A process evaluation of a health literacy intervention targeting pediatric providers' communication skills at the Texas Children's Health Plan

Background. Health literacy is an important determinant for quality health care, and affects communication between patients and physicians. Poor communication may result in negative effects in health. Improved communication between patients and physicians could positively affect health outcomes. Communication skills are teachable.^ Objectives. (1) to evaluate the process involved in the design and implementation of a health literacy intervention targeting pediatric providers’ communication skills at the Texas Children’s Health Plan in Houston, Texas; and (2) to describe lessons learned from this process that may be used in future attempts to address the issue of health literacy and health communication. ^ Design/methods. The process evaluation of the implementation of a health literacy strategy at the Texas Children’s Health Plan (TCHP) consisted of a critical analysis of all documents and minutes from meetings of the team of investigators. It also involved a secondary analysis of data collected between December 2006 and June 2007. Descriptive statistics, paired t-test and Wilcoxon-signed-rank test were employed in analyzing the data. This information was complemented with a limited review of existing literature on communication skills training programs. ^ Results. The design of the educational intervention followed recommendations from experts in the field of health literacy. The delivery of the intervention was possible and benefited from existing resources and logistics within the TCHP. Very few targeted providers participated in two offerings of the workshop (6.6% and 1.7% respectively). After the educational intervention, providers showed increased knowledge of health literacy facts and its effects in health (p=0.001); increased awareness of the low health literacy problem (p=0.003); increased expectations for change in practice (p=0.002), and intent to use health literacy strategies for communication immediately following the intervention (p=0.001). Low participation indicated the need for further investigation of barriers to, and means for successful implementation of programs aimed to improving health communication. ^ Conclusions. A short, focused intervention utilizing health literacy strategies for communication appeared effective in increasing knowledge and intentions for change in a small group of pediatric providers. ^

Strengthening communication skills in an innovative context of engineering project management learning

This document presents an innovative, formal educational initiative that is aimed at enhancing the development of engineering students’ specific competences when studying Project Management (PM) subject. The framework of the experience combines (1) theoretical concepts, (2) the development of a real-case project carried out by multidisciplinary groups of three different universities, (3) the use of software web 2.0 tools and (4) group and individual assignments of students that play different roles (project managers and team members). Under this scenario, the study focuses on monitoring the communication competence in the ever growing PM virtual environment. Factors such as corporal language, technical means, stage, and PM specific vocabulary among others have been considered in order to assess the students’ performance on this issue. As a main contribution, the paper introduces an ad-hoc rubric that, based on previous investigations, has been adapted and tested for the first time to this new and specific context. Additionally, the research conducted has provided some interesting findings that suggest further actions to improve and better define future rubrics, oriented to communication or even other competences. As specific PM subject concerns, it has been detected that students playing the role of Project Managers strengthen their competences more than those ones that play the role of Team Members. It has also been detected that students have more difficulty assimilating concepts related to risk and quality management. However those concepts related with scope, time or cost areas of knowledge have been better assimilated by the students.

Communication skills center project, Detroit.

"One of a series of successful compensatory education programs."

Assessing oral communication skills /

October 1977.

Identifying criteria for the assessment of pharmacy students' communication skills with patients

Objectives To identify criteria by which patients can assess the communication skills of pharmacy students. Method Potential assessment criteria were generated from 2 main sources: a literature review and a focus group discussion. A modified two-round Delphi survey was subsequently conducted with 35 professionals who were actively involved in teaching and assessing communication skills of pharmacy students to determine the importance and reliability of each criterion. Results Consensus ratings identified 7 criteria that were important measures of pharmacy students' communication skills and could be reliably assessed by patients. Conclusions A modified two-round Delphi consultation survey successfully identified criteria that can be used by patients to assess the communication skills of pharmacy undergraduates. Future work will examine the feasibility of using patients as assessors of communication skills of pharmacy students, preregistration pharmacists, and qualified pharmacists.

Az egyetemi hallgatók véleménye a kommunikációs készség fejlesztésének fontosságáról = Importance of communication skills according to bachelor and master students

Kutatásomban arra a kérdésre kerestem a választ, hogy a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetemen a hallgatók miként vélekednek a képességek, készségek fejlesztésének fontosságáról az egyetemi képzésen belül. Ennek érdekében 2015 februárjában kérdőíves felmérést végeztem 106 hallgató megkérdezésével. A hallgatók 90%-a egyetértett azzal az állítással, hogy a szakmai ismeretek átadása mellett a képességek, készségek fejlesztésére is hangsúlyt kell helyezni az egyetemi oktatásban. A jövőbeli sikerességük szempontjából a három legfontosabbnak tartott képességek: a problémamegoldó képesség, a gondolkodási képesség és a jó kommunikációs készség. A hallgatók tisztába vannak a jó kommunikációs készség fontosságával az élet számos területén, viszont szembe kell nézni az egyetemi oktatás korlátozott lehetőségeivel. Az oktatók gyakran kényszerülnek választás elé, mire helyezzék az oktatásba elsődlegesen a hangsúlyt, milyen módszertant alkalmazzanak. Ezt a döntést segíti, ha ismerjük hallgatóink preferenciáit, céljait, viszonyukat az egyes módszertani eszközökhöz. Jelen tanulmány ebben kíván segítséget nyújtani. _______ The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ opinion about the importance of skills and abilities development within university. In February 2015 a survey was conducted by interviewing 106 students. More than 90% of students agreed with the statement that beside professional skill transfer, skills and abilities development should be emphasized as well. According to students’ opinion the three most important skills for their future success are: problem-solving, creative thinking and communication skills. Students are aware of the importance of good communication skills in many areas of life but the opportunity of its development is restricted. Lecturers are often forced to make a choice about teaching goals, priorities and teaching methods. Knowledge about students’ goals, preferences and feelings about teaching methods supports this decision. This study intends to provide assistance in this.

Poor communication skills means high risk for aviation safety

Este artigo analisa diferentes tipos de comunicação no ambiente de negócios da aviação civil. Para tanto, utilizou-se uma abordagem qualitativa, delineada por análise documental dos relatórios das agencias governamentais. A comunicação é um sistema complexo que consiste em comunicação verbal, não verbal, escrita, falada e eletrônica. Na aviação, ela é um fator crucial ao enfrentamento de situações de alto risco. Os resultados obtidos indicam que lacunas de comunicação entre os indivíduos que atuam nas operações aeronáuticas e aeroviárias contribuem para a maior parte dos acidentes e incidentes ocorridos. As conclusões pontuam que as habilidades de comunicação são tão importantes quanto às habilidades técnicas e enfatizam a emergência do treinamento em habilidades de comunicação aos profissionais da aviação, possibilitando-os detectar ameaças e comunicar claramente a necessidade de apoio para o enfrentamento de riscos. É imperativo adotar as ações requeridas pela filosofia do Sistema de Gestão de Segurança, visando gerar comportamento seguro.

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) improved communication skills of student of Pharmacology in Medicine and Podiatry degree.

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) improved communication skills of student of Pharmacology in Medicine and Podiatry degree. Bellido I, Blanco E, Gomez-Luque A. D. Pharmacology and Clinical Therapeutic. Medicine School. University of Malaga. IBIMA. Malaga, Spain. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are versatile multipurpose evaluative tools that can be utilized to assess health care professionals in a clinical setting including communication skills and ability to handle unpredictable patient behavior, which usually are not included in the traditional clinical exam. To designee and perform OSCEs by student is a novelty that really like to the students and may improve their arguing and planning capacities and their communication skills. Aim: To evaluate the impact of designing, developing and presenting Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) by student in the communication skills development and in the learning of medicines in Medicine and Podiatry undergraduate students. Methods: A one-year study in which students were invited to voluntarily form groups (4 students maximum). Each group has to design and perform an OSCE (10 min maximum) showing a clinical situation/problem in which medicines’ use was needed. A clinical history, camera, a mobile-phone's video editor, photos, actors, dolls, simulators or whatever they may use was allowed. The job of each group was supervised and helped by a teacher. The students were invited to present their work to the rest of the class. After each OSCE performance the students were encouraged to ask questions if they wanted to do it. After all the OSCEs performances the students voluntarily answered a satisfaction survey. Results: Students of Pharmacology of Medicine degree and Podiatry degree, N=80, 53.75% female, 21±2.3 years old were enrolled. 26 OSCEs showing a clinical situation or clinical problem were made. The average time spent by students in making the OSCE was 21.5±9 h. The percentage of students which were satisfied with this way of presentation of the OSCE was 89.7%. Conclusion: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) designed and performed by student of Pharmacology of the Medicine and Podiatry Degree improved their communication skills.

Nurses’ clinical communication skills

Abstract Background: Providing nursing care involves an interpersonal relationship between the nurse and the patient which is created through communication. The importance of clinical communication skills is a current priority when it comes to health care workers’ education and training and has been attracting more and more attention. As a consequence clinical communication skills are now present in more and more academic programmes. Objectives: To assess nurses’ clinical communication skills; to identify the variables that might inluence the clinical communication skills; to analyse nurses’ perspective regarding the training in the clinical communication ield. Material and methods: Quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive and correlational and crosssectional study. We used the questionnaire to collect socio-demographic and professional data, and the Clinical Communication Skills Scale based on the Kalamazoo Consensus Statement (KCS)1,2 and which had already been used in Portugal.3 The sample was formed by 275 practitioner nurses who have been working in health care institutions located in the center of Portugal. Results: The Scale we used presents 5 factors that explain 64.33% of the total variation: To in‑ volve the patient; To facilitate dialogue; To understand concerns; To communicate in an asser‑ tive way; To carry out the interview. The majority of the nurses consider that the training they had in the communication skills ield during their nursing course was good or very good, however we could see that 23.3% think it was mediocre. Almost all of them (98.9%) agree that there should be a better and more speciic training in the ield of clinical communication skills as far, as nurses as concerned. Nurses who had training in this area, older nurses, those who work directly with patients and those who have been working for a longer period of time show better communication skills. Conclusion: Although they think that the training they has was good, we could conirm that there was a deicit in nurses’ clinical communication skills and that nurses themselves refer they need more training in this area. Data point out to a more signiicant investment in clinical communication as far as nurses’ training is concerned and they suggest the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities in this area.