Healthcare

• Identify, document and share the patient’s communication needs.
• Identify, document and share any trusted people the patient wants to assist them with communication and / or decisions.
• Ensure patient has access to a reliable means of communicating at all times and prior to requesting informed consent to treatment.
• Allow support person to assist with communication and/or decision making when required.
• Engage a Speech language Pathologist if patient has no reliable way to communicate.

Communicating with a patient who has a communication disability:

• Learn how the patient communicates.
• Talk directly to the patient in a respectful manner. Do not “talk down” to the patient.
• Support persons or family members should help you communicate WITH the patient, not speak FOR the patient.
• Slow your talking slightly.
• Pause between your sentences to give the patient time to process what is said.
• Present one idea at a time.
• If your patient has difficulty understanding, use short sentences and give examples.
• Ask questions in different ways to check the patient is understanding.
• Show what you are talking about by using gestures, pointing to pictures, drawings and objects.
• Engage a Speech Language Pathologist if the patient has a complex communication disability or no obvious way of communicating; if you question the patient’s capacity to provide informed consent; if you see evidence of a conflict of interest, undue persuasion or coercion from support person(s) and in critical communication contexts such as medical assistance in dying.

Resources:

Communication Supports in Capacity

Communication Supports Glossary

CDAC webinars on access to healthcare

Patient Provider Communication

Communication Toolkit

Commercial healthcare vocabulary displays

Blackstone, Beukleman and Yorkston (2015) Patient-Provider Communication: Roles for Speech-Language Pathologists and other Health Care Professionals. www.pluralpublishing.com

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