Education Editor Jess Taylor-Calhoun shares inclusive writing tips for communicators, clinicians, physicians and researchers, working in health care settings.
As an editor, I see how small word changes can make a big difference.
Language choices can empower or disempower patients, shape trust in care teams, and either amplify or silence marginalized voices. It can be hard to find the right words to make your audience feel included and respected.
Alongside my manager Andrew Johnson and my co-lead writer Emily Foucault, I collaborated with over 70 patient advisors, CAMH staff and community members to put together Clear and Inclusive Writing Guidelines: The New CAMH Style (available on Education at CAMH’s Global Learning Academy). These guidelines contain up-to-date, patient-centred guidance on writing in a way that upholds the dignity of all.
8 Tips for Inclusive Writing
Want to start right now? Here are some inclusive writing tips that can help your writing be more respectful of patients and the communities you support.
1. Decolonize your language
When using inclusive language, writers need to reflect on the history of colonial harm and how language was used to hurt many groups, especially Indigenous and Black communities. From this point, we can avoid language that may cause further harm and use our language choices to support the efforts of First Nations, Inuit and Métis in decolonization.
How can we fix ongoing harms in our writing?
Ask yourself questions as you are writing. Where did the words come from? Is there a way to integrate Indigenous perspectives or knowledge?
Do not use possessives to refer to Indigenous Peoples, such as Canada’s Indigenous Peoples. This implies ownership and can be retraumatizing. If you need to be specific, write “Indigenous Peoples in what is currently known as Canada.”
Avoid terms with colonial histories. For example, stakeholder has its history in colonizers putting a stake in the ground to make a land claim. This is disrespectful to Indigenous Peoples. Instead, be specific about who these people are (e.g., service users, patients, funders) or use interest holders as an umbrella term.
And when you’re looking for a source with all the answers? Use Indigenous-authored resources. For example, Elements of Indigenous Style is a fantastic resource for language guidance.
Want to know more? Check out the principle Decolonize Language.
2. Update your language
Language is always changing. Words that start as slang get adopted over time and even end up in the dictionary. A term that was once offensive may be reclaimed by a group as a central part of their identity.
How can you keep up? You can:
- include lists of terms you are using and information why
- provide a way for people to flag outdated language, such as a dedicated email or feedback form
- consult with advisors and community groups about the most current language
Sometimes it can feel uncomfortable to adjust to new words. That’s okay! We’re all trying our best to make sure our language is the most respectful it can be.
Want to know more? Check out the principle Embrace the Evolution of Language.
3. Consider diverse perspectives
Health care settings have so many different people within them: Each patient, clinician or staff member has multiple identities, professional backgrounds and life experiences. Consider these perspectives while writing—otherwise, we risk flattening something rich and vibrant.
To consider diverse perspectives:
- cite writing by people with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, such as people with lived experience of mental health concerns or disabilities and Black and Indigenous authors
- avoid tokenism by making sure representation is meaningful to what you are writing
- ask for input from a variety of groups, while following engagement best practices
At CAMH, we have teams who help folks connect with dedicated patient advisors. Reach out to meaningfully include patient perspectives in your writing.
Want to know more? Check out the principle Acknowledge Diverse Perspectives.
4. Include the people you are writing about
This piece of advice goes back decades to disability rights activists chanting, “Nothing about us without us!” The take away? Nothing you write about someone else should leave out their voice.
In a health care setting, this means that content about patients or specific groups should be created with people from those groups instead about or for them. This helps avoid creating stereotypes, incorrect information or offensive content.
How can you do this? You can:
- engage with advisory groups
- look for evidence or first-person accounts published by members of those groups
- use a co-creation process in your writing
- share writing by this community that already exists
And when you’re confused about the right language to use? Just ask politely. Most people are happy to share and be included.
Want to know more? Check out the principle Respect “Nothing About Us Without Us”.
5. Respect people’s language preferences
As an editor, I find that people often want a one-size-fits-all rule when it comes to language. Over time, “use person-first language” has become the common rule to follow for inclusive writing. Many groups do prefer person-first language, and this is a great place to start while writing. But there are some differences according to individual or community preferences.
For example, some people prefer to call themselves “an Autistic person”, while others prefer the term “a person with autism” or may say, “I was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.” Within the Deaf community, person-first language is not used, but for people who are blind, person-first language is the preference.
The Inclusive Writing Subcommittee of patient advisors decided on the term dignity-first language to mean using language that reflects the preferences of those you are writing about. We include a full list of variations, including capitalization, in our guidelines.
Want to know more? Check out the principle Use Dignity-First Language.
6. Centre your language on healing instead of harm
When writing in a health care setting, it can be easy to focus on the harms that people experience from what brings them to our hospital. In consultations, patient advisors stated that they prefer to see a focus on healing and people’s strengths.
To do this:
- avoid describing someone as a victim or survivor
- use person-first language, such as “person affected by trauma”
- use commands sparingly, such as “You are invited to share your experiences at a peer support circle,” instead of “Share your experiences at a peer support circle!”
Want to know more? Check out the principle Use Healing-Centred Language
7. Be as specific as possible
One of my favourite pieces of inclusive writing advice is to be specific because it accomplishes so many things at once. By accurately describing what they are discussing, writers avoid misrepresenting groups, make their writing easier to understand and avoid language that can seem to be judgemental.
To be specific:
- clarify the meaning of important terms
- specify who you are discussing
- mention who the audience is
- do not use group terms if you can use the more specific term (e.g., BIPOC patients when you mean Black patients, using Indian women when the study refers only to women from one region in India)
Want to know more? Check out the principle Be Specific.
8. Use plain language
Plain language is a best practice for communicating clearly and respectfully with others. Both patients and the people working in health care settings come from a variety of backgrounds, education levels and experiences. This means that not everyone shares the same understanding of subject-specific words, also called jargon, or understands the same casual language.
To use plain language:
- Avoid jargon, such as siloed, deliverable, system-oriented, bandwidth and game changer.
- Avoid casual or figurative language (i.e., slang, idioms, metaphors, similes such as on the other hand, see eye to eye, low-hanging fruit).
- Use relatively short words and sentences.
- Define acronyms and abbreviations the first time you use them.
- Define any technical words or language.
Plain language still needs to reflect your audience. For example, People First of Canada, Inclusion Canada and the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopment Centre developed Easy Read plain language guidelines for people with intellectual disabilities.
Want to know more? Check out the principle Use Plain Language.
