Effective Communication is Key to Getting People Healthier
By Kayla Reed
These days, one might think that new technology or simply increasing access to care could be the answer to creating the most healthful society possible. However, Dr. David Ring, MD, PhD, and Associate Dean for Comprehensive Care here at UT says the conversation at the Dell Medical School is actually about getting people healthier more resourcefully. He believes the key to accomplishing this goal will be effective communication.
“Communication skills as they apply in health… the stakes are just higher. From the moment a person reaches out and says, ‘I think I could use some help,’ everything we say to them has to help them get healthier. I’m interested in taking care of the whole person, which means we want to make sure we take care of the stress and the coping strategies of a person no matter what disease or illness they have. These are opportunities that don’t seem appealing unless you’ve communicated them well.”
Dr. Ring is currently organizing Dell Med’s communication strategies and, while there are some techniques that can’t be taught to the average person, he hopes that the program will promote a genuine interest in patients at it's core. Even more importantly, he hopes this interest will be recognizable.
One strategy Dr. Ring highlights to achieve this is effectively eliciting questions from patients with open-ended statements such as “Tell me what you’re thinking.” He argues that the closed-ended classics we tend to use like “Do you have any questions?” send a message that the visit is coming to an end and may limit our ability to help more reticent patients.
High-value interventions are another strategy Dr. Ring hopes to put to work at Dell Med. For instance, Dr. Ring mentions the ability of phone, video, and asynchronous visits (text, email, patient portal) in his own practice to save patients time on the one hand and the high cost of MRIs or trips to the ER that can yield no helpful information or comfort on the other. “Really if I could just call [the patient], which is very low cost… the cost there is my time… there would be an extremely high yield immediately. They would feel cared for and connected.” By focusing on genuine interest and value, Dr. Ring’s program will seek to help patients make the best decisions for themselves while limiting stress, time commitment, cost, and use of other resources.
But in a perfect world, this interest in health won’t come solely from those providing care. According to Dr. Ring, the thing that keeps people from sustaining health are bad habits that take on a momentum and a meaning. His best piece of health advice? Cultivate a curiosity about your health instead.
“You have to be expecting to learn something new at every turn. Something new about yourself, the world, medicine, or ways to get healthy… I think if more people approached their health that way, they’d stay healthier much more easily.”
After only a year as Professor of Surgery and Perioperative Care here at UT, Dr. David Ring says his proudest moment has been his co-appointment as Professor of Psychiatry. As something that would “not have happened” at Harvard or Mass General, Dr. Ring says this achievement is emblematic of his experience and validates the importance of going across disciplines that are so often siloed.
Doctor With Female Patient Photo info: Creative Commons Agencia ID|Doctor-Doctor With Female Patient| Image Source: www.flickr.com/creativecommons |Taken 7/21/2012