Email, voicemail, text… no response. What gives?

Ever been frustrated when leaving a message but not getting a response?
You are not alone!

I decided to post this because it seems to be a mental health issue, or related to a number of mental health issues.
For example, one reaction to no responses when emailing someone could be unwarranted anger or resentment.
And it just might be possible that the other person is just busy or overwhelmed.

There’s no easy answer to somehow “reconciling” instant communication with increasingly physical distances.
But just being able to label or identify the related issues is progress towards smoothing over communication challenges and fostering empathy.

Here’s some excerpts from the article  by MARTHA IRVINE | AP National Writer

Technology is supposed to make us easier to reach, and often does. But the same modes of communication that have hooked us on the instant reply also can leave us feeling forgotten…

…Whatever the reason, it’s causing a lot of frustration. A recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 39 percent of cell phone owners say people they know complain because they don’t respond promptly to phone calls or text messages. A third of cell owners also have been told they don’t check their phones frequently enough…
.

…

Those types of missed communications — and a lack of response — can cause “turbulence” in a relationship, says Dan Faltesek, an assistant professor of social media at Oregon State University. But, he adds, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“It can be a little awkward, but you should talk to people about how you like to talk,” Faltesek says. “Everyone will be happier when they say what the rules are.”

And it’ll go even more smoothly, he says, when people are willing to step outside their own favorite mode of communication to those preferred by the person they’re contacting.

“Use the reverse golden rule,” Faltesek advises. “Treat others the way THEY like to be treated.”
Read more: Email, voicemail, text… no response. What gives? – Mywesttexas.com: Homehttp://www.mywesttexas.com/article_b75e1e32-7f90-11e2-bd47-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz2MTNH8XoU
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

On another note,  this article was in the print edition of my hometown newspaper.
I am wondering if I would have missed this article if it had not been in our newspaper.

Related articles

• What Are You Suppose To Do When Your Have, Like, 106,926 Unread Emails? (huffingtonpost.com)

 

Apply folk wisdom to your family practice patients (How to turn unsolicited advice into positive communication!)12

Great article on communication/relationship skills.
It shows how to show you value advice on your own terms.

This reminds me of a scene in Gone With the Wind. Rhett takes baby Bonnie for a walk in her baby carriage. He passes two older women and asks for their advice on breaking the child’s habit of thumb sucking. Although the advice does not seem good, Rhett smiles and thanks them profusely. After Rhett departs, the women talk amongst themselves what a wonderful father Rhett is.

From the 12 August 2012 article at KevinMD.com

…

Late in my family practice residency – and very early in my parenting career – I had mentioned the persistent and sometimes uncomfortably intrusive suggestions offered by my mother and mother-in-law. One of our faculty, a seasoned pediatrician and parent, made the suggestion that I call both sets of grandparents regularly and ask for advice. He pointed out that their motivation (to be helpful and involved) was beyond reproach and that they probably had valuable insights to offer, if I could just reframe it to protect my own need to be autonomous and masterful. It worked like magic. The unsolicited advice nearly disappeared – and I learned a great deal from our conversations. The grandparents felt needed. I benefitted. And so did my kids.

Over the years, I have found it a valuable life strategy, and it comes up fairly frequently in practice:

• I tell all new parents at my first opportunity that they should each call their in-laws regularly to discuss parenting concerns and ask for suggestions, pointing out that the investment in making them feel like a valued contributor will pay huge dividends over time, and making sure that they realize that asking for advice will make it easier to ignore it.
• I suggest to parents that they play various versions of the “what if” game with their kids, getting the kids to help decide how best to set rules, reward success, and punish transgressions.
• I tell young adults starting a marriage (or other long term relationship – times have changed) that they should make a point of asking their partner’s opinion and advice often and sincerely, to build a comfortable platform of sharing.
• I suggest proactive questions and requests for feedback when I see people with job stresses.
• When patients are diagnosed with a serious illness for which others will be directing their care (cancer, degenerative neurologic disease), I tell them we are going to be proactive rather than reactive, and schedule regular appointments to discuss their progress and concerns. This makes sure that they understand I want to remain involved, and I avoid having to deal with crises and questions in a vacuum. (Since we often have a long term relationship, I also find that they need to have me tell them the same things the specialist has said to understand it and believe it.)
• When patients reach an age and health status where they are declining and vulnerable, I suggest that we schedule regular visits to talk about how things have gone and what problems we might expect, rather than waiting to things to go wrong.

Try it!

 

 

What Doctors Are Telling Us Even When They’re Not Talking

Image via Wikipedia

Am thinking…how does one be compassionate to a doctor who lacks good communication skills?
And how does one draw out needed information from the same doctor when one is in a confused state of mind?
Maybe a communication and or/ life skills class in high school should be required that includes body language?

From the 9 February 2012 New York Times article

…For nearly two decades, teaching good communication skills has beenmandatory for medical schools because of research showing that good patient-doctor communication can lead to improved patient satisfaction and better health care outcomes. To this end, medical educators have developed a host of communication courses and workshops that combine lectures, self-assessments, video recordings and “standardized patients,” or actors in the role of patients.

More recently, many schools have broadened their courses to include “cultural competency,” or the ability to communicate with those from different racial, ethnic and social backgrounds. Studies have shown that while a patient’s race and ethnicity can be linked to sharply different treatment courses and quality, better communication between doctors and patients of different backgrounds can reduce the disparities.

Despite these tremendous efforts, there is one area of communication to which few schools have devoted significant time or resources: body language and facial expressions.

 In this recent study, for example, a group of medical sociologists analyzed the interactions between 30 primary care doctors and more than 200 patients over age 65 and found that white physicians tended to treat older patients similarly, regardless of race. Black physicians, on the other hand, often gave white patients contradictory signals, mixing positive nonverbal behaviors, like prolonged smiling or eye contact, with negative ones, like creating physical barriers by crossing the arms or legs….

Related articles

• What Doctors Are Telling Us Even When They’re Not Talking (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Doctors may paint overly rosy prognosis (cbc.ca)
• Study Finds Doctors Not Always Honest With Patients (dfw.cbslocal.com)
• Study finds doctors aren’t always honest with patients (mercurynews.com)
• 1 in 10 Doctors Admit Lying in the Past Year (livescience.com)
• Many doctors in survey admit they have lied to their patients (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Study finds MDs not always honest with patients (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Skills in medicine (slideshare.net)
• Doctors’ Honesty Put to the Test (webmd.com)
• Some physicians do not agree with, uphold standards on communication with patients (Eureka News Alert)

  A significant minority of physicians responding to a national survey disagreed with or admitted not upholding accepted standards of professionalism for open and honest communication with patients. In the February issue of Health Affairs, investigators from the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report that, among other findings, one fifth of respondents indicated they had not fully disclosed a medical error out of concern for malpractice lawsuits and about one tenth admitted telling a patient something that was not true during the preceding year….

  …

  Five questions on the survey specifically addressed attitudes related to communication – including whether physicians should fully inform patients of the risks and benefits of their treatments, disclose all significant medical errors to patients and always keep patient information confidential – and four addressed what respondents had actually done in the preceding year. The survey was sent to 3,500 U.S. physicians – 500 each in internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics, cardiology, general surgery, psychiatry and anesthesia – and almost 1,900 surveys were completed and returned.

  The overhelming majority of respondents agreed that physicians should completely inform patients about risks and benefits, never disclose confidential information and never tell a patient something untrue. While 66 percent agreed that all significant medical errors should be disclosed to affected patients, one third did not completely agree. Also, about one third did not agree that financial relationships with drug and device companies should always be disclosed. When asked about their own behavior in the preceding year, almost 20 percent admitted not fully disclosing a medical error for fear of being sued,[my emphasis] 28 percent admitted revealing a patient’s health information to an unauthorized person, and 11 percent responded that they had told a patient or the parent of a child something that was not true.

All It Takes Is A Smile (For Some Guys)…

From the 26 December Medical News Today article

Does she or doesn’t she . . .? Sexual cues are ambiguous, and confounding. We – especially men – often read them wrong. A new study hypothesizes that the men who get it wrong might be the ones that evolution has favored. “There are tons of studies showing that men think women are interested when they’re not,” says Williams College psychologist Carin Perilloux, who conducted the research with Judith A. Easton and David M. Buss of University of Texas at Austin. “Ours is the first to systematically examine individual differences.” The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science. …

 

[Perilloux, C., Easton, J. A. & Buss, D. M. (in press). The misperception of sexual interest.Psychological Science.
Access will be by paid subscription only. For suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost, click here]

10 Possible Reasons Public Health Communication Strategies on Behaviour Change May be Failing: An introduction to the 2-6-10 Slot Model.© « drnyashamboti

From the abstract of a Paper to be presented at the International Association of Media and Communication Researchers, Durban, 2012, University of KwaZulu-Natal

By Nyasha Mboti

University of KwaZulu Natal

Abstract

Every year many millions of dollars are spent on programmes and strategies to motivate ‘at-risk’ populations to ‘change’ their ‘behaviour’. At issue in this paper is the efficacy of such programmes and strategies. The “2-6-10 slot model” is a simple algorithm I have built to explain some of the seemingly obvious failures of Public Health interventions in Africa targeted at so-called ‘Behaviour Change’, specifically in the domain of HIV and AIDS campaigns. The model is draws on unanswered questions about ‘Behaviour Change’ programmes and strategies and is meant to be a critical commentary on the strategic assumptions of such programmes. In building the model, I argue that the notion of ‘Behaviour Change’ is too vague, sometimes to the point of uselessness. As such, the model asks the questions that public health opinion leaders seldom or never ask. The 2-6-10 slot model focuses on the interventions targeted at so-called ‘multi-partnerism’ and the efforts to motivate people to ‘stick to one partner’. It uses ‘slots’ to describe, characterise and reflect on the gaps that conventional Public Health strategies have failed to explain or fill. The model suggests the adoption of more evidence-based modelling of Public Health strategies as opposed to ones that are largely assumption-led. The 2-6-10 slot model is so-called because it comprises of diagrams, or empty slots, that begin at 2 and increase to 6, 10 and so on. The increase in slots represents the increase in failure of a respective public health intervention.

Related articles

• Public health experts condemn plans (mirror.co.uk)
• Collaboration Of Public And Private Health Partners Is Essential For Health Improvement (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Public Health Investments Pay Off (hcfama.org)
• Healthy People? Not Quite Yet – From “The Public’s Health” Blog (jflahiff.wordpress.com)

Nonprofit health organizations increase health literacy through social media

From a 4 May 2011 Medical News Today item

ScienceDaily (May 4, 2011) — As the presence of social media continues to increase as a form of communication, health organizations are searching for the most effective ways to use the online tools to pass important information to the public. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that nonprofit organizations and community groups appear to be more actively engaged in posting health information and interacting with the public on Twitter than other types of health-related organizations, such as health business corporations, educational institutions and government agencies.

“Twitter may be more appealing to nonprofit organizations because it creates a barrier-free environment that allows these organizations to share important information through real-time exchanges without significant efforts,” said Hyojung Park, a doctoral candidate at the Missouri School of Journalism. “Unlike business organizations such as pharmaceutical companies, nonprofit health organizations and advocacy groups may suffer from lack of funding, staff, and other resources in developing and implementing communication strategies for health intervention and promotion programs. Thus, it is likely that nonprofit organizations and support groups recognize the rapid growth of Twitter and its value as an inexpensive but highly effective communication tool.”…

Related Articles

• Nonprofit health organizations increase health literacy through social media (scienceblog.com)
• Is Your Nonprofit Organization Ready for Social Media? (blogs.constantcontact.com)
• How to Create Your Nonprofit Organization’s Listening and Engagement System with Social Media (hubspot.com)
• Join Us for a Series of Social Media Marketing Webinars and Twitter Chats (blogs.constantcontact.com)
• Central Iowa Nonprofits Using Social Media (iowabiz.com)
• CDC Launches New Health Literacy Website (aa47.wordpress.com)

Coaching with compassion can ‘light up’ human thoughts

From a November 17, 2010 Eureka news release

Contact: Marvin Ray Kropko
mrk107@case.edu
216-368-6890
Case Western Reserve University

Coaching with compassion can ‘light up’ human thoughts

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University use brain images to identify neural signature of achieving ‘positive emotional attractor’

CLEVELAND – Coaching happens just about everywhere, and every day, with learning as the goal.

Effective coaching can lead to smoothly functioning organizations, better productivity and potentially more profit. In classrooms, better student performance can occur. Doctors or nurses can connect more with patients. So, doing coaching right would seem to be a natural goal, and it has been a major topic of research at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management since 1990.

For all the energy and money spent on coaching, there is little understanding about what kind of interactions can contribute to or detract from effectiveness. Ways of coaching can and do vary widely, due to a lack of understanding of the psycho-physiological mechanisms which react to positive or negative stimulus….
….

“We know that people respond much better to a coach they find inspiring and who shows compassion for them, rather than one who they perceive to be judging them. Sure enough, we found a trend in the same direction even for the neutral questions. Students tended to activate the areas associated with visioning more with the compassionate coach, even when the topics they were thinking about weren’t so positive,” Jack said.

“We were really struck by one particular finding in the visual cortex, where we saw a lot more activity in the more positive condition than in the more negative condition,” Jack explained. The brain areas observed are associated with imagination and operate at the intersection of basic visual processing and emotion. Jack says the fMRI images show the neural signatures of visioning, a critical process for motivating learning and behavioral change.

“By spending 30 minutes talking about a person’s desired, personal vision, we could light up (activate) the parts of the brain 5-7 days later that are associated with cognitive, perceptual and emotional openness and better functioning,” Boyatzis said. “The major implication is that people typically coach others in higher education, medicine and management with a bias toward the NEA and correcting what the person is doing that is wrong. Our study suggests that this closes down future, sustainable change, as we expected.”

Coaching with Compassion: An fMRI Study of Coaching to the Positive or Negative Emotional Attractor was presented at a recent Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Montreal and awarded as a Best Paper.

“Everyone’s got to look at weaknesses and take them on,” Jack says. “But often the focus is so much on the bottom line that we worry ourselves into the ground. It is more important to focus on what gets you going in the morning and gets you wanting to work hard and stay late.”

 

###

MULTIMEDIA

A video of Richard Boyatzis and Anthony Jack explaining their research and a brain scan image illustrating the PEA and NEA conditions can be seen at:http://blog.case.edu/think/2010/11/15/coaching_with_compassion_can_alight_upa_human_thoughts

About Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University, one of the country’s leading research institutions, offers a unique combination of forward-thinking educational opportunities in an inspiring cultural setting. We provide learning from leading-edge experts in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Our nationally recognized programs include arts and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing and social work. http://www.case.edu.

 

 

How To Complain—And Get Heard (at the Hospital)

From a March 17, 2009 advice column by Carolyn M. CHow To Complain—And Get Heardlancy, MD, appearing in AHRQ (US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

Whether it’s a car repair that didn’t fix the problem or a bad meal in a restaurant, many of us don’t hesitate to complain. Making our voices heard when something isn’t right is the first step in getting it corrected. But when we’re sick or need health care services, it’s hard to know where to direct a complaint. And it can be difficult to question people who may know more than we do, especially when we aren’t feeling well.

These reasons are valid, but they shouldn’t be obstacles. As a physician, I’m encouraged that consumers are becoming more comfortable asking their medical team questions. I hope this continues.

Hospitals and health groups have tried to make it easier for patients to raise concerns or complaints. But it’s still not easy to do. Health services are delivered in many different settings and are often not coordinated from one place to the next. So it’s up to the patient or his or her family to identify where to make a complaint and to follow through and report the problem.

A very helpful Government resource, called the Beneficiary Ombudsman, is available for people covered by Medicare or Medicare health plans. This Web site can serve as your first stop to learn how these and other Government programs work and how to file a complaint or an appeal.

People who are covered by private insurance should review the information they get when they enroll to find out who to contact when they have complaints.

Here are some resources for complaints or concerns that arise:

While you are in the hospital: If possible, first bring your complaints to your doctor and nurses. Be as specific as you can and ask how your complaint can be resolved. You can also ask to speak to a hospital social worker who can help solve problems and identify resources. Social workers also organize services and paperwork when patients leave the hospital.

If you are covered by Medicare, you can file a complaint about your care with your State’s Quality Improvement Organization (QIO).  These groups act on behalf of Medicare to address complaints about care provided to people covered by Medicare.

Typical complaints QIOs handle are getting the wrong medication, having the wrong surgery, or receiving inadequate treatment. You can also find your QIO by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.

If you get an infection while you are in the hospital or have problems getting the right medication, you can file a complaint with the Joint Commission. This group certifies many U.S. hospitals’ safety and security practices and looks into complaints about patients’ rights. It does not oversee medical care or how the hospital may bill you.

To find out what other patients had to say about their recent hospital stays, visit the Hospital Compare Web site. You’ll find answers from patients about how well doctors and nurses communicated, how well patients’ pain was controlled, and how patients rated their hospital.

If you are discharged before you’re ready: This is a big concern for many patients because insurers balk at long hospital stays. Talk to the hospital discharge planner (often a social worker) if you don’t think you’re medically ready to leave the hospital. The discharge planner will take your concerns to the doctor who makes this decision.

If you are covered by Medicare or by a Medicare managed care plan, you can file an appeal about a discharge while you are still in the hospital. You should get a form from the hospital titled “An Important Message from Medicare,” which explains how to appeal a hospital discharge decision. Appeals are free and generally resolved in 2 to 3 days. The hospital cannot discharge you until the appeal is completed.

When you get your hospital bill: First, ask your doctor or the hospital’s billing department to explain the charges. Find out how the hospital handles complaints about bills, and make your case. If you still have questions, you should contact the Medicare carrier that handles billing issues for your Medicare program.

You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE about billing questions. Make sure you have the date of service, total charge in question, and the name of your doctor and hospital.

Even with this information, it’s not easy to be as assertive in a health care setting as it is in an auto repair shop or restaurant. But it’s a smart move that can help you get the quality care that you deserve.

I’m Dr. Carolyn Clancy and that’s my advice on how to navigate the health care system.

More Information

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Questions Are the Answer: Get More Involved With Your Health Care

http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/

American Health Quality Association

Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Locator

http://www.ahqa.org/pub/connections/162_694_2450.cfm

The Joint Commission

Report a Complaint about a Health Care Organization

http://www.jointcommission.org/GeneralPublic/Complaint/

Department of Health and Human Services

Beneficiary Ombudsman: Inquiries and Complaints

http://www.medicare.gov/Ombudsman/resources.asp

Department of Health and Human Services

Hospital Compare—A Quality Tool Provided by Medicare

http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/Hospital/Search/Welcome.asp

Department of Health and Human Services

Medicare Appeals and Grievances

http://www.medicare.gov/basics/appeals.asp

Department of Health and Human Services

Helpful Contacts

http://www.medicare.gov/Contacts/Include/DataSection/Questions/SearchCriteria.asp

Current as of March 2009

Communication in Cancer Care

Communication in Cancer Care is a PDQ (Physician Data Query) summary** which outlines good communication skills among patients, family members, and health care providers. Good communication in all phases of cancer care contributes to the well being of the patient and improves quality of life.

The Communication in Cancer Care Web site has a patient version, a health professional version, and a Spanish language version.

The patient version addresses issues as the roles of family givers and parents, how to talk with the health care team (including the importance of checklists and record keeping)
and where to find more information on communicating effectively in cancer care settings.

The health professional version outlines factors and outcomes related to communicating effectively, how to communicate effectively in cancer care settings, and information on training programs and clinical trials.

On a related note, this is an example of why good communication is important in cancer care…

The Perils of Taking Experimental Cancer Drugs [Reuters Health, Oct 26,2010, by Frederik Joelving]

[Excerpt]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Trying a new, experimental cancer drug may offer a glimpse of hope for very sick patients, but often does more harm than good, a new study shows.

Researchers said cancer doctors regularly resort to drugs still undergoing testing, as long as they have been approved for other diseases or in different combinations or doses.

But because the science is still up in the air, nobody really knows what the consequences of taking such drugs are.

“Many of these drugs end up not being the tremendous improvement that we hoped they would be,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, who was not involved in the new study.

“People need to realize that because the trials have not been completed there is a great deal that is not known about the treatments,” he told Reuters Health. “There are people who get these treatments and get hurt.”

The new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, looked at 172 clinical trials published over two years. [Editor Flahiff’s note : Ask a reference librarian at a local public, academic, or medical library for availability and if any fee is involved]

Less than a third of the clinical trials showed the experimental drugs improved patient survival, and less than half found the drugs helped other clinical outcomes…..

……

Sometimes, of course, new drugs do work, and no one argues that doctors shouldn’t be allowed to prescribe medications they think will help patients.

But doctors should be very clear about the high risks involved. One way to do that, said Peppercorn, would be to require that cancer doctors get informed consent from patients before they start them on experimental drugs.

In the end, Brawley said, the decision to use such treatment should be left to the patient and his or her doctor.

“There are times when it can be justified,” he noted, “but it is done far more often than it should be.”

 

—————————————————————————————

**PDQ is an online database developed and maintained by the National Cancer Institute. Designed to make the most current, credible, and accurate cancer information available to health professionals and the public, PDQ contains peer-reviewed summaries on cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, complementary and alternative medicine, and supportive care; a registry of cancer clinical trials from around the world; and directories of physicians, professionals who provide genetics services, and organizations that provide cancer care. Most of this information, and more specific information about PDQ, can be found on the NCI’s Web site athttp://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq. Also called Physician Data Query.

How to Talk to Your Doctor

The National Institutes of Health Senior Health site has new information on how to talk to your doctor.

It includes information on planning an office visit, how to get the most out of an office visit, and conversations after diagnosis.

Includes links to related videos.

Not for seniors only!

Related Resources

• Talking to Your Doctor links you to NIH resources that can help you make the most of your conversations with your doctor.
  Communication is key to good health care.
  Get tips for asking questions and talking openly about your symptoms and concerns.

Includes general guides as well specific advice in these areas: cancer, eye health, diabetes, hearing, heart health, kidney
disease, urologic conditions, weight loss, complementary and alternative medicine, and  aging

Related Articles

• Cooperation between patient and doctor is essential today in health care (kevinmd.com)
• The Benefits of Going to a Geriatric Specialist (everydayhealth.com)
• The Hospitalists Have Become The Gatekeepers for Effective Hospital Coding & Sometimes Bear the Burden Alone (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)
• Before You Go to the Doctor (rawminimum.com)
• Prevent Medical Errors With Health Records (everydayhealth.com)
• Regular Check Up And Health Screenings Can Help Save Your Life (pro2sell.com)