(WIP) Developing an empathy-informed Communications Toolkit for primary healthcare practitioners: Presenter (s): Maeve O’Brien, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Ireland
Relevance and importance for healthcare communication research: Obesity is rapidly rising complex public health issue affecting over 20% of children and adolescents. Stigma and anti-weight bias are frequently reported by people living with obesity and engaging with healthcare. Good communication skills between PHPs and patients form the foundation of quality medical care. It is imperative that where possible we encourage positive empowering communication for children and adolescents living with obesity to reduce unintended harm. Our work aims to co-create communication learning tools for primary health care professionals (PHPs) grounded in an empathy-based theoretical framework which prioritises the experiences of children and adolescents who live with obesity – and their carers.
Innovative in healthcare communication research, teaching or policy/practice: Co-creation of learning materials by collaborating with patients and caregivers allows educators to develop an in-depth understanding of the patient experience. The empathy-based approach uses patients’ values, preferences, and needs to incorporate patient lived experience into scenarios and role play that facilitates experiential learning opportunities for PHPs.