This introductory book is aimed at providing understanding of communication in the clinical audiology setting and focusses on newly graduated clinicians and students. The book is divided into two sections: (1) verbal communication with patients; (2) written communication with healthcare providers.
The first part on verbal communication focusses on building rapport with patients, gathering appropriate information and communicating test results and other information to patients and their significant others during clinical consultation. The second part on written communication focuses on documentation and report writing.
The strength of this book is that it is written in simple and easily understandable language and certainly pitched at the right level for the target audience as identified by the authors. Inspiration and examples have been drawn from literature on professional communication in other health areas.
However, some important aspects such as shared decision-making, patient-centeredness and health-literacy, which may have important implications for professional communications, have not been highlighted. Moreover, patient-provider communication has been linked to improved health outcomes. There is some research evidence to support this in the area of speech and hearing sciences, although the authors fail to acknowledge this important information. Perhaps these aspects can be included in a future revised version of this book.
The book is priced at $55, which I think is excessive considering the depth of this book. I would recommend this as a one-time read, as there is useful information, but not as a book that one should keep referring to multiple times. Overall, this book at best provides a good summary of the basic skills necessary for oral and written communication in a clinical audiology context.
