The CoMac DescriptorTM and Psychosociolinguistic Tailored Communication to Promote Self-Management (TCPS) in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Abstract: Estimates show that between 35-50% of patients with chronic conditions do not adhere to medical prescriptions. Lack of adherence to treatment plans results in poor clinical/patient outcomes, higher healthcare costs, and lost productivity. Adherence is connected to health literacy and health communication. Health literacy includes the ability to comprehend medical information and make decisions about healthy behaviors. Much of the focus on health literacy has been on reading and numeracy; however, in the clinic setting, health information is most often exchanged through provider-patient verbal communication. Verbal exchange of information includes speaking and listening. Linguistic tactics can be used to draw individuals’ attention to messages, selecting specific words, phrases, and style of communicating, informed by linguistics, can create a psychological closeness between the message and the audience. Increasing attention to oral messages should be a key strategy in health communication to promote adherence and self-management. This presentation describes the effectiveness and the practicality of an innovative psychosociolinguistic intervention tool, based on previous research in linguistic analysis of patient talk, the CoMac DescriptorTM and the subsequent psychosociolinguistically informed communication (Connor et al., 2012; Connor & Lauten 2014). As an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the International Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC) at IUPUI, we have used the CoMac DescriptorTM, a 12-question survey, to identify and segment patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) based on patients’ psychosociolinguistic characteristics. We have then offered healthcare providers psychosociolinguistically informed communication, matching the linguistic styles of patients. We will share the key findings such as 1) patients’ and healthcare professionals’ overall satisfaction with the CoMac DescriptorTM and psychosociolinguistically informed communication; and 2) statistically significant relationship between the health behaviors and health outcomes of patients using the CoMac Descriptor and psychosociolinguistically informed communication.