Get ready!

1 Before you read the passage, talk

about these questions.
 1.- what are some possible cause of
miscommunication with patients?

Poor health literacy, patients may not trust

medical professionals, cultural differences,
 2.- how can medical professionals improve
communication with patients?
Establish a good rapport with the patient, show empathy and
understanding at all times, be aware of how your verbal and
nonverbal cues are afecting the interaction, Avoid using jargón as
much as possible
 To: All Staff
 Subject: Communicating with Patients
Clear communication is vital to providing
the best care possible. However, recently
we have not been getting all the
information we need.
If you believe you are not getting adequate
information from a patient, remember
some of the possible causes of
miscommunication:
 Poor Health Literacy- Uninformed patients
may not understand important terms.
 Negativ e Preconceptions – Patients may
not trust medical professionals. They may
experience anxiety when forced to interact
to dealing with illness and health care
 Cultural Differences – different cultures
may have different approaches to dealing
with illness and health care.
If you recognize any of these issues, a few
simple steps can be all that is requiered to
improve communication:
 Establish a good rapport with the patient.
Patients heal better in a therapeutic
environments.
 Show empathy and understanding at all
times.
 Be aware of how your verbal and
nonverbal cues are affecting the
interaction.
 Avoid using jargon as much as possible.
This may confuse or intimidate the patient.
 Ask open-ended questions to signal to
patients that you care about their input.
Remember, everyone share the
responsibility of effective communication
with patients. The more information we
can give and receive,the better care we
can provide.
2 Read the memo on communicating with patients. Then, choose
the correct answers.

1.- what is the main idea of the article?

A Medical professionals must learn to trust patients.

B There are easy ways to improve communication with patients.

C Verbal and nonverbal communication are equally imortant.

D Poor communication with patients can lead to life-threatening risks.

2.- Which of the following is NOT a cause of miscommunication?

A Asking to many open-ended questions

B Low levels of health education
C Diverse cultural beliefs
D Mistrust of medical personnel

3.- What is an appropriate way to improve communication with

patients?

A Use a lot of technical words.

B Avoid becoming too friendly.
C Limit nonverbal communication.
D Show proper empathy to patients
3
Match the word 1-6 with the
definitions A-F  A a feeling of understanding and a
1 E verbal connection between two people
2 F therapeutic  B a feeling of nervousness and worry
3 C open-ended question
4 A rapport
 C an inquiry that requires an anwer
longer than a one-word response
5 B anxiety
6 D nonverbal  D communication witout the use of
spoken language
 E spoken
 F helping someone to heal or feel
relaxed
44Read the sentence pair. Choose where the words
best fit the blanks.

1.- jargon /empathy

jargon
A Using too much ___________ can confuse patients.
empathy
B Show ______________ to your patients without sounding take.

2.- health literacy / miscommunication

miscommunication
A You must speak clearly to avoid a ___________________ with a patient.
health literacy level of many patients is too low.
B The __________________

3.- cultural differences / preconceptions

cultural differences
A You must be aware of ___________________________ that can lead to
misunderstandings.
preconceptions shape how treat a patient.
B Never let __________________
 To feel comfortable sharing information
 to heal in the best way in a therapeutic
environment
 Establish a good rapport
 Show empathy and understanding at all
times

 Listen to a conversation between a doctor
6
and a nurse. Mark the following
statements as true (T) or false (F).
1.- ____ The patient lied about his medical history

2.- ____ The patient may not understand certain

jargon.

3.- ____ The man tried to engage the patient in casual

conversation.
 7 Listen again and complete the
conversation.
 Nurse. It’s possible. But I can´t tell because he´s barely
speaking to me.

Just ____
 Doctor. He might 1______ be anxious
________. It can be
scary to feel terrible but not know why.

Pretty nervous
 Nurse. Yeah, he does seem 2 _______ ________. In
fact, I noted that as an additional symptom.

Lots of jargon
 Doctor. Did you use 3______ ______ _________ ?In
my experience, that makes things worse.
 Nausea and
 Nurse. I might have. Since he has 4_______ anxiety
_____
_____, I asked him if he has a history of hypoglycemia.

Not _______
 Doctor. See, that term may 5 _____ mean much
_______
to him. Try “ low blood sugar” instead.

 Nurse. Good point.

Make ______
 Doctor. Also, 6______ sure to____ establish a rapport.
Even just by asking about his day.

 Nurse. Oh. I didn´t really do that. I just jumped in with my

questions.
 Video