This article was originally published in a sponsored newsletter.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that you can get anyone to listen to you. The hard part is getting people to do what you want them to do, even when it benefits them. How much influence do you have with your patients?
Below, I’ll share a few of my favorite quotes and how they can be applied to patient care. With so many options available to patients in the marketplace, I think it’s vital to understand how to effectively communicate with them in ways that inspire action. If you feel like you spend a lot of time educating but don’t get the results you would like, try a few of these approaches.
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” – Stephen Covey
As health care professionals, I think we often get this backwards. After a few routine questions, many doctors launch into a dizzying array of tests and procedures followed by lengthy explanations of diagnoses and treatment plans. Research has shown that doctors are notorious for interrupting patients during the case history and denying them the opportunity to fully communicate their concerns, which leaves patients feeling unheard and misunderstood.
For those thinking time is the issue, I’ll throw in a bonus quote from Albert Einstein, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes solving it.” In other words, solving the problem becomes the easy part once you fully understand it. So, pay attention to how much time you spend talking vs. listening in the exam lane.
“Stories are data with a soul.” – Brené Brown
We like to share data, don’t we? Clinical data, medical research, FDA studies, side effects and more. Don’t get me wrong; data are important to patient care, but listeners may be overwhelmed by the influx of information and they are likely to forget it quickly. In fact, research has shown that we forget about 90% of new information we’re exposed to within three days if it’s not reinforced.
Stories, on the other hand, are sticky. While facts and data are quickly forgotten, our brains are wired to retain stories. If education is your only goal, then share as much information as you wish. If you want to influence patients’ decisions to impact their outcomes, then try wrapping the data you want to present into a story. Need some examples? Watch TED Talks.
"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." – Albert Einstein
I learned this one from public speaking. When I first began speaking at events, I tried to cram as much information as possible into the allotted time. I think they call this overzealousness “death by bullet point.” I could tell by facial expressions that the audience was confused and having trouble following. Then, a speaking coach told me something I’ll always remember: “Great communicators don’t take the simple and make it complex, they take the complex and make it simple.”
When people don’t understand something, it feels risky to move forward. As consumers (including health care consumers), we seek clarity and certainty in our purchase decisions. The alternative is uncertainty and risk, which routinely causes us to hit pause on important decisions. Keep this idea in mind when educating patients.
"Comfort is the enemy of progress." – PT Barnum
Do you ever feel like you spend a lot of time educating a patient only to get “I’ll think about it, doc” or “Maybe next year” in return? If we want to enact healthy change in patients who aren’t experiencing current discomfort, we must overcome a huge obstacle: people’s motivation to change is low when they’re comfortable!
While I don’t advise using scare tactics, the ability to create some genuine concern that motivates change can be effective. I’ve found that questions can be great tools for this approach because they encourage patients to contemplate undesirable outcomes. For example, instead of lecturing a noncompliant diabetic on a lifestyle change, ask her to share her level of concern over vision loss. It’s a noninvasive way to elevate concern and motivate change.
“The biggest risk a person can take is to do nothing.” – Robert Kiyosaki
This is one of my favorites, and it highlights what I call the “cost of inaction” as an extension to the last quote. Patient education is predominately built around what someone will gain by following our guidance, but we rarely focus on what they will lose by not taking action. There is always a cost to not acting, and people are two to three times more motivated by loss aversion than what they will gain by doing something.
Instead of investing all your energy into explaining what the patient will get by opting for XYZ features, try focusing on what they will lose by declining, again without scare tactics. Nobody likes to lose things!
The above examples highlight the differences between patient education and effective communication. Patient education only guarantees people will hear what you say, but effective communication increases the chances people will do what you say.
