on them and their families. Dying in America is a study of the current state of health care for persons of all ages who are nearing the end of life. Death is not a strictly medical event. Ideally, health care for those nearing the end of life harmonizes with social, psychological, and spiritual support. All people with advanced illnesses who may be approaching the end of life are entitled to access to high-quality, compassionate, evidence-based care, consistent with their wishes. Dying in America evaluates strategies to integrate care into a person- and family-centered, team-based framework, and makes recommendations to create a system that coordinates care and supports and respects the choices of patients and their families. The findings and recommendations of this report will address the needs of patients and their families and assist policy makers, clinicians and their educational and credentialing bodies, leaders of health care delivery and financing organizations, researchers, public and private funders, religious and community leaders, advocates of better care, journalists, and the public to provide the best care possible for people nearing the end of life.

Promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of health communication According to the Joint Commission, over 75% of all serious medical errors in this country result from miscommunication. Based in these adverse realities and the author philosophy that communication is a clinical skill integral to effective health care delivery, this comprehensive text addresses thetheories and abilities needed by all health care providers. The only text written specifically for students of nursing, medicine, physical therapy,pharmacy, dentistry, physician assistants and opticians, this book incorporates recommendations for specific multimedia, suggestions for class discussion and interactive case studies to provide a rich and multi-perspective learning experience for gaining optimal expertise in effective health communication The author underscores the importance of developing and maintaining successful relationships with patients, peers, and colleagues as a cornerstone ofeffective health care outcomes. With an emphasis on interactive learning, the text utilizescommunication theories to analyze verbal and non-verbalbehaviors in diverse health care contexts and assess which are more effective and why. Summaries at the end of each chapter discuss health communicationoutcomes. Chapters cover interpersonal and gendered communication, provider-patient communication, intercultural communication, organizationalcommunication, team communication, malpractice, palliative care, end-of-life communication, and many other topics. Key Features: Fosters a patient-centered, interdisciplinary, multidimensional learning experience for health care students Recommends experiential learning using videos, films, and related discussion exercises Presents case study role-plays Provides companion case study resource to enhance learning objectives

Effective communication is at the heart of medical profession, whether it is patient-doctor communication, interpersonal communication, or communication with the scientific and research community. However, medical professionals are not adequately trained in these skills, and when it comes to presentations, the message is often lost due to inadequate preparation, ineffective slides, and a generally unconvincing performance by the presenter. This book addresses all aspects of the communication skills required by individuals entering medical school as well as professionals farther up the career ladder. Each chapter offers a quote or a statement that captures the essence of the text. Adopting a unique approach known an A, B, C, D and E (Assess Need, Brief, Contextualize, Describe and Evaluate) the book includes abundant illustrations, real-world case scenarios, anecdotes, tables, graphs and cartoons, as well as practical information, and tips on communicating effectively. As such it is a valuable resource for new and experienced clinicians, educators and researchers wanting to improve their communications skills.

This textbook provides the kind of comprehensive and in-depth preparation your students need to communicate optimally with patients, families, and fellow providers. Combining principles and practical applications, this text shows students how to apply communication techniques to patient care. It contains specific examples from many health care disciplines and is appropriate for all students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, and other allied health professions. Complete with chapter objectives, real-life examples and sample dialogue, and a glossary defining over 100 words and terms essential to the field of communication.