Better Communication, Better Care: Provider Tools to Care for Diverse Populations

AHRQ

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Demographic changes, differences in individual belief and behavior, and new legal mandates constantly present health care professionals with new challenges in delivering high quality, effective, and compassionate health care to a diverse patient population. This toolkit provides health care professionals with resources to address these challenges, with a focus on increasing awareness of cultural background and enhancing communication with diverse populations. The toolkit was developed by Health Industry Collaboration Effort , Inc. The toolkit is available as a PDF and requires Adobe Reader.

TeamSTEPPS: Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety

This teamwork system, developed by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the U.S. Department of Defense's military health system, TeamSTEPPS

Patient Safety Program - Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) Toolkit

Developed by the U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System, the Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) Toolkit is a structured communication tool that can improve information exchange within a healthcare organization and reduce the rate of adverse events. The toolkit is available as several PDFs, PowerPoint files, Word files, and Windows Media Videos (WMVs), requiring Adobe Reader, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, and Windows Media Player, respectively.

Strategies To Improve Communication Between Pharmacy Staff and Patient

Prepared for the AHRQ, this training program introduces pharmacists to the issue of low health literacy of certain patients and identifies the implications of this issue when delivering health care. The program also explains techniques that pharmacy staff members can use to improve communication with patients who may have limited health literacy skills.The tolkit is available as a PowerPoint® Presentation.

Transforming Care at the Bedside How-to Guide: Optimizing Communication and Teamwork

This guide describes the innovative changes that hospitals tested and implemented to improve the work environment for their medical-surgical unit staff. These changes focus on strategic applications of improved communication techniques across multiple disciplines, including nurses, physicians, and other clinical and support staff. The report is available as a Word file, requiring Microsoft Word.

Code Heart - Reducing Door-to-Balloon Time

Developed by Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, the goal of the Code Heart Tracking Tool is to reduce the time from when a heart attack patient's arrival at an

Comprehensive Diversion Reduction Plan

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center developed a comprehensive diversion reduction plan to improve efficiency of hospital discharges and identified a team of individuals to oversee implementation of the plan. The plan sets guidelines for calling a “capacity code,” which triggers the implementation of protocols to quickly discharge eligible patients. The report is available as a PDF, requiring Adobe Reader.

Better Communication, Better Care: Provider Tools to Care for Diverse Populations

Demographic changes, differences in individual belief and behavior, and new legal mandates constantly present health care professionals with new challenges in delivering high quality, effective, and compassionate health care to a diverse patient population. This toolkit provides health care professionals with resources to address these challenges, with a focus on increasing awareness of cultural background and enhancing communication with diverse populations. The toolkit was developed by Health Industry Collaboration Effort , Inc. The toolkit is available as a PDF and requires Adobe Reader.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations

This report for hospitals and health care organizations provides a guide for improving the quality of care for the diverse patient groups. The report includes a self-assessment tool for organizations to assess their current care practices and services, and identify areas for improvement. The tool measures practices over four key themes: building a foundation, collecting and using data to improve services, accommodating the needs of specific populations, and establishing internal and external collaborations. The report is available as a PDF and requires Adobe Reader.

Health Care Language Services Implementation Guide

This guide, for health care organizations and professionals in clinical settings, provides information on how to implement language access services (LAS) for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). It lays out the basic steps for implementing LAS, and the process for carrying out each step is explained in detail and supplemented with links to resources and tips on alternative ways to complete the step. The guide was developed by the Office of Minority Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Health Communicator's Social Media Toolkit

CDC uses social media communications to provide users with access to credible, science‐based health information. There are a variety of social media tools that can be used to build a communication channel based on open information exchange. Three key attributes of social media channels are believed to make them highly effective as health communication tools: Personalization – content tailored to individual needs, Presentation – timely and relevant content accessible in multiple formats and contexts and Participation – partners and the public who contribute content in meaningful ways.