Considerations:

Use diverse and varied images of medical professionals and patients.

Include healthcare practitioners from more than one profession or specialty.

When discussing sensitive topics, such as suicide, interpersonal violence, or disordered eating, consider using a content warning if the subject matter is not obvious from the title of the conference or presentation. State the subject matter in the tagline or description of the education and include it in your marketing materials.

Cautions:

Avoid overuse of traditional images of medical professionals and patients.

For example: physicians as white men, nurses as white women, patients as people of color.

Avoid language that implies one profession or specialty is more or less competent or valued than another.

In hypothetical case scenarios, only highlight aspects of a person's identity if it is relevant and meaningful.

For example, mentioning a patient’s race in relation to systemic racism and inequitable access to mental health resources is appropriate. Mentioning a patient’s race in an attempt at showing diversity is "tokenism" and depending on the scenario can reinforce stereotypes.

Considerations:

Use nonjudgmental language. For example:
· Patient reported…
· Patient reported no concerns regarding…
· Patient is being seen for …
· Patient has discontinued…
· Patient is no longer…
· Patient is having difficulties with…

Focus on the person first, not their disability/diagnosis. Describe what the person has, not who the person is. Instead of "child is learning disabled," say "child has a learning disability."

While it is typically best to defer to person-first language, some individuals and communities (particularly the autistic, Deaf and blind communities) may prefer identity-first language. If known, use the terminology preferred by the individual or community, otherwise, try alternating between person-first and identify-first language until the preferred terminology is known.

Cautions:

Avoid judgmental language. For example:
· Patient alleged…
· Patient admitted…
· Patient denied…
· Patient quit…
· Patient complains of…
· Patient is having issues with…

Avoid us vs. them language when presenting. For example: “those people".

Avoid identifying people based solely on their descriptors. Instead of "the disabled," say "people with disabilities." Be more specific, when possible, instead of broadly categorizing people.

Considerations:

Consider all aspects of a patient’s identity—race, gender, class, disability, etc.—and acknowledge how their unique experience can affect their perspective as well as how they may be perceived by others.

Use all demographics included in a research study and consider if any intersecting identities correlate to the results.

Cautions:

Avoid identifying people by one broad social category, especially the most obvious. This reduces a person to a singular identity and ignores all the other ways in which their identity affects them.

Considerations:

Consider impact above intent. If the subject of your content were present for the presentation, how would they feel?

Further, you may be unaware that there are people in the room that share identities, conditions, or experiences with those being discussed, or have loved ones who do.

Present content in a neutral or positive manner when sharing real or hypothetical patient/family experiences.

Caution:

Avoid making comments or jokes that would result in someone feeling mocked, shamed, demeaned, etc., including during hypothetical case discussions.

Avoid assumptions or value judgments that dismiss potential contributors. For example, for a patient with obesity, don’t assume that their weight is the sole contributor to other health concerns or symptoms

In case discussions, avoid using “scare quotes,” which are unnecessary quotation marks that imply skepticism or a negative judgment of the person being quoted. Scare quotes used in medical records, or when presenting a case, undermine patient credibility and perpetuate negative attitudes toward the patient (or patient’s family) which can affect treatment recommendations and patient experience.

When quoting a patient directly, it should be to convey medically relevant and useful information.