Communicating with Patients with Special Health Care Needs.
People with special health care needs (PSHCN) often have difficulty communicating with providers in health care settings, including dental practices. This difficulty can affect access to care as well as the quality of care received. This article provides practical tips and tools dental professionals can use to facilitate communication for a diverse population of PSHCNs. The article discusses communication needs of patients with communication disorders; augmentative and alternative communication; and communication for patients with intellectual disability, psychiatric conditions; and dental fears. Examples are given of communication breakdowns, and descriptions of how communication challenges can be resolved.
Dental Education in the Care of Persons with Disabilities Program, Department of Oral Medicine, University of Washington School of Dentistry, 1959 Northeast Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Electronic address: kmespino@uw.edu.
Kimberly M
KM
Espinoza
Department of Oral Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Dentistry, 1959 Northeast Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Lisa J
LJ
Heaton
D003142:Communication; D003144:Communication Barriers; D016854:Dental Anxiety; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D001523:Mental Disorders
Augmentative and alternative communication; Communication disorders; Dental fear; Intellectual disability; Psychiatric conditions