Talk It Out

Do you understand? Maybe not, which is why teach-back is closing communication gaps in health care. Adapted from education models that emphasize active learning and assessment, teach-back moves beyond passive information delivery from providers to patients to confirm understanding in real time. Instead of asking, “Do you understand?” providers use teach-back to invite patients to explain information in their own words, confirming understanding of diagnoses, medications and care plans. Teach-back empowers people to take an active role in their care and is being taught at RFU to encourage a new paradigm for provider–patient interaction.

Teach-back is a low-cost, high-impact intervention. It transforms rushed, one-way encounters into meaningful human connection. By listening closely and using plain language, providers help patients feel confident and engaged — and more likely to ask questions, raise concerns and participate in decision-making.

“Jargon is the enemy of communication,” says Monideepa Becerra, DrPH, MPH, chair of population health at RFU. Teach-back asks, “Please explain to me how you will follow this at home,” Dr. Becerra says. “It’s the difference between telling a patient they have renal cell carcinoma or kidney cancer. People understand the word cancer.”

Used consistently and compassionately, teach-back can help address population-level disparities tied to health literacy, language and culture. “It makes patients feel seen, and that builds trust,” Dr. Becerra says.