Recently, Sun River Health launched a new training program called the Language of Caring through our Planetree Institute. A team of more than 40 staff from across the organization’s three regions were trained as program facilitators and taught fundamental facilitation skills as well as the program’s curricula, spanning five different training modules for staff and four for providers. All staff are enrolled in training sessions on a bi-monthly basis, with sessions offered at every health center and in every administrative and clinical department. Session topics focus on communicating with empathy, remaining present, acknowledging feelings, and other fundamental skills that enable us to partner with our patients to meet their human needs and improve health outcomes. Vice President of the Planetree Institute, Eileen McManus, says of the program, “Language of Caring provides our staff with invaluable, relationship-enhancing tools certain to make a critical difference in the work place, at home and in the communities we serve!”
