Person-First Language

  One of the most memorable parts of my physical therapy education was when we learned about person-first language. Walk into any hospital or doctors office and you’ll hear, “I have the knee patient” or “I’m seeing the heart patient next”. What we’re forgetting when we say things like this is that we’re putting the medical condition over the person. Instead, you would hear me say “I have the patient (or person) with the knee replacement” or “I’m seeing the patient (or person) who had the heart surgery next”. I think we get so worried about HIPAA that we ignore that we’re working with (and truly for) people first. 

 It has become even more evident as my husband and I have spent way too much time in medical institutions as patients. My husband is referred to as the Parkinson’s patient, and I, the cancer patient. Neither of us are this as Parkinson’s and cancer don’t have us, we have Parkinson’s and cancer. 

 

 If you work in healthcare and this is a new concept, consider it for your patients. If you work in healthcare and this is not a new concept, consider coaching others when you hear them using less than ideal patient language. If you’re not in healthcare and have friends and loved ones with various diseases or disorders, consider how you may use this when communicating with them. Do remember, a person’s name is always best.