Very [Music]
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warm welcome to everyone who is with us today.
today.
I had seen in our chat participants from
literally every country of the world.
Very very happy to have you with us. We
are here today to discuss an interesting
topic inclusive communication for
careers in healthcare. Bridging
differences through dialogue. Uh I'm
sure this will be a very interesting
presentation by our speaker Elishva
Canali. Um I will allow her to introduce
herself in a minute. I just want to make
uh a small announcement. Uh after this
webinar is over, please remember to
complete the posteinar quiz. You will
receive a link to it after this webinar
is finished. By completing the quiz, you
will be entitled to receive a
certificate of participation in today's
webinar. Our certificates are usually uh
are used by our students on their
LinkedIn profiles in their resumes. So,
make sure you receive your certificate.
It will come to you in about two weeks
after you complete the uh post-weinar
quiz. So please please remember after we
finish the webinar to complete the
posteinar quiz and receive your
certificate. Also we will try to leave
some time um after the after this
presentation for your questions. There
is uh a section in our webinar platform
called Q&A. Please make sure you uh you
put your questions in this section. We
will not be able to look through the
chat to find your questions at the end
of the webinar. So we reserve the space
in Q&A section to uh get your questions.
We'll try to answer as many as possible.
So let's get back to our today's topic
and let's uh introduce ourselves. My
name is uh Veronica Semenova. I am the
department chair of general studies as
well as the co-curricular programmer
programming lead at the University of
the People. I've been with the
University of the People for over five
years already teaching various courses
and uh working on different committees
and um some of you may have already met
me during our co-curricular events.
uh I am usually here with you uh
discussing these interesting topics and
today we have a wonderful speaker with
us from our health science department
Elishva Canali please I'll let you
introduce yourself
thank you so much um everybody can hear
me okay I had a little technical
difficulty so I apologize for that
earlier but um thank you I'm Canaly and
I've been with the U University of the
People for eight years now, which hard
to believe, but yes, eight years. And
it's been a wonderful experience. Um,
I'm sure or maybe some of you have met
me um as an instructor in one of your
courses and I'm just really glad to be
here discussing this topic with you
today because it is such an important
component to delivering effective um
services whether it's health care
services or working as a public health
educator or anywhere in the realm of
health sciences.
or just everyday life.
Thank you so much, Alishva. It's a
wonderful introduction and I'm sure many
of our students have met us in their
courses as course instructors and if you
have, please let us know in the chat.
Tell us if you have been in one of our
classes before. So, Nil, let's change
the slides and we proceed with our presentation.
presentation.
So I will uh just uh make a note again
about the importance of
uh communication for careers in
healthcare. Whether you are currently
working in health care or preparing to
enter the field, um today's uh webinar
is designed to give you essential
communication tools that develop uh
equity and improve patient care. Our
main objective today is to help you
understand how culturally sensitive
communication skills influence this
field. Why is this so important? Uh
because in health care uh communication
is not just about exchanging
information. It's about building trust,
showing respect and making people feel
seen and heard, especially when they
come from diverse backgrounds.
Today we will focus on these three key
areas. building trust with patients,
families, and colleagues through
inclusive language and behavior.
Improving health outcomes by ensuring
patients feel comfortable sharing their
needs and concerns. And promoting
inclusion, which means that we want
teams and workplaces to be mindful of
how language, culture, and identity
shape communication.
I want you to think of this. Um maybe
you have been yourself in a situation
either personally or professionally
where a communication barrier created
misunderstanding or tension. Perhaps it
was due to a language difference or a
cultural assumption or even some
nonverbal clu cues that could have been
misread. These moments can be small but
their impact is significant especially
in the context of health care where
clarity and trust are vital and where
decisions have to be made quickly
sometimes because someone's life depends
on it. Um so imagine a doctor treating a
patient who speaks very limited English
and isn't familiar with the health care
system. Uh without inclusive uh
communication like using a trained
interpreter or being aware of cultural
health beliefs. there is a risk that uh
a doctor could misdiagnose the condition
or the patient would not comply with the
prescribed treatment because simply uh
they didn't understand it. Um so it
doesn't just affect the individual
patients, it reflects on the quality and
equity of care being delivered. So today
we will explore different practical
strategies to recognize and overcome
these barriers and I hope that by the
end of this session you will feel more
confident in in applying inclusive
communication principles in real life be
it health care settings or other uh
places uh where you need to avoid
confusion and misunderstanding.
Understanding cultural differences is a
critical part of inclusive communication.
communication.
Um, people's beliefs about health and
illness are shaped by their cultural
backgrounds. Uh, for instance, some
cultures uh prioritize holistic
approaches to health while others may
have specific taboos around discussing
certain illnesses.
uh it's often times that we hear of
stories of how different illnesses or
conditions are treated differently in in
different countries. So this is very
culture specific. Language barriers are
another significant factor. Imagine a
situation where a patient cannot fully
explain their symptoms due to a language
gap. In such case
uh health care providers must adapt by
using interpreters or visual aids to
ensure effective communication.
Um of course social norms shape patient
provider interactions as well. In some
countries uh women doctors face
difficulty interacting with uh patients
or vice versa. female uh patients might
not be comfortable receiving care from
from a male doctor and various other
types of social norms can be at play
which hinder uh receiving care. Um
one one example also is uh how we we
look at the age of the doctor or the
patient. I remember I was involved in a
in a study of uh very old patients. So
the oldest old people who are over 85
years old about their communication with
their providers with their health
providers. And most of these uh elderly
patients had uh a very strong uh
preference to be seen and treated by an
older doctor. they wouldn't trust a
younger practitioner to take care of
them. And we will talk about some
strategies to foster culturally
sensitive dialogue.
Um, first using open-ended questions to
encourage patients to share their
perspectives. For example, instead of
asking, "Do you take your medication?"
you could ask, "Can you tell me about
how you take your medication?"
So this invites more detailed responses
and allows uh patients to um to feel
more welcome to express uh what they uh
what they think and what their concerns
are. The second uh important point is
avoid making assumptions. uh just
because a patient comes from a
particular background doesn't mean they
hold specific beliefs. It is always
important to ask questions and to
understand the individual needs. So
never make assumptions based on how the
patient is presenting or what you think
their cultural background or social
background is. Always try to establish
communication and ask questions.
Um providing language support when
necessary. If you feel that the patient
has difficulty understanding or speaking
to you, try to include their relatives
that speak better language or
interpreters, translation services or
visual aids.
I am Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank
you. Um so moving on here with
strategies to fos foster culturally
sensitive dialogue. So this is a really
really uh important issue here. Um how
do we engage in culturally sensitive
communication? So it's very important to
start by asking those open-ended
questions. When you ask open-ended
questions, you provide an opportunity
for the person to explain their beliefs
or their preferences and their needs in
their own words. And it's avoiding assumptions
assumptions
that has to um take precedence as well.
I believe we all assume things when we
see people and it takes practice to get
rid of that uh that habit.
Excuse me. because what has worked with
one patient may not work with another.
So just because someone may be from the
same neighborhood or have the same
religious background, it really does not
mean that um their preferences and such
will be the same.
So providing language support and when I
was still on at the beginning I heard
Veronica talking about uh the importance
of having professional interpreters. So,
this is worth mentioning again. Um,
professional certified interpreters or
translators should be available when
you're working in an area where a
language barrier exists, not waiting to
find out, oh, this patient doesn't know
English and they only communicate in
their native language. Let me see what I
could find. Um,
very important to never rely on family
members, especially especially children
to interpret for you. Um, I have to say
that I've had this experience as a
patient and it was actually last week.
Um, I was in visiting the nurse and I
had to have my 13-year-old son translate
for me because the medical office did
not have an interpreter available. And
so being on that side of it, I realized
I I can't communicate what my needs are
and what the issue is. uh first of all
because I have a 13-year-old boy
interpreting for me and you know he
doesn't have the information necessary
the knowledge to be able to interpret
and uh Google translate is dangerous it
gives people a false sense of having the
ability to communicate and um more often
than not Google translate is not telling
the other person what you think you're
telling the other person which only
creates more of a divide and it breaks
down that trust. So it's also most
importantly you have to learn to respect
cultural preferences as well whether
it's about gender specific care,
religious practices or dietary needs
because respect when you're respecting
someone's beliefs and preferences that
alone is showing that you genuinely care
for that patient. And let's see if we
Okay, so we want to look at promoting
equity and trust through communication.
So equity and trust go hand in hand. Um
very rarely if someone is being treated
um unfairly or differently than others
are they going to trust the person
that's treating them that way. So in
order to build trust, you also have to
provide equity in care. So listening
actively and empathetically that gives
patients your full attention by just
giving a simple nod or saying something
like tell me more. That shows the
patients that you're listening to them.
Um, additionally, engaging in active listening,
listening,
listening actively is when the patient
has presented their issue to you and
it's your turn to speak. You're not
interrupting. And just saying to the
patient, well, what I hear you telling
me is, and then you repeat back to them
what you believe they said. And this
gives the patient um the opportunity to
say, "Yes, exactly. You get it. This is
what I'm telling you." Or for the
patient to say, "Oh, no, you
misunderstood me." Um this this
simple act, this simple practice of
active listening um is an invaluable
tool in your um inclusive communication
toolkit. Um, so it's also very important
to tailor your communication. So adjust
your language, tone, delivery based on
the patients needs and comprehension
level. Um, there are people that
you'll realize you maybe want to speak a
little bit slower or more clearly
engaging in eye contact. while another
patient um you might be able to see from
their body language that this person is
getting impatient because I'm talking
too slow or this person might be looking
at me strange because I'm staring them
dead in the eye. Um, so being aware of
not only your own um body and your your
own non-verbal communication, but be
attentive to the cues that the patients
are or the person that you're with is
giving off as well. Okay? And always
always encourage feedback. You ask
patients if they have any questions. You
want to make sure that your patient
feels safe to tell you, "I don't
understand. Could you explain that to me
again?" Um, because if the patient can't
engage in this this type of
communication with you, they're going to
leave that appointment not not feeling
that they've gotten anywhere or that
their needs have been met. So, and now
if you could move to the next slide,
please. Thank you. So, building trust.
This is we we've been building up to
this. Building trust with a diverse
patient. So, building trust with a
diverse patient. You want to think about
a patient from a different cultural background.
background.
So, imagine you have this patient and
they have a limited grasp of English or
whatever the native language is in uh in
your setting. Um so they may be hesitant
to take a prescribed medication because
of traditional beliefs. Their their
community moreover people don't take
pharmaceutical medications. They rely
mostly on uh traditional holistic
remedies. So that can be a challenge
because you're facing both the language
barrier and differing like health world
views. So what would be the solution?
Um, again, as we've touched on a number
of times, bring in a qualified certified
interpreter. Engage the patient in a
culture, culturally sensitive dialogue,
and try to find common ground. Ask about
their beliefs, find common ground, and
you can educate without being
dismissive, without dismissing their
perspective. You can also encourage them
to educate you on what their beliefs are
and that's where you'll find the common
ground because trust is built just one
conversation, one respectful interaction
at a time.
Okay. So, and then moving on to the next
slide, please.
Okay. So,
excuse me. Practical tips for inclusive
conversation. So right up there at the
top that was being is what we discussed
a little earlier to be mindful of body
language. Being mindful of body language
is so important because it often
communicates more than our words and
it's interpreted differently across
cultures. I don't know how many of you
have had the experience when you go to a
medical provider and your doctor is
standing next to the door leaning on the
counter. He's not engaged. he or she is
not engaged. They're not listening to
you because they want to leave and go on
to the to the next room to the next
person on their schedule. Um, excuse me.
Use plain language.
You don't need to impress anybody by
using big huge terms to show that your
education and your knowledge is valid.
Um, it can be confusing and
overwhelming. It can come across as
being very dismissive and condescending
when you are using technical language
with somebody who doesn't understand the
technical language because that's not
their field of expertise.
Um, you should always validate your
patients feelings as well. You should
acknowledge their fears, acknowledge
their preferences, their lived
experiences, and and be mindful of the
way you sound so your tone is not
condescending or sarcastic.
Finally, it's it's incredibly important
to commit to continuous learning. It's
you don't attend a session of cultural
competence and check the box because
this is an ongoing journey of listening,
unlearning sometimes and growing.
I'm going to move on to the next slide, please.
So
as we begin to wrap up this portion of
the presentation,
I encourage all of you to reflect on a
few key takeaways. So number one,
inclusive communication is essential for
building trust and achieving equitable
care. Cultural understanding enhances
every patient interaction
and small changes in how we speak and
how we listen make a huge difference and
I just want to thank all of you for your
time and attention. I'm sorry about my
technical difficulty
technical difficulties, but most
importantly, I want to thank you for
your commitment to attending these
co-curricular sessions and improving
uh the community and the world at large
by taking this knowledge with you. So,
thank you so much.
Thank you so much. I'm so sorry there
was a technical glitch with your
computer, but uh honestly, the
presentation didn't suffer. So I think
we have given our students a very good
presentation and lots of useful
information on how to use these
strategies for better communication
uh once they go into the field or if
they're working in the field already.
These are important things to know and
um I was very happy to hear of your own
example and just you know realize how
being on the other side of the equation
feels for a patient and it is so true.
uh not being uh on the same level or on
the same language with a health care
provider is a significant
um significant difficulty to expressing
what we need to getting the care we
need. So we need to be very mindful of
people who come to seek uh help to make
sure that they can express themselves
that we understand their cultural
backgrounds as well as their language.
So this is very very important for
everyone to to keep in mind. Again I
will remind everyone to complete the
posteinar quiz to earn your
participation certificate. So, um, we
have some time left to take a few of
your questions from the Q&A section.
We're going to head right in and start
looking for good questions to answer.
Um, but uh, yes, remember when the
webinar is finished, you will receive a
link to a posteinar quiz and you can
earn your participation
certificate. I'm seeing a question um
whether this is mandatory for students
in business administration. No. Uh the
co-curricular webinars are not mandatory
for any students. They are uh the extra
learning experiences and sessions that
are provided to enhance your knowledge
and to uh prepare you better for your
professional roles. So today's webinar
was focused more on health care and thus
applies more to health science students.
But of course we're open to students
from all departments. And if your
professional life is on the border of
health care and business or health care
and computer science, of course we want
you to be involved and to know these
strategies and to be able to communicate
in the field uh as well. So let's see
the questions. Elishva, are you able to
see any um questions?
Um I am actually um I had to switch to
my phone. So
I'm not even sure. Could you see me
while I was while I'm presenting now?
Which says, "What are some examples of
effective open-ended questions that
health care providers can use to better
understand a patient's unique needs and concerns.
concerns.
So I've given one example during our
presentation. instead of asking uh are
you taking your medication to ask uh
you know more details about about that
medication. So to for example to to to
say um
what what are your uh how do you feel
about taking this medication or um to to
direct the question to allow the the
patient to open up a little bit more?
Could you give us any other examples on
what these open-ended questions could be?
be?
Yes. Uh yes, absolutely. Um when uh
someone comes into the healthc care
setting um and
they they come in to see to see you. An
open-ended question could be um what is
it um what brought you in here today?
What what motivated you to come and seek
care today? and ex my stomach is upset
and you you can continue that by saying
oh I'm sorry to hear that is can you
tell me how long this has been going on
and by
what kind of pain is it can you tell me
a little bit more about what kind of
pain you're experiencing or
correct correct letting the patient take
on from the question and open up a
little bit more this is this is what we Um
Um
I see another question. In many cases if
it is seen that a patient is previously
known to the doctor or staff they given
comparatively more attention which may
make other patients feel they are not
receiving equal importance. Is this
right? Um
surely not surely not right. every
patient should be receiving uh equal
attention and u and equal equal time to
for their appointment. It just so
happens that sometimes health care
practitioners I think uh are dealing
with patients who become more
comfortable with them and can use can
become more communicative and can uh
stretch the appointment time a bit
longer. Uh what do you think about this?
Absolutely. Um this does happen quite
frequently and as the practitioner um in
the health care setting this is
something to be really mindful of uh
because inclusive and communication also
means effective communication. So you
you have to develop the skill to um cut
those conversations short to keep the
appointment on track because ultimately
it will lead to having to um take time
away from someone else's appointment
otherwise the practitioner will be five
hours behind by the end of the day and
that's just unacceptable as well.
That is so true. Another interesting
question, how can we avoid
unintentionally offending patients from
different cultural backgrounds while
still asking necessary medical
questions? What a lovely question.
I think I will allow you to answer, but
I will just say from my perspective as
someone with a PhD in health psychology,
you start by apologizing. You say I
apologize for asking uh perhaps a very
sensitive question but I need to know
what what is your take on this Elisha? 100%
100%
humility. Be humble. You don't know
everything. And it is very important.
It's part of respecting the patient's
beliefs, respecting their person, and
that you say, "I am really sorry. I'm
not familiar with X Y and Z and I do
need to know this information and I
apologize if it's uncomfortable but
please uh speak freely with me and help
educate me.
Absolutely. So important humility being
humble. I love that you've mentioned
that none of us can know everything and
of course we we often deal with people
from different cultural backgrounds and
so we start with saying I'm sorry but I
don't know about this or I apologize in
advance for asking perhaps a wrong
question but I really need to know this
information. So this this is important.
Let's see. I have I have one one little
thing I'd like to to interject here
regarding that. I remember in the
patient care setting, I'll say this
really quickly, um I had a patient who
was uh a religious uh Muslim and the um
assistant was insisting that they rinsed
with me with mouthwash that contained
alcohol and was getting upset with with them.
them.
And once I explained to her, I asked
him, I said, you know, is it okay if if
we explain this to her? And it just made
such a huge difference. And later she
told me, I never thought of that. I
thought he was just being difficult.
It was incredible.
Absolutely. There there is always a
reason why a patient is
um resisting something. So in uh most of
the cases there is this cultural
sensitivity or a certain uh certain
reason in the beliefs of the per of the
patient that guide their behavior. So it
is so important to understand um
um
I just saw another question and then it
it scrolled away from me. Um
Um
the chat is moving fast. It is honestly
it's moving so fast and I just thought I
saw something interesting. Um,
imagine a situation where you don't have
an interpreter to help you and the
patient is in severe pain. How will one
So when goes back to um one thing I I
touched on if you are in a community
where there is a population that doesn't
speak the native language
you should have the phone number for a
telephone interpreter.
That's a must. That is a must because
situations like this come up. I mean, I
was working when I was working in uh
prison uh for many years and I had a
patient who spoke Mandarin. Um well, I
have a lot of I had a I was living in
California at the time. I had a lot of
people that spoke Spanish and English,
but nobody spoke Mandarin. And he was in
a lot of pain. But we have to have these
tools in order to meet the needs of the patients.
patients.
Yeah. Absolutely.
There is a lot that we can do to prepare
in advance. Knowing what type of
community uh we are serving. So having
an interpreter on dial sounds like like
a great solution. Um but also of course
there are situations where a patient
might be nonresponsive. So um I think
doctors uh take decisions sometimes
without speaking to a patient and this
we we need to keep that in mind in
emergency situations where the life uh
depends on seconds of a decision. There
is no time for for for any uh
communication. the doctors take the risk
of saving the life of a patient the best
way they know.
Um I see a question as well. Um I am a
paramedic and here in Qatar we speak and
explain in Arabic in emotionally intense
health care settings like the A andd
NICU or ICU. How can inclusive
communication practices be adapted to
support not only diverse patients and
families but also multicultural medical
teams under stress? Very good question
about multicultural teams under stress.
Uh in today's hospital environment, you
are likely to work with people coming
from a lot of different backgrounds. And
of course when we talk about
communication in health care, we are not
only talking about communication between
health care providers and patients.
Sometimes it's communication between
different health care providers who may
have very different sets of cultural
beliefs. So what is your advice on this?
how how to play in a team which is multicultural
multicultural
and diverse.
Again, humility and respect. You want
your teammates to respect you and
respect your beliefs
and so you should reflect that back. You
should respect your teammates's beliefs
and cultural and preferences, you know,
cultural preferences and religious
preferences and communicate as a team
because you're all there with one shared
goal and that is to provide care,
de-stress the situation and support the
patients and their family.
So true. Respect and communication are
the two key points that we have to
stress, especially in a in a workplace
setting, in a health care setting,
respecting your colleagues um and
communicating with them. Sharing
something about your cultural beliefs
and what your social background is is
also important to allow other people to
open up and share things about
themselves. So I think this is a very
very important thing to consider. Um my
question here is sometimes the patients
are very arrogant. So in such scenarios
what are the suggestions
uh can you give us to calm such people down?
Yes. Um
number one
do not take it personally.
Keep in mind that your patient may be
arrogant because they were not treated
uh respectfully by a previous healthcare
provider. They were not maybe not taken
seriously. So by engaging with your
arrogant patient who's I've had people
patients talk to me like I was an
complete fool. Um, and by just
maintaining appropriate body language,
caring, kind, inclusive, respectful communication,
communication,
I'd say nine out of 10 times by the end
of the appointment, we were great and
the arrogance was gone and they thanked
me for listening to them and caring for them.
them. Absolutely.
Absolutely.
There is always a reason for this
arrogant or rude behavior. So as you
correctly say either the patient was
mistreated before or they are
um perhaps in in a very urgent situation
they don't have time for a lot of uh
explanations and they have some
troublesome symptoms or you know there
is always a reason for uh certain
behaviors. Another question here uh what
solution would you render to a patient
who preferred to be attended to by the
same sex? This as we said happens in
many many uh cultures where female
patients are not allowed
uh to see uh male practitioners.
Um so this is a very frequent situation.
Uh what is your response to this?
My response is to respect modesty laws
that are very important to people. If um
if there's a woman and because of
modesty laws she's doesn't want uh the
male practitioner,
find a female practitioner. If it this
is an emergency life and death situation,
situation, um
um
most religions that have modesty laws,
life and death comes above everything
else. And so then it's it's moot. But if
you can respect by finding another
practitioner or if it's urgent or excuse
me non-urgent and say you need to rebook
their appointment for Tuesdays when
there's the female practitioner, then
you do that.
Absolutely. So correct. I'm just seeing
um not a question but a complaint in our
Q&A saying some of us we have been
attending all the webinars but we don't
receive our certificates. I'm so sorry
to hear that because we send out a lot
of certificates after each event. But
please make sure that you are
registering and completing the post quiz
with the same email because we match the
email on your registration and how you
complete the postquiz uh webinar. It has
to be the same email for you to receive
the certificate. So please please pay
attention to that and please send us an
email. If you have attended all the
webinars as you say but have not
received the certificates, send us an
email about that. We will look into it
and we will issue whatever certificates
you are missing. We are happy for our
students to receive certificates and we
do our best to provide them. Another
nice comment I'm going to read. I'm a
computer science student. I thought it
was just about health, but I've learned
a lot on proper communication generally.
But please can a program like this be
arranged for those in computer science
and other discipline? We do our best and
we try to listen to you on the topics of
our next webinars and we actually just
recently um sent out a student poll to
guide us on the topics of our next
events and many of you have participated
and we're very grateful for that. So the
schedule of our webinar events for next
year has been completed. It's been
finalized. You can find it on the mood
page of co-curricular programming
center. And all events for the next
academic year are there. So please go
ahead and look at them. Mark those dates
which are interesting for you and please
come and join us for these events. So
our time is up. Unfortunately it passes
very quickly. Again, I remind you to
complete the posteinar quiz so you can
receive your certificate of
participation. It was a pleasure to have
you all with us and my
sincere thanks to Elishva for sharing
her insights and such interesting
information with us. Thank you so much
for being with us and being our
presenter. We greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you. Thank you. And I look forward
to more events with you that we will
discuss and hopefully schedule for the
coming months and next academic year.
Thanks everyone. I wish you a good day,
evening, morning, wherever you are.
Please remember to fill out your uh quiz
and receive your certificate. Goodbye
from me. Thank you all for attending. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. [Music]
