Patient Communication in Health Care Settings: new Opportunities for Augmentative and Alternative Communication

ABSTRACT

Delivering quality health care requires effective communication between health care providers and their patients. In this article, we call on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) practitioners to offer their knowledge and skills in support of a broader range of patients who confront communication challenges in health care settings. We also provide ideas and examples about ways to prepare people with complex communication needs for the inevitable medical encounters that they will face. We argue that AAC practitioners, educators, and researchers have a unique role to play, important expertise to share, and an extraordinary opportunity to advance the profession, while positively affecting patient outcomes across the health care continuum for a large number of people.

Keywords:

• Health care
• communication
• AAC

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank David McNaughton, Julia King, and Jackie Brown for their keen editorial assistance, and give a “shout out” to those already doing important work in this area.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notes

1 EZ Boards, EZ Boards with Symbols, and VidaTalk are products of VidaTalk, Annapolis, Maryland.

2 The iPad is a registered trademark of Apple Inc., Cupertino, California.

3 Widgit Software is available from Widgit Health, Widgit, Warwickshire, England.