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The Joint Commission released a call to action Feb. 7 in its newest policy white paper, "What Did the Doctor Say?: Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety." The commission frames the existing communication gap between patients and caregivers as a series of challenges involving literacy, language, and culture, and suggests taking multiple steps to narrow or even close this gap.
If the patient does not understand the implications of his or her diagnosis and the importance of prevention and treatment plans, or cannot access health care services because of communication problems, a serious complication could occur. The same is true if the treating SLP or audiologist does not understand the patient or the cultural context within which the patient receives important information.
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