Complexity and objectivity in teaching interprofessional healthcare communication

Objective

This article, based on a plenary presentation from ICCH 2024, examines the challenge of balancing objectivity and complexity, and the risk of violent simplification, when it comes to teaching and assessing interprofessional healthcare communication.

Discussion

Interpersonal communication, that is, conversation, makes all aspects of human social life possible. Conversation is complex and is managed by participants in emergent and dynamic ways. To facilitate the practical needs of teaching and assessment, we simplify conversation into produced objectivities that reflect disciplinary and dominant cultural norms and values at the time of their creation. These objectivities do not necessarily adequately reflect the way in which conversations unfold in dynamic, participant-managed ways as they often list specific contextualized behaviors rather than the context-free system of conversation. Despite this, they often become standardized and used in ways that can lead to harm for students, patients and carers, and educators. This violent simplification is made possible through educational and healthcare systems that reinforce disciplinary silos and underinvest in communication education.

Conclusions

Engaging with the complexity of conversation within our educational practices is necessary to reduce the risk of harm. This involves explicit consideration of how objective tools are created and used in communication education, increased investment from education and healthcare sectors, and integrating knowledge about how conversation works from research of communication-in-practice.