Caring for a patient who is critically ill and dying poses communication challenges for everyone involved—patient, practitioners, and loved ones. How we communicate during this profound time in a person’s life can significantly impact end of life care. In this interview, health communications expert and researcher Carey Candrian, PhD, talks about the power of language and explains why it’s time to evaluate equity in hospice and palliative care. Candrian is an Assistant Professor with the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the author of the book Communicating Care at the End of Life.
Carey Candrian, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholar. A social scientist with a postdoctoral degree in communication, Candrian explores how communication shapes—and is shaped by—perceptions, attitudes, and biases in the community. She earned her PhD in organizational and health communication from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she also was a researcher and instructor for 6 years.