WORDS DO MATTER PROJECT: A Patient-Friendly Lexicon.
Language has a magical influence on the lives we lead, with an impact on our thoughts, emotions, and/or actions. The words we use are one of the most potent ingredients in the science of language. Words have the power to heal, guide and motivate. They can also confuse, mislead, and even hurt us. The intent of a spoken word can be misinterpreted leading to an unintended consequence. The majority of our words are a result of habit and convenience. If we follow the ripple effect of our words to understand the emotions and/or behaviors they may potentially trigger, would it force us to pause, think and perhaps communicate differently?
There are terms and phrases that those of us who work in healthcare use regularly. Some of these words have been around since the turn of the century, while others are trendier terms that we've adopted in healthcare. In our research with patients and their families, we have captured thousands of terms and now working with the community to identify new terms to consider, which can allow us to reimagine the language we use in a patient friendly lexicon. There are words that we might continue to use in exchanges with one another as healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, advocates, etc, but this project was focused on simplifying the language we use with patients and their families.
Why? |
HOW? |
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Connection is a conversation between the patient story and the language of medicine. Words have the power to transform healthcare and if you don’t speak their language, they won’t hear you.
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“What word(s) should we stop using or limit use of with patients and/or their families?”
>4,000 words/phrases have been crowd-sourced across the community. |
how to get involved
The next steps are to involve the community in the “Words Do Matter” Project in an effort to co-design a patient-friendly lexicon to replace the terms that often cause confusion.
- We're working with members of the community across all sectors to co-design a new patient-friendly lexicon. Tell us what words you would suggest in lieu of the words that often cause confusion?
- Contribute to the Project and tell us what words you would add to the list.
- Get involved in one of our community co-design sessions by sending an inquiry.
#WordsDoMatter