Clinical communication

Effective communication about health behaviour change

Communication is fundamental to all healthcare encounters. Effective communication is associated with improved health outcomes. However, communication training and guidance for healthcare professionals is often vague and unspecific, and there is little evidence to underpin training, guidance, and practice. This can mean professionals do not have access to knowledge about what constitutes ‘effective’ communication in a given context.

We lead research on real communication in healthcare settings. We aim to identify evidence of effective communication about behaviour change, and move evidence into practice, policy, training, and guidance.

We use cutting edge social science and communication science methods to identify common communication challenges (and how they come about and may be avoided or mitigated); and which communication approaches support improved patient outcomes.

Here are some examples of our work in this area:

• Understanding and improving primary care prevention advice for people who experience multiple long-term conditions and socioeconomic deprivation
• Talk Wel: Improving opportunistic weight loss advice in general practice
• Relationship Between Clinician Language and the Success of Behavioural Weight Loss Interventions

Evidence-informed communication training for professionals developed from our research:

• Supportive and effective conversations about weight management referrals - Training Resource, with Public Health England
• Practical tips and audio clips for delivering very brief weight loss interventions - Training Resource, CPD Accredited
• Language Matters: Obesity - Obesity UK, Guidance

Why not access some of our podcasts, blogs, and online public engagement events to find out more:

• Talking Meds: Finding the words to communicate Covid-19 travel risk
• How communication from doctors can support weight loss: BBC HealthCheck
• The Qualitative Research Series Podcast - Uncovering the machinery behind interaction through conversation analysis with Dr Charlotte Albury.
• Communicating Care: Poetry, dance, and the science of difficult clinical conversations
• Hello Doctor: Art and poems created by people living with obesity about their experience of communication with professionals
• Let's Talk About Obesity & Clinical Communication: BMC Blog Monthly data sessions
• ORCA:Oxford Research in Conversation analysis