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Comment
. 2018 Sep 18;7(1):56.
doi: 10.1186/s13584-018-0250-z.

Promoting patient comprehension of relevant health information

Gary L Kreps  1
Affiliations
Comment

Promoting patient comprehension of relevant health information

Gary L Kreps. Isr J Health Policy Res. .

Abstract

Patient understanding of health care recommendations provided by health care professionals is essential to enabling active and informed patient participation in care. Unfortunately, evidence suggests that patients often seriously misunderstand relevant health information provided to them, leading to errant patient decisions about their care. This commentary examines key communication factors that influence patient understanding and argues for a comprehensive approach to assessing and promoting patient comprehension.

Keywords: Health communication; Health literacy; Patient comprehension; Teach back method.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

Gary L. Kreps is a University Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University. He formerly served as the founding Chief of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute, founding Dean of the School of Communication at Hofstra University, and Executive Director of the Greenspun School of Communication at UNLV.

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(not applicable)

Consent for publication

(not applicable)

Competing interests

The author declares that he/she has no competing interests.

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Comment on

References

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