EACH (the European Association for Communication in Healthcare) is an interdisciplinary non-profit organisation which brings together researchers and trainers in the field of communication in healthcare.
Its objectives are to facilitate the exchange of ideas and products of teaching and research activities across a network of individuals and institutions in Europe and beyond. EACH is associated with the scientific journal Patient Education and Counseling.

Following a successful 2010 meeting in Verona, attended by more than 550 participants from 45 countries, St Andrews will host the next EACH conference in September 2012.

The EACH 2012 ‘International Conference on Communication in Healthcare’, will encourage networking among participants, and try to bring together:

• People from different professional groups in health care: physicians, psychologists, nurses, physiotherapists occupational therapists, speech therapists and other health personnel.
• Educators and other practitioners in the area of health communication.
• Experts with different conceptual backgrounds: medicine, psychology, sociology, linguistics, philosophy, arts.
• People with different types of expertise: practitioners, teachers and researchers.

Topics will include:

• Basic and applied research in clinical communication.
• Teaching clinical communication skills.
• Shared decision making in general hospital and hospital practice.
• Communication and emotion.
• Communication in chronic conditions including cancer care.
• Intercultural communication.
• Patient participation and perspectives.
• Communication technology and e-learning.
• Psychophysiology and communication.
• Research methodology.
• Ethical issues in communication.