Communicating Health Personal, Cultural, and Political Complexities.

• Author: Hyatt, Ralph
• Position: Book Review

BY PATRICIA G. MARTIN, EILEEN B. RAY, AND BARBARA F. SHARF THOMPSON/WADSWORTH PUBLISHERS 2003, 282 PAGES, $54.95

This book should be attractive not only to health professionals, but to intelligent, openminded adults in all walks of life. It is full of information we all need to know. Communication, after all, influences human behavior in very important ways throughout all stages of life. It can be verbal or nonverbal, spoken or read--or visualized. It begins at birth when an obstetrician shares the wonderful outcome of delivery with a child's parents. At other times, however, a physician may have to explain with great sensitivity some unforeseen complication. There was a time when most Americans did not feel comfortable discussing health matters. One reason was the lack of available information. Moreover, individuals never really learned to communicate openly concerning their feelings. Though the information gap has been bridged, the communication one has not. Communicating Health fills both of these needs for the reader with a significant amount of insightful information interwoven with sensible ways to share ideas and feelings with others. The authors describe a person's life as a narrative. Health and illness inevitably are a significant part of all of our histories. Sharing our narrative affords us a sense of control. At the same time. others are given the opportunity to express their caring and compassion. Thus. interpersonal contact has the power to lead to an acceptance of ourselves and others. All of us have stories to tell: a visit to a hospital emergency room: a long-term illness that disrupts...