Plain and Simple: It’s about Respect and Dignity

By Pauline C. Hamel, Ed.D., PT
Boston, MA

As a rehabilitation professional, on some level I knew that we could do a better job with our patients; that though we gave them our ‘expert’ instructions, written or otherwise, and that they nodded and thanked us, we never knew for certain if they really ‘got it’, or if they just simply imitated what we had taught them to do. But it wasn’t until years later when I attended a Health Literacy presentation at Boston Medical Center that it all became exceedingly clear. The AMA Foundation film, "Help Your Patients Understand" grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Watching the sincere accounts of real patients pouring their hearts out about their inability to read, their need to avoid embarrassment and shame at all costs when dealing with their health providers, and the FEAR of being ‘found out one of these days’…well, I was hooked. And every time I share this film with hundreds of health professions students, I feel the tug—and the urgency to do something-- all over again. I am convinced that planting the seed and raising awareness is where it all starts with my college students and practitioners who hear the lecture or watch the film; then, in later discussion, sincerely and apologetically say "I just didn’t know…"

As I finished a long and arduous dissertation a few years back on the topic of communication and health literacy, I grew very weary, and was tempted to quit toward the end. Then I read a letter written by Archie Willard that simply yet so eloquently reminded us, as clinicians, that we need to take the few extra minutes in our professional encounters to make sure that our patients understand us and our message. The poignancy and the humanity of that letter from a man who only learned to read in his later years inspired me to not only finish a dissertation, but to continue to spread the word. And that is exactly what I have been doing as a professor and clinician, but also as a human being who cares about this issue. Today, more than ever, it goes way beyond the prevention of medical errors, comprehension, and compliance. Plain and simple, it’s about respect and dignity.

Thank you, Archie and Helen, for raising our awareness about health literacy. It’s the first step that opens not only the eyes and heart, but the world to patients and professionals alike.

Pauline C. Hamel, Ed.D, PT is Adjunct Faculty at Boston University's MS in Health Communication Program. You can email her directly at phamel@bu.edu. To learn more about BU's program, go to http://healthcommunication.bu.edu/?p=47

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