Subject Guides: Patient Experience: Patient Communication tools

Patient Information

BMJ Best Practice
Concise, easy-to-understand summaries help reassure patients and carers, supporting informed and shared decision-making with healthcare professionals. These resources are available to print, download, and share.
UpToDate
UpToDate offers two levels of content for patients:
The Basics are short overviews. They are written in accordance with plain language principles and answer the four or five most important questions a person might have about a medical problem.
Beyond the Basics are longer, more detailed reviews. They are best for readers who want detailed information and are comfortable with some medical terminology.

Communicating with patients and colleagues
Effective clinical communication is a structured, continuous, and two-way process that ensures timely, accurate, and appropriate information transfer, characterized by openness, respect, and opportunities for clarification. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care promotes a person-centred approach to patient-clinician communication that empowers patients in decision-making and advocacy, supported by research-informed tools to enhance communication across the patient journey and transitions of care.
Communication Cards
The Communication Cards from the Centre for cultural diversity and ageing, depict a wide range of daily activities and situations and can be used to prompt discussion, assist with directions, clarify a client’s needs, etc.
NSW Health Communication Toolkit