"You Look Young! Are You a Doctor?" A Qualitative Content Analysis of Anesthesiology Resident Responses to Ageism in Clinical Encounters.

Background: Healthcare trainees frequently report facing comments from their patients pertaining to their age. Exposure to ageist comments from patients may be related to greater stress and/or burnout in residents and may impact the quality of the resident-patient relationship. However, little empirical work has examined ageism expressed toward anesthesiology residents in clinical care, and therefore not much is known about how residents respond to these comments in practice.

Influence of mental health on information seeking, risk perception and mask wearing self-efficacy during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal panel study across 6 U.S. States.

Background: Understanding factors that influence information seeking, assessment of risk and mitigation behaviors is critical during a public health crises. This longitudinal study examined the influence of self-reported mental health during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic on information seeking, risk perception and perceived mask wearing ability. Mental health screener items included fear, anger, and hopelessness in addition to avoidance, diminished functional ability and global distress.

Methodological innovations to strengthen evidence-based serious illness communication.

Background/objective: A growing population of those affected by serious illness, prognostic uncertainty, patient diversity, and healthcare digitalization pose challenges for the future of serious illness communication. Yet, there is paucity of evidence to support serious illness communication behaviors among clinicians. Herein, we propose three methodological innovations to advance the basic science of serious illness communication.

Toward a basic science of communication in serious illness.

High-quality communication can mitigate suffering during serious illness. Innovations in theory and technology present the opportunity to advance serious illness communication research, moving beyond inquiry that links broad communication constructs to health outcomes toward operationalizing and understanding the impact of discrete communication functions on human experience. Given the high stakes of communication during serious illness, we see a critical need to develop a basic science approach to serious illness communication research.

Patient Preference for Telehealth Background Shapes Impressions of Physicians and Information Recall: A Randomized Experiment.

Telehealth is increasing rapidly as a health care delivery platform, but we lack empirical evidence regarding how telehealth environments can affect patient experiences. The present research determined how physician's telehealth backgrounds affect various patient outcomes. Participants viewed a 30-s video of a physician with one of six different virtual backgrounds and reported various socioemotional and cognitive responses to the mock telehealth experience.

Empathy, friend or foe? Untangling the relationship between empathy and burnout in helping professions.

The relationship between empathy and burnout in helping professions has been debated extensively, with some arguing the tendency to vicariously experience the emotions of another is a risk factor for burnout and others arguing that this disposition protects against burnout. We sought to aid this debate by assessing the relationship between two empathy facets, positive and negative, and burnout across three samples of helping professionals: practicing clinicians ( = 59), medical students ( = 76), and teaching assistants ( = 77). Results across all three samples consistently revealed that one's tendency to share in the positive emotions of another (i.

Environmental Considerations for Effective Telehealth Encounters: A Narrative Review and Implications for Best Practice.

Due to the reduction in-person visits, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to expansions in the use of telehealth technology to provide patient care, yet clinicians lack evidence-based guidance on how to most effectively use video communication to enhance patient experience and outcomes. A narrative review was conducted to describe environmental factors derived from research in social psychology and human-computer interaction (HCI) that may guide effective video-based clinician-patient telehealth communication. Factors such as nonverbal cues, spatial proximity, professionalism cues, and ambient features play an important role in patient experience.

What is empathy? Oncology patient perspectives on empathic clinician behaviors.

Background: Oncology patients and physicians value empathy because of its association with improved health outcomes. Common measures of empathy lack consistency and were developed without direct input from patients. Because of their intense engagement with health care systems, oncology patients may have unique perspectives on what behaviors signal empathy in a clinical setting.

Physician empathy according to physicians: A multi-specialty qualitative analysis.

Objectives: To explore how physicians in neurology, family medicine, internal medicine, and emergency medicine characterize clinical empathy.

Methods: Physicians (N = 94) were asked to describe up to 10 examples of empathic physician behavior. Data were analyzed using template analysis.

Structural Racism and the COVID-19 Experience in the United States.

The long, fallacious history of attributing racial disparities in public health outcomes to biological inferiority or poor decision making persists in contemporary conversations about the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the disproportionate impacts of this pandemic on communities of color, it is essential for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to focus on how structural racism drives these disparate outcomes. In May and June 2020, we conducted a 6-state online survey to examine racial/ethnic differences in exposure to COVID-19, risk mitigation behaviors, risk perceptions, and COVID-19 impacts.

Virtual environments to study emotional responses to clinical communication: A scoping review.

Objective: This scoping review explores the potential for virtual environments (VE) to evaluate emotional outcomes in clinical communication research. Authors representing multiple disciplines use review results to propose potential research opportunities and considerations.

Methods: We utilized a structured framework for scoping reviews.

Is Technology Enhancing or Hindering Interpersonal Communication? A Framework and Preliminary Results to Examine the Relationship Between Technology Use and Nonverbal Decoding Skill.

Digital technology has facilitated additional means for human communication, allowing social connections across communities, cultures, and continents. However, little is known about the effect these communication technologies have on the ability to accurately recognize and utilize nonverbal behavior cues. We present two competing theories, which suggest (1) the potential for technology use to nonverbal decoding skill or, (2) the potential for technology use to nonverbal decoding skill.

Clinicians, cooks, and cashiers: Examining health equity and the COVID-19 risks to essential workers.

In Spring/Summer 2020, most individuals living in the United States experienced several months of social distancing and stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Clinicians, restaurant cooks, cashiers, transit operators, and other essential workers (EWs), however, continued to work outside the home during this time in order to keep others alive and maintain a functioning society. In the United States, EWs are often low-income persons of color who are more likely to face socioeconomic vulnerabilities, systemic racism, and health inequities.

Preferences for patient-centered care among cancer survivors 5 years post-diagnosis.

Objective: Our primary objective was to identify predictors associated with preferences for patient-centered care among cancer survivors and the association between cancer health literacy and patient-centered care preferences.

Methods: Cross sectional analyses of N = 345 adult cancer survivors (5 years post cancer diagnosis) attending follow-ups at University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia. Face-to face-interviews were conducted using the 30-item Cancer Health Literacy Test and the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale to determine preference for patient-centered care.

Effect of a Mobile Monitoring System vs Usual Care on Depression Symptoms and Psychological Health: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

This randomized clinical trial assesses whether patients using a mobile monitoring system with clinician access experienced improvements in depression symptoms and psychological well-being.

Compassionate and Clinical Behavior of Residents in a Simulated Informed Consent Encounter.

Background: Compassionate behavior in clinicians is described as seeking to understand patients' psychosocial, physical and medical needs, timely attending to these needs, and involving patients as they desire. The goal of our study was to evaluate compassionate behavior in patient interactions, pain management, and the informed consent process of anesthesia residents in a simulated preoperative evaluation of a patient in pain scheduled for urgent surgery.

Methods: Forty-nine Clinical Anesthesia residents in year 1 and 16 Clinical Anesthesia residents in year 3 from three residency programs individually obtained informed consent for anesthesia for an urgent laparotomy from a standardized patient complaining of pain.

The academic-industry divide in health communication: A call for increased partnership.

Objective: Healthcare communication research, teaching, and practice is in a period of innovation and disruption from new technologies, consumerization, and emerging models of care delivery. The goal of this commentary is to discuss perceived barriers and provide baseline metrics of academic-industry partnership in health communication.

Methods: We coded industry affiliations of authors published in Patient Education and Counseling (PEC) in 2018, and attendees and authors of accepted submissions at the 2018 International Conference on Communication in Healthcare (ICCH).

Preferences for mHealth physical activity interventions during chemotherapy for breast cancer: a qualitative evaluation.

Purpose: Physical activity has been shown to decline over the course of chemotherapy in breast cancer survivors; yet it may reduce treatment-related side effects and emerging evidence indicates it may improve disease outcomes. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions may be an effective, scalable strategy to increase physical activity during treatment. However, little is known about breast cancer patients' interests and preferences for these interventions.

Effects of communication about uncertainty and oncologist gender on the physician-patient relationship.

Objective: Physicians are increasingly expected to share uncertain information, yet there is concern about possible negative effects on patients. How uncertainty is conveyed and by whom may influence patients' response. We tested the effects of verbally and non-verbally communicating uncertainty by a male vs.

Personal Narrative: Raising Awareness of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors in Similarly Aged University Students.

As part of a programmatic educational initiative, we developed a personal narrative presentation, embedded with evidence-based data, to raise awareness of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) who have been diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 15 and 39 years among similarly aged university students. The narrative encompassed the cancer care continuum from signs of the disease through survivorship and incorporated psychosocial aspects of the experience. The presenter, diagnosed with lymphoma at the age of 25 years in 2007, interwove AYA data with her narrative in a series of 26 invited lectures given over 2 academic years, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

Breast cancer survivors' preferences for mHealth physical activity interventions: findings from a mixed methods study.

Purpose: Despite the benefits of physical activity for breast cancer survivors, the majority remain insufficiently active. Mobile health (mHealth) physical activity interventions may be a more scalable strategy to increase activity among survivors. However, little is known about their preferences for mHealth intervention features.

Breast cancer survivors' preferences for social support features in technology-supported physical activity interventions: findings from a mixed methods evaluation.

Incorporating peer and professional social support features into remotely delivered, technology-supported physical activity interventions may increase their effectiveness. However, very little is known about survivors' preferences for potential social features. This study explored breast cancer survivors' preferences for both traditional (e.

The impact of obesity on perceived patient-centred communication.

Objective: Patient-provider communication has been found to be less patient centred, on average, with patients who are members of stigmatized or minority groups. Obesity is a stigmatized condition, and thus, people with obesity may experience less patient-centred communication (PCC). The objective of this study was to assess the association between patient body mass index (BMI) and self-reported quality of PCC experienced over a 12-month period and whether that relationship differed for men and women.

Measuring nonverbal behavior in clinical interactions: A pragmatic guide.

Objective: Understanding nonverbal behavior is key to the research, teaching, and practice of clinical communication. However, the measurement of nonverbal behavior can be complex and time-intensive. There are many decisions to make and factors to consider when coding nonverbal behaviors.