v. 1. Research findings -- v. 2. Concepts and methodology -- v. 3. Implementation issues -- v. 4. Programs, tools and products.

Patient Speak is a reference guide of communication techniques and approaches recommended for healthcare and medical professionals to use when interacting with their patient and family members. Trust is built through effective conversations with compassion between physicians, nurses and specialists and their patient. Only then do patients and family members feel the genuine concern of their medical team for their overall emotional, psychological, and physical health. The care and connection you have with your patients and their families, providing respect, dignity, and concern for their mental well-being, in addition to their physical needs, can be life changing. Patient Speak helps reinforce effective communication practices that will leave patients with more positive impressions about their time interacting with medical professionals.

For patients and their loved ones, no care decisions are more profound than those made near the end of life. Unfortunately, the experience of dying in the United States is often characterized by fragmented care, inadequate treatment of distressing symptoms, frequent transitions among care settings, and enormous care responsibilities for families. According to this report, the current health care system of rendering more intensive services than are necessary and desired by patients, and the lack of coordination among programs increases risks to patients and creates avoidable burdens on them and their families. Dying in America is a study of the current state of health care for persons of all ages who are nearing the end of life. Death is not a strictly medical event. Ideally, health care for those nearing the end of life harmonizes with social, psychological, and spiritual support. All people with advanced illnesses who may be approaching the end of life are entitled to access to high-quality, compassionate, evidence-based care, consistent with their wishes. Dying in America evaluates strategies to integrate care into a person- and family-centered, team-based framework, and makes recommendations to create a system that coordinates care and supports and respects the choices of patients and their families. The findings and recommendations of this report will address the needs of patients and their families and assist policy makers, clinicians and their educational and credentialing bodies, leaders of health care delivery and financing organizations, researchers, public and private funders, religious and community leaders, advocates of better care, journalists, and the public to provide the best care possible for people nearing the end of life.

Can refocusing conversations between doctors and their patients lead to better health? Despite modern medicine’s infatuation with high-tech gadgetry, the single most powerful diagnostic tool is the doctor-patient conversation, which can uncover the lion’s share of illnesses. However, what patients say and what doctors hear are often two vastly different things. Patients, anxious to convey their symptoms, feel an urgency to “make their case” to their doctors. Doctors, under pressure to be efficient, multitask while patients speak and often miss the key elements. Add in stereotypes, unconscious bias, conflicting agendas, and fear of lawsuits and the risk of misdiagnosis and medical errors multiplies dangerously. Though the gulf between what patients say and what doctors hear is often wide, Dr. Danielle Ofri proves that it doesn’t have to be. Through the powerfully resonant human stories that Dr. Ofri’s writing is renowned for, she explores the high-stakes world of doctor-patient communication that we all must navigate. Reporting on the latest research studies and interviewing scholars, doctors, and patients, Dr. Ofri reveals how better communication can lead to better health for all of us.

Patient-Provider Communication: Roles for Speech-Language Pathologists and Other Health Care Professionals presents timely information regarding effective patient-centered communication across a variety of health care settings. Speech-language pathologists, who serve the communication needs of children and adults, as well as professionals from medical and allied health fields will benefit from this valuable resource. This text is particularly relevant because of changes in health care law and policy. It focuses on value-based care, patient engagement, and positive patient experiences that produce better outcomes. Authors describe evidence-based strategies that support communication vulnerable patients, including individuals who have difficulty speaking, hearing, understanding, seeing, reading, and writing, as well as patients whose challenges reflect limited health literacy, and/or differences in language, culture, religion, sexual orientation, and so on. Topics addressed include patient-provider communication in medical education, emergency and disaster scenarios, doctor's offices and clinics, adult and pediatric acute care settings, rehabilitation, long-term residential care, and hospice/palliative care situations. The editors are recognized internationally for their work in the field of communication disorders and have been active in the area of patient-provider communication for many years. Patient-Provider Communication is a must-have resource for speech-language pathologists and other health care providers at the forefront of quality patient-centered care.

Fundamentals of the Physical Therapy Examination: Patient Interview and Tests & Measures, Second Edition provides physical therapy students and clinicians with the necessary tools to determine what questions to ask and what tests and measures to perform during a patient exam. This text utilizes a fundamental, step-by-step approach to the subjective and objective portions of the examination process for a broad spectrum of patients. This edition has been updated and revised to reflect the new APTA Guide 3.0, and the Second Edition also includes new and extensive coverage of goniometry and manual muscle testing techniques with more than 300 new photographs.