Humour in healthcare: Can it serve as a bridge to better communication?

Hello everyone,

How are you today?

Humour can be a valuable tool in medicine, improving communication and diffusing tension in both medical education and patient care.

It promotes learning, grabs attention, and can even help reduce patient stress.

That said, humour must be approached thoughtfully, with care and empathy. A few guiding principles include:

• Ensuring jokes are light-hearted and never at the patient’s expense.
• Using humour to build trust, while keeping medical advice and information clear and credible.

When used sensitively, humour can foster stronger connections and bring warmth to the care experience, making patients feel seen and valued.

Have you ever experienced a situation where a doctor or healthcare professional’s humour lightened a stressful moment?

In your opinion, what are the risks of using humour in a medical setting?

What types of humour do you think are most appropriate in patient-caregiver relationships?

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We would love to hear your opinion on this subject!

Take care,

Somya from the Carenity team 🌼