Location: Workshop (Room 1116, 11th floor) - 100 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510
Title: Truth, Trust, and Talk: Advancing Inclusion Through Health Communication
Brief Abstract: Effective healthcare is often undermined by communicative practices that question or contest patients’ lived experiences of stigmatized health conditions, such as chronic pain and autoimmune diseases. When patients encounter discrediting, silencing, or stereotyping language from healthcare providers, their voices are devalued, eroding trust and perpetuating health disparities. This talk will introduce and explore communicative (dis)enfranchisement as an ideological process that shapes patient-provider interactions and disproportionately impacts marginalized patients by calling into question what is “true.” I will introduce practical strategies for fostering inclusivity that prioritize patients’ lived experiences. I will also discuss how researchers can utilize communication as a tool for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion more broadly.