Soapbox: Medical Jargon - Have They REALLY Understood You?
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1 Soapbox: Medical Jargon: Have THey really UnderSTood yoU?
2 video SerieS: langUage of caring STorieS
3 free beryl Webinar replay
4 STaff MeeTing idea
5 QUoTeWorTHy
6 Wendy leebov recoMMendS
7 free Webinar overvieW of langUage of caring prograMS
By Wendy Leebov, Ed.D., Partner; Language of Caring
My mother won’t go into a doctor’s office or exam room by herself because she says she doesn’t understand a word the doctor says. I’ve gone to the doctor with her recently and I know that her doctor speaks very clearly and takes pains to do so. But over many years, my mother endured explanations by doctors—explanations that confused her and made her apologize about her lack of a college education. It’s gotten to the point that now, when she enters the doctor’s office, she is certain that she will not be able to under-stand so she doesn’t even try to listen. Instead, she looks over at me to make sure I’m listening for her.
Scott Abramson shares this story in “The Dangers of Doctorspeak” (Permanente Journal)
A while ago, I happened to be involved in a hospitalized patient-family conference. There seemed to be about ten family members present, all very devoted and concerned, though not particularly medically sophisticated. With much compassion and patience, the hospital-based specialist doctor reported that the x-rays showed what was, almost certainly, a newly discov-ered cancer. The doctor pointed out the multiple brain lesions on the MRI. She informed the family about other lesions showing up in the bone and still other lesions in the liver. The primary lesion, she suspected, was most likely in the lung. She then explained how lesions could spread from the primary to different parts of the body. The family listened respectfully, but they seemed more than a bit puzzled by it all. Suddenly, one brave family member blurted out, “What’s a lesion?”
For a moment, the doctor looked crestfallen. It occurred to her that in the last five minutes, nothing she said had been understood. Then she made a brilliant recovery. “A lesion,” she promptly declared, “is a cancer spot.” She then went through the same spiel again, but this time, instead of the word “lesion” she substituted the term, “cancer spot.” This time, as she spoke, the family nodded with understanding. When the doctor had finished her expla-nation, the family, though clearly saddened by the bad news, asked about the possibility of treatment.
“Good question,” replied the doctor, “but first we need to get tissue …”
So many words confuse patients and families, and when words evoke emotion or anxiety, people understand even less. Look at these so-called common words ---words that people rarely understand.
To be effective, we really need to become hyper-vigilant about the words we use. We need to replace jargon with plain talk or, if we need to use jargon, then explain it. AND, we need to check for understanding, because just because we said something clearly doesn’t mean it was understood by the person on the receiving end.
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“...just because we said something clearly doesn’t mean it was understood by the person on the receiving end.”
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True False
1 Long words make you sound smarter and more educated.
2 You can make sure a person understands you by asking, “Do you understand?”
3 When a person appears confused by an ex-planation you’ve given, it’s good to repeat it, because the person will understand more of it.
4
When you speak or write with short words and phrases, people feel insulted because they think you’re “dumbing down” for them, because you think they’re stupid.
1. False: Not according to research on this subject. The listener doesn’t appreciate or respect you for making them struggle to understand you.
2. False: Absolutely not. Most people will say “yes” even if they don’t understand, so they won’t look bad in our eyes. And some who actually believe they understand will say “yes” even though what they’ve understood is wrong.” The only way to be sure you’ve been understood is to use “Teach-Back.” For instance, “This can be con-fusing and I want to make sure I’ve done a good job of explaining. Please tell me what you’ve heard.”
3. False: You can’t count on that. The only way you’ll know is if you use “teachback.” And if you sense a person has not fully under-stood what you said, it would be better to say it in different words, not the same words in an effort to help them understand better.
4. False: People appreciate plain talk. Period.
Helpful Resources
• Your Patient/Family Advisors: Form a Materials Review and Improve-ment Team. Hold Jargon (ala Scavenger) Hunts to identify signs, pam-phlets, fact sheets, forms and checklists that need to be rewritten for clarity.
• The Health Literacy Advisor™ (Health Literacy Innovations; Bethesda, MD): Powerful software tool to help you assess and improve the read-ability of your documents using plain language. You can run any written material through it, and it then provides plain-language alternatives and scores documents on readability.
• Simply Sayin’: Medical Jargon for Kids (Free iTunes App): Developed by Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the award-winning Simply Sayin’™ app uses pictures, sounds and child friendly glossary of terms to facilitate clear conversations between the healthcare provider, child, and family. It clarifies common medical terms and procedures. Providers can also recommend Simply Sayin’ to parents and kids to support and extend their information-sharing. This app employs teach back techniques to check comprehension. Among its many features are illustrations, photos and sound clips with the option to switch between English and Spanish.
• The Health Literacy & Plain Language Resource Guide available FREE from Health Literacy Innovations: A terrific guide that helps us understand health literacy and take advantage of the growing number of resources now available.
• “Words to Watch Fact Sheet; ” National Patient Safety Foundation
• A Guide to the Joint Commission’s Communication Goal: Four Tips -- Poor communication among caregivers is a leading root cause of sentinel events in hospitals. Read this eye-opening guide for four tips to improve how caregivers share information.
Robert McCloskey said, “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
Watch Dr. Ron Servi, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Dr. Anna Likhacheva, Banner Cancer Specialists, share their perspectives on the positive impact of using the Language of Caring with patients and colleagues.
Wendy Leebov appeared in the Beryl Institute’s Headliner Series on February 16th. The subject: Words That Transform the Patient Experience. Registration was closed at 500 people and many people could not get in. With thanks to the Beryl Institute, you can now access the webinar recording at http://www.theberylinstitute.org/?page=WEBPXWORDS
Ask people to go around and take turns sharing “A high point from the last week…”
So simple, yet so important to focus people on the positives and encourage each other by sharing them.
“Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.”
Leonardo Da Vinci
Take a look at great “Bravery Certificates” for kids at http://www.global-medical.co.uk/bravery-certificates.html. Then, make your own that apply to services your organization provides for kids.
Achieving an unparalleled patient experience and a culture of caring through exceptional communication.
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Join our LinkedIn Group “Quality Patient Experience and HCAHPS Improvement” and add to the rich discussions about the quality patient experience. AND please send us an INVITE so we can connect. Thank you!
Jill Golde, MA, Dorothy Sisneros, MS, MBA and Wendy Leebov, EdD—partners at Language of Caring.
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