The undervalued role of communication in healthcare improvement and its critical contribution to engaging staff and saving lives.

Implementation of quality improvement (QI) approaches in healthcare is widespread, yet healthcare services are still not reliably safe. Many QI approaches aim to change human behaviour to improve patient care, yet communication, a key component of change, does not feature prominently in QI theory and practice. We elaborate here on potential reasons for this oversight and how the role of communication can be clarified and enhanced. We also argue for the need of new theoretical models to overcome such issues and reflect on a few topics for consideration and inclusion in potential new theoretical models to address this issue. The question is not whether communication should be part of improvement activity, but how best it should be embedded and on what theoretical basis such decisions are taken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Communication in Healthcare is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)