Communicating about health : a guide for facilitators

This weakness exists most likely because health workers doubt the effectiveness of patient education or have had negative experiences with the methods they were trained to use. The activities in this guide encourage health workers to contribute their personal experiences, understanding, and creativity in order to individually develop comfortable and effective ways of communicating with patients. In turn, these new methods can become a natural part of the way health workers perform their job. This paper differs from other such training manuals, choosing not to set specific objectives, but rather to outline the purpose for each session. Although some suggested responses are included, they are placed as a reference for facilitators learning to use the material and to help focus discussions. This manual is designed to be a working document: therefore facilitators and participants should change it with each use, making it even more relevant and practical as it is revised. The guide is designed as a 5-day workshop. (Author abstract, modified)