Scope and format

Scope of the Conference

EACH 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 2006 meeting in Basel, attended by 420 delegates from 40 countries, Oslo will host the next EACH conference in September 2008.

The EACH 2008 conference will encourage networking among participants, and try to bring together:

  • People from different professional groups in health care: physicians, psychologists, nurses, physiotherapists 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

Format of the Conference

A hallmark of EACH conferences should be to foster exchange among participants.

As we believe in the unique expertise of each conference participant, we wish to promote and endorse discussion amongst them in the different sessions available.

  • Each day will start with a state-of-the-art lecture from a keynote speaker.
  • Oral presentations will be grouped around specific topics and held together by a set of research questions to which the papers relate. The chair of each session will highlight research questions and give back the floor to the audience. This will move the focus of discussion from the presenting authors, who are seen as helping the audience to new insights by their presentation.
  • Symposia will be offered in parallel to oral presentations. We will encourage symposia with presenters from different countries in order to promote comprehensive coverage of selected areas of research. An early deadline for submission of symposia will aid the planning of the conference.
  • Ample time will be devoted to workshops and seminars. These will focus on experiential learning, sharing teaching material, demonstrating teaching approaches and research methodology.
  • Poster sessions will be organised around main themes and will be arranged to promote dialogue between the poster presenters and the audience.

Topics will include:

  • Teaching communication skills
  • Shared decision making
  • Disclosure of medical errors to patients
  • Analyzing clinical communication behaviour
  • Emotion and nonverbal communication
  • Communication in cancer care
  • Communication in different clinical settings
  • Family issues and communication with children
  • Gender issues in communication
  • Patient and provider perspectives
  • Cultural perspectives
  • Web-based interventions and information technology
  • Patient education

The conference will start on the evening of Tuesday, 2 September 2008 and close in the afternoon of Friday, 5 September 2008.

Poster Presentations and Awards

Awards will be given in the closing session of the conference to the authors of the four best posters, as selected by the Scientific Committee in the dedicated poster sessions.

At the EACH conference in Basel (2006), the EACH Board announced the introduction of the Jozien Bensing Research Award for talented young researchers, to be awarded biennially at EACH conferences. The first Award will be presented in the closing session at the Oslo conference in September 2008. Nominations are invited for this prestigious award by candidates or their senior colleagues. Nomination guidelines are available from the Conference Secretariat.

Language

The language of the conference will be English. However, the organisation of workshops in other languages is welcome to foster the propagation of communication in health care among participants who prefer to use their native language.

Organised by

EACH logo

Administration by

Elsevier logo