Use Of Communication Techniques Research Articles

Intervention with institutional caregivers for the purpose of supportive education for disadvantaged children: 3C

IntroductionChildren in institutional care may have limited access to educational opportunities compared to children in parental care. Improving and enriching the educational practices of these children is important for their well-being. In this study, the Child Development, Communication and Care (3C) Training Program was prepared by the researchers. The 3C education approach emphasizes early childhood development and education. Particular focus is on the use of communication techniques in the education of young children. Our goal with 3C is to increase caregivers’ knowledge of child development and support them to communicate effectively with children. Through this curriculum framework, children are encouraged to interact effectively and empathically with others. Therefore, the curriculum framework emphasizes understanding emotions and building trusting relationships as key components in the holistic development of young disadvantaged children.MethodsA quasi-experimental design with pre-test-post-control group was used in the study. 16 sessions of 3C were applied to the personnel in the experimental group via distance education. Data were collected from the participants before and after the start of the training program by using the Child Education Competence Scale-Parent Form, Personal Information Form, and Training Evaluation Questionnaire.ResultsAs a result, significant differences were obtained between the experimental and control groups in favor of the group receiving training (z = 3.57, p<0.05). Accordingly, it can be said that 3C contributes to the holistic development of the child.DiscussionIt is hoped that such work could enhance the developmental outcomes of young children in institutional care and improve the quality of early childhood education.

Knowledge and perceptions of health literacy among pharmacists in Ohio in 2013 and 2021

BackgroundThere is limited existing literature on pharmacists' knowledge of health literacy and the interventions pharmacists use to address limited health literacy. ObjectivesThe primary objectives of this study were to evaluate pharmacists' knowledge and perceptions of the impact of limited health literacy on patients and their practice, and to review the techniques used to care for patients. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey of registered Ohio pharmacists in 2013 and repeated the survey in 2021. The Nursing Professional Health Literacy Survey was adapted and employed to assess 1) general knowledge; 2) health literacy in the workplace; and 3) demographics. Changes in pharmacists' knowledge and perceptions of health literacy, self-reported use of communication techniques, and methods for assessing a patient’s health literacy were evaluated. ResultsResponse rates were 12.4% (N = 62) in 2013 and 3.5% (N = 174) in 2021. Awareness of the term health literacy increased, rising from 82.3% to 89.7% (P = 0.127). Less than 41% of pharmacists in both cohorts had received formal health literacy training; a regression model indicated that pharmacists with more years of practice were less likely to have had such training (P < 0.05). Most pharmacists admitted they never formally assess health literacy (79.0% in 2013 and 81.6% in 2021; P = 0.875) but reported often relying on their gut feeling to gauge a patient's health literacy (37.1% in 2013 and 41.4% in 2021; P = 0.658). The percentage of pharmacists who orally reviewed written instructions with patients, used layman’s terms, and had patients demonstrate instructions significantly increased (P < 0.05) between 2013 and 2021. ConclusionGaps remain in pharmacists' knowledge and practices related to health literacy. From 2013 to 2021, there were improvements in how pharmacists communicate with patients who have limited health literacy, but no significant change in the methods used to assess health literacy.

The Impact of Digital Marketing on Consumer Behaviour

Abstract The use of communication techniques in marketing has become a fundamental component of effective marketing policy, representing an element of differentiation from the competition, which leads to obtaining, on the one hand, a competitive advantage, and on the other hand, to the consolidation of a long-term relationship with the consumer, ultimately determining their loyalty, with a notable effect on the financial outcomes of the organization. The selection of appropriate communication tools and channels, tailored to the interests of the targeted consumer segment requires a considerable effort on the part of marketers in the direction of deciphering consumer behaviour, understanding the influencing factors that shape it in the current economic and social climate, in which the use of digital technologies represents the most suitable means of initiating and conveying messages to consumers, as well as from consumers to the organization. The present study aims to emphasize the importance of using digital communication tools on the orientation of the purchase decision towards the products/services of an organization, without excluding, however, the need for an adequate use of traditional marketing communication tools. In the present article, the impact on consumer behaviour is analysed based on research from secondary data sources.

Ministry of Religion Communication Techniques in Efforts to Disseminate Halal Certification Obligations for Business Actors in Deliserdang Regency

&lt;em&gt;This article uses qualitative methods or field research in the form of exposing field facts related to the communication patterns of religious ministries in Deliserdang Regency. This research was conducted at the Office of the Ministry of Religion, Deliserdang Regency, North Sumatra Province. This research was conducted for 6 (six) months in 2023 starting from July to February 2024. The number of informants for this research was 6 (six) people. The data collection technique uses triangulation (observation-interview and documentation). Then the data analysis technique, researchers used the Miles and Huberman model technique with three analysis steps, namely data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawing or verification. The research results provide an illustration that the use of communication techniques by the Deli Serdang Ministry of Religion in efforts to disseminate halal certification obligations: 1) Informative Communication Techniques, 2) Persuasive Communication Techniques, 3) Human Relations Communication Techniques. To support halal certification activities, the Deli Serdang Ministry of Religion uses various communication media, including: First, Interpersonal Media. Second, Mass Media and Third, Social Media. Then in an effort to disseminate halal certification obligations for business actors in Deliserdang Regency. Implementation must prioritize communication principles and ethics that are in accordance with religious values, integrity and transparency&lt;/em&gt;

Exploring Factors Affecting Student-Professors Communication at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Establishing effective communication between professors and students is very important in the university environment and it can have a significant impact on the academic and professional success of students. This study aimed to to identify the factors affecting the relationship between students and professors at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.&#x0D; Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 on medical basic sciences students an data were gathered through a standard questionnaire containing demographic information and 35 questions about the factors affecting the relationship between students and professors. The data were analyzed using SPSS software and an independent t-test.&#x0D; Results: In this study, 69% of the students were male and 73% were single. According to the students' opinions, the speaking skills (77%), physical appearance (33%), rank (31.5%), maintaining the dignity and respect of students (25%), empathy and mutual understanding (19%) had the most significant impact on establishing a relationship between them and professors. However, the professor's age proximity to the student (15%), good listening skills and appropriate response to questions (15%), receptivity to criticism (13%), use of communication techniques (10%), and adherence to ethical principles (9%) had the least impact. Among all demographic variables, only sex had a signifant relationship with personal abilities dimension.&#x0D; Conclusion: Based on the results, it seems that most communication factors are important. Improving these relationships and focusing on effective factors can help improve students' academic status and organizationally lead to better efficiency and performance of the university.

Improving Health Equity Through Health Literacy Education.

Health literacy is the ability to understand and use health information. More than one-third of adults living in the United States have limited health literacy, which is associated with adverse health outcomes. Physicians need education about how to communicate effectively across the range of health literacy levels, but residency programs often fail to provide it. We aimed to develop and evaluate a curriculum to establish evidence-based recommendations for training family medicine resident physicians to communicate effectively across the range of health literacy levels. We developed and implemented a 6-month curriculum about health literacy and best practices for communication and collected three pre-/post-measures: patient surveys, videos of residents' patient encounters, and resident self-surveys of knowledge, attitudes, and use of communication techniques. Training of 39 residents included conferences, videotape reviews, written feedback, targeted supervision, and environmental cues. All knowledge/attitude questions on the resident survey improved significantly, as did the use of 4 of 6 communication techniques. Video observation also showed significant improvement in the residents' use of three techniques and a decrease in jargon use and an increase in "plain language" explanations of terms. Multimodal interventions improved residents' knowledge and attitudes about health literacy and use of health literacy precautions. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2023;7(2):e99-e104.].

Perception of the Family Members of the Surgical Patient Regarding the Communication of the Nursing Staff

The perception process allows us to experience the world around us, the use of communication techniques can improve the satisfaction of patients' relatives, reduce anxiety and stress, as well as effective communication between nurses and patients/ relatives it is one of the most important elements to improve hospital stay and treatment compliance. The objective was to determine the perception of the relatives of the surgical patient regarding the communication of the nursing staff, through the application of semi-structured interviews. A descriptive design with a qualitative approach was used, framed in the phenomenological paradigm, a semi-structured interview was applied, with a duration of approximately 15 to 20 minutes, with an intentional convenience sampling, which justifies the selection of 20 relatives. of surgical patients recruited on the outskirts of a public hospital, where information saturation was reached. For the analysis of the data, a graph was prepared to represent the responses of the participants according to the categories previously established by the authors. It is concluded that in all the categories the informants, that is, the relatives of the surgical patients, expressed negative responses towards the effective communication of the nursing staff, which makes us aware that the health personnel must be more empathetic and social with users and the family environment, in order to meet the objective of providing quality care and warmth

Political Advertising by Big Business after Rubicon

IN South Africa political advertising as mode of political communication is now firmly established and even the Government used paid space to promote its post- Rubicon policy emphasis. While South Af- political parties are strongly refraining from using political advertising (with the qualified exception of the Labour Party of South Africa and the Progressive Federal Party), Big Business emerged as the major political advertiser. This can be explained by the interdependence between politics and economics. However, without being truly accountable to the public, this is a somewhat controversial trend. Therefore, for the future of democracy, political parties as the primary political actors cannot refrain from using all available communication techniques. The effective use of communication techniques in no way diminishes the need for realistic appraisals of the circumstances, sound policies, organisational efficiency and interpersonal contact P with the voters. Deeds still speak louder than words.

Distributed Learning in Wireless Networks: Recent Progress and Future Challenges

The next-generation of wireless networks will enable many machine learning (ML) tools and applications to efficiently analyze various types of data collected by edge devices for inference, autonomy, and decision making purposes. However, due to resource constraints, delay limitations, and privacy challenges, edge devices cannot offload their entire collected datasets to a cloud server for centrally training their ML models or inference purposes. To overcome these challenges, distributed learning and inference techniques have been proposed as a means to enable edge devices to collaboratively train ML models without raw data exchanges, thus reducing the communication overhead and latency as well as improving data privacy. However, deploying distributed learning over wireless networks faces several challenges including the uncertain wireless environment (e.g., dynamic channel and interference), limited wireless resources (e.g., transmit power and radio spectrum), and hardware resources (e.g., computational power). This paper provides a comprehensive study of how distributed learning can be efficiently and effectively deployed over wireless edge networks. We present a detailed overview of several emerging distributed learning paradigms, including federated learning, federated distillation, distributed inference, and multi-agent reinforcement learning. For each learning framework, we first introduce the motivation for deploying it over wireless networks. Then, we present a detailed literature review on the use of communication techniques for its efficient deployment. We then introduce an illustrative example to show how to optimize wireless networks to improve its performance. Finally, we introduce future research opportunities. In a nutshell, this paper provides a holistic set of guidelines on how to deploy a broad range of distributed learning frameworks over real-world wireless communication networks.

LA COMMUNICATION DE CRISE DE L’ÉTAT SENEGALAIS FACE A LA RIPOSTE A LA PANDEMIE DE COVID-19

How can we explain this increasing use of communication techniques by managers ? This is the question that this research proposes to answer through a qualitative approach based on content analysis. For this, we are inspired by the theory of discourse analysis and use crisis communication as an explanatory frame work for the phenomenon studied. Political communication is rather a set of social actions or, to put it better, a set of practices. Even if political communication seems to take the place of propaganda in several regimes, it is appropriate, in this article, to examine more closely to what extent this communication on the COVID-19 pandemic offers information likely to nurture the conscience and knowledge of the citizen. From this perspective, it would be desirable to focus on better understanding political practices. Adopting this issue is still taking communication techniques seriously in the form of adhering to specific ways of thinking and acting in light of what leaders put forward as an argument. This study invites message advertisers in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic to shift the communication paradigm through the tone and people involved in the process.

Health Literacy, Primary Care Health Care Providers, and Communication.

Background:Decision-makers and health professionals face challenges in providing quality medical services while optimizing diminishing resources. Health literacy is associated with health outcomes and health system costs and influences the way in which communication is managed in the health system.Objective:This study examined the association between the level of health literacy of service providers in the community, their awareness of health literacy, their attitudes toward health literacy promotion, and the way in which they communicate with patients with low health literacy.Methods:A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted among 50 physicians and 50 administrative staff members in community clinics of the Maccabi Health Maintenance Organization in Israel.Key Results:Significant positive associations were found (p < .05) between the level of health literacy, the attitudes toward health literacy promotion, and the degree to which special communication techniques were used when treating patients with low health literacy. Significant associations were found (p < .01) between the level of awareness, as well as the attitudes toward health literacy promotion and the degree to which communication techniques were applied. Higher health literacy is associated with more favorable attitudes toward health literacy promotion. Additionally, a significant positive association (p < .01) was found between the attitudes toward health literacy promotion and the use of communication techniques. No mediation was found among the research variables.Conclusions:To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines health literacy among physicians. The results indicate gaps in the awareness of, and attitudes toward, health literacy among community health care providers, thus suggesting the need for developing and applying guidelines for improving efforts of health system providers regarding health literacy and for applying recommended tools for health communication. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2021;5(3):e194–e200.]Plain Language Summary:This study examined the link between the health literacy of health care providers (e.g., physicians, service administrators), their awareness and attitudes toward health literacy promotion, and how they communicate with patients with low health literacy. The findings showed significant and positive relationships between these aspects of health literacy as well as gaps in the health care system that need to be addressed.

Barriers and Facilitators to Promoting Oral Health Literacy and Patient Communication among Dental Providers in California.

Studies demonstrate that dental providers value effective provider-patient communication but use few recommended communication techniques. This study explored perspectives of California dental providers and oral health literacy experts in the United States on use of communication techniques. We conducted a qualitative key informant interview study with 50 participants between November 2019 and March 2020, including 44 dental providers (dentists, hygienists, and assistants) in public or private practice in California and 6 oral health literacy (OHL) experts. We undertook thematic analysis of interview transcripts and descriptive statistics about interviewees from pre-surveys. Dental providers reported frequently speaking slowly, and using simple language and models/radiographs to communicate with patients, while infrequently using interpretation/translation, illustrations, teach-back, or motivational interviewing. Providers reported using only 6 of the 18 American Medical Association’s (AMA) recommended communication techniques and only 3 of the 7 AMA’s basic communication techniques. A majority of providers indicated using one of five oral health assessment and educational strategies. Key barriers to effective communication included limited time, financial incentives promoting treatment over prevention, lack of OHL training, limited plain-language patient education materials, and patients with low OHL knowledge. Dental organizations should prioritize supporting dental providers in effective patient communication practices. Standardizing OHL continuing education, creating an evidence-based OHL toolkit for dental teams, ensuring accessible interpretation/translation services, and incentivizing dental providers to deliver education could improve oral health literacy and outcomes.

Improving Nonvocal Critical Care Patients' Ease of Communication Using a Modified SPEACS-2 Program.

To evaluate the feasibility and impact of implementing the "study of patient-nurse effectiveness with assisted communication strategies-2" (SPEACS-2); a program to facilitate communication with nonvocal patients. The plan-do-study-act quality improvement methodology guided the implementation of a modified SPEACS-2 program within a pre and posttest design. The Ease of Communication Scale (ECS) measured patients' communication difficulty, and care processes measured the program's success. Nurses (N = 385) across 5 intensive care units were trained in SPEACS-2. We assessed 354 nonvocal patients (aged 18-95 years) requiring continued mechanical ventilation after withdrawal of heavy sedation. Patients were evaluated over one 2-week preintervention (n = 163) and two 3-week postintervention periods (n = 128; n = 63). A subsample of intervention patients (n = 204) completed the ECS. Ease of Communication Scale scores improved significantly (p = .027) from baseline (mean 25.86 ± 12.2, n = 71) to postintervention period 2 (21.22 ± 12.2, n = 63). Nurses' use of communication techniques and compliance with communication plans of care incrementally increased after training. Implementing SPEACS-2 demonstrated positive changes in patients' ease of communication and feasibility of incorporating evidence-based communication strategies into practice.

Политейнмент и влияние его стратегий на языковую личность политика

The article dwells on the notion of the language personality of the politician-as-actor interpreted within the framework of the politainment theory: the term used in the paper does not indicate the previous profession of a politician but rather describes one of the peculiarities of the political discourse, viz. its theatricality. The paper argues that when political communication is being transformed into politainment, theatricality becomes its key component. Politainment is interpreted here as a hybrid type of political discourse including elements of mass-media and everyday spheres of communication, allowing to orient them at entertainment. Since the language of politainment performs a ludic function, it has often recourse to language game. For the communicative approach of the politician-as-actor it is typical to avoid serious consideration of political topics, to make use of communicative techniques which allow to simplify political problems. It is normal for him to recourse to vulgar language, offensive or otherwise insulting devices such as hyperboles, exaggerations, grotesque. The politician using techniques of politainement is a resourceful individual who can easily give metalinguistic comments, employ puns, euphemisms, dysphemisms, similes, hyperboles and other rhetoric means. Just like a traditional politician, the ‘actor’ is manipulative: he plays out different roles but, first and foremost, he is a star, a celebrity and a glamorous person. In this sense, the politician-as-actor has something in common with musicians and professional sportsmen. It is not unusual for the politainment to borrow their vocabulary: sports, musical instruments, names of musical groups and performers may be mentioned. Such a political actor “sets records”, “competes” with his political opponents, “knocks them out”, etc. To conclude, we may say that ‘actors’ take initiative to dominate on the contemporary political scene and to set a new trend in political communication. In this sense, politainment is not a phenomenon which is represented by orations of only several “linguistically creative” politicians; it is much wider, it influences the whole standard of political communication.

Training of adolescent multipliers from the perspective of health promotion core competencies.

Recognize the domains of health promotion core competencies in the training process of adolescents carried out by nursing students. Qualitative and descriptive study, which used the theoretical methodological contribution Developing Competencies and Professional Standards for Health Promotion Capacity Building in Europe (CompHP), carried out with 14 nursing students. There were four domains: Enable Change; Mediate through Partnership; Communication; and Leadership. These domains came from the interest and commitment of adolescents in intersectoral partnership, the use of communication techniques, and the role of facilitator to catalyze learning and empowerment. There were some domains of core competency in the training of adolescents, suggesting that nursing students act as health promoters. Challenges for Nursing are the implementation of a theoretical contribution of CompHP in undergraduate and ongoing training to carry out health promotion action.

Use of Recommended Communication Techniques by Diabetes Educators.

Background:Diabetes educators are challenged to teach diabetes self-management to patients, ensuring comprehension. Effectiveness with patients may be dependent on the communication skills of the diabetes educator.Objective:This study sought to determine diabetes educators' use of and perceived effectiveness of recommended communication techniques with patients to teach diabetes self-management and to determine differences in communication by educator characteristics.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 522 diabetes educators, comprised mostly of nurses, dieticians, and pharmacists, completed the American Medical Association (AMA) Communication Techniques Survey at a national conference. The AMA survey assessed diabetes educators' self-reported use of and perceived effectiveness of 14 communication techniques. Internal consistency for items reporting frequency of communication techniques was α = 0.83 and for items reporting perceived effectiveness was α = 0.87.Key Results:Simple language, written patient education materials, and using Teach-Back were the most frequently reported techniques. Follow-up phone calls and drawing pictures were the least reported. Educators of Hispanic ethnicity used significantly more communication techniques than Caucasian respondents (p < .05). Educators with more than 16 years in practice and those who provided more than 16 hours of diabetes education per week used significantly more techniques than those with less experience (p < .01). Nurses used significantly more techniques than dieticians (p < .01) and those who had health literacy or communication as part of their schooling used more techniques than those who did not (p < .05). No significant difference on the routine use of communication techniques was found by education level or diabetes educator certification status.Conclusions:The findings provide a baseline assessment of diabetes educator communication practice. Inclusion of health literacy and communication in health professional school curricula appears to support competency, suggesting opportunities for inter-professional health literacy and communication education and research. [Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2017;1(4):e145–e152.]Plain Language Summary:We did a survey asking diabetes educators how they communicate with their patients with diabetes. They mostly used simple language, gave out pamphlets, and used Teach-Back. They did not draw pictures to help explain things. Diabetes educators who were Hispanic, nurses, and had health literacy training in school used more communication techniques. Health literacy and communication should be included in training of health providers.

Online video supervision for statutory youth caseworkers – a pilot study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a novel online video-based approach to supervision for statutory caseworkers. Caseworkers recorded a video of their meetings with their clients and sent the video to their supervisor. The supervisor selected clips in the video. They held an online meeting where they reviewed the clips, and the supervisor gave feedback and they reflected together. The caseworker then used what they had learnt in their future practice. The caseworker then recorded a new meeting, and the supervision cycle restarted.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 11 statutory caseworkers from three municipalities in the Copenhagen area participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. The interviews focused on the professional learning and challenges caseworkers faced in relation to participating in the supervision process.FindingsThe caseworkers reported that they used the method to assess their own practice in a more realistic way as the use of video gave a more accurate image than merely recalling what had occurred. They reflected about and developed their relationship with clients, their conversational style and use of communication techniques, skills in relation to running meetings, and skills in relation to eliciting the young person’s perspective. The caseworkers were anxious when they received their first feedback from supervisors, but this diminished. The focus on supporting clients in their personal development challenged caseworkers who identified as having an administrative rather than interventional role. Some found the online meeting technology difficult to master.Originality/valueThis study presents and explores the use of a novel approach to statutory casework supervision.

Nurse Practitioners' Use of Communication Techniques: Results of a Maryland Oral Health Literacy Survey.

ObjectivesWe examined nurse practitioners’ use and opinions of recommended communication techniques for the promotion of oral health as part of a Maryland state-wide oral health literacy assessment. Use of recommended health-literate and patient-centered communication techniques have demonstrated improved health outcomes.MethodsA 27-item self-report survey, containing 17 communication technique items, across 5 domains, was mailed to 1,410 licensed nurse practitioners (NPs) in Maryland in 2010. Use of communication techniques and opinions about their effectiveness were analyzed using descriptive statistics. General linear models explored provider and practice characteristics to predict differences in the total number and the mean number of communication techniques routinely used in a week.ResultsMore than 80% of NPs (N = 194) routinely used 3 of the 7 basic communication techniques: simple language, limiting teaching to 2–3 concepts, and speaking slowly. More than 75% of respondents believed that 6 of the 7 basic communication techniques are effective. Sociodemographic provider characteristics and practice characteristics were not significant predictors of the mean number or the total number of communication techniques routinely used by NPs in a week. Potential predictors for using more of the 7 basic communication techniques, demonstrating significance in one general linear model each, were: assessing the office for user-friendliness and ever taking a communication course in addition to nursing school.ConclusionsNPs in Maryland self-reported routinely using some recommended health-literate communication techniques, with belief in their effectiveness. Our findings suggest that NPs who had assessed the office for patient-friendliness or who had taken a communication course beyond their initial education may be predictors for using more of the 7 basic communication techniques. These self-reported findings should be validated with observational studies. Graduate and continuing education for NPs should increase emphasis on health-literate and patient-centered communication techniques to increase patient understanding of dental caries prevention. Non-dental healthcare providers, such as NPs, are uniquely positioned to contribute to preventing early childhood dental caries through health-literate and patient-centered communication.

Analyzing Male Attractiveness Models From a Communicative Approach

Although the analysis of male attractiveness models is key to shed light into the prevention of gender-based violence (GBV), it is not always easy to access crucial information about these models. Research shows that inadequate data collection techniques can lead to reproducing superficial arguments confirming existing stereotypes instead of tackling with the real connections. Using communicative daily life stories and communicative focus groups, we take on the challenge of accessing the existing models of male attractiveness’ foundations. These techniques are used to collect data about the specific attractiveness models into which adolescents are socialized and their potential link to violence. We argue that the communicative orientation furthers the scientific understanding of the dominant traditional model of masculinity that socializes into GBV and the new alternative model of masculinity that socializes into its overcoming. The use of communicative techniques is showed to empower participants to question their attractive preferences.

Health literacy environmental scans of community-based dental clinics in Maryland.

We conducted health literacy environmental scans in 26 Maryland community-based dental clinics to identify institutional characteristics and provider practices that affect dental services access and dental caries education. In 2011-2012 we assessed user friendliness of the clinics including accessibility, signage, facility navigation, educational materials, and patient forms. We interviewed patients and surveyed dental providers about their knowledge and use of communication techniques. Of 32 clinics, 26 participated. Implementation of the health literacy environmental scan tools was acceptable to the dental directors and provided clinic directors with information to enhance care and outreach. We found considerable variation among clinic facilities, operations, and content of educational materials. There was less variation in types of insurance accepted, no-show rates, methods of communicating with patients, and electronic health records use. Providers who had taken a communication skills course were more likely than those who had not to use recommended communication techniques. Our findings provide insight into the use of health literacy environmental scan tools to identify clinic and provider characteristics and practices that can be used to make dental environments more user friendly and health literate.