Best Selling Books by Lisa Sparks

This book offers a much-needed introduction to the dynamics of the communication exchange between providers and patients in the health-care environment. Starting from the principle that health-care-providers and patients try to speak the same language to reach the best decisions for patient care, but often misunderstand each other whilst navigating the process of diagnosis, treatment and care, Lisa Sparks and Melinda Villagran clearly explain how health communication theory and research can help us better understand these complex interactions, and provide strategies for improving patient and provider communication. Sparks and Villagran cover a broad range of key issues and theories related to provider-patient interaction, including patient information and affective needs, barriers to effective communication in health-care contexts, and communication skills training for providers. Drawing on the most current literature in this vibrant field, they show the transformations that new technologies such as e-mail and text messaging have brought to communication with and between patients and providers, consider the roles of caregivers, both formal and informal, and illustrate how health-care organizations impact on interpersonal interactions. Throughout the book, Sparks and Villagran deftly illustrate how communicative understandings of patient-provider interaction can have positive practical outcomes, feeding into health behaviour change, creating a communication environment which can improve health literacy and ultimately lead to better health outcomes. With groundbreaking insights, on-point explanations, and deeply moving examples, Patient and Provider Interaction illuminates and enriches what is most often one of the most important interactions of our lives.

This popular and engaging text on health communication is now revised and updated in a second edition that incorporates recent research and boasts new material on topics such as crisis communication, social disparities in health, and systemic reform. Fully revised second edition of this popular and authoritative text Includes fresh material on topics such as crisis communication, health care reform, global health issues, and political issues in health communication New case studies, examples, and updated glossary keep the work relevant and student-friendly Provides effective strategies for healthcare organizations and individuals in communicating with patients Updated and enhanced online resources, including PowerPoint slides, test bank, and instructors manual, available upon publication at www.wiley.com/go/wright

Introduction to conversing with cancer -- Talk, talk: understanding health communication, health literacy, and cancer -- The big C: cancer, culture, and you -- Who''s who: your social identity and cancer care -- Citizens of cancer land: cancer communication across a lifetime -- Navigating cancer land: healthcare organizations -- What''s up, Doc?: patients and providers in conversation -- Giving care, taking care: caregivers and communication -- How we talk about cancer: metaphors and messaging -- Can you hear me now?: communication, technology, and cancer -- Extending the conversation: a new theoretical model for cancer communication -- Epilogue: mottos moving forward

From the Hood to the Highrise is the story of Philadelphia native Lisa Sparks'' journey out her working-class neighborhood and into a 26-story highrise in South Florida. In this memoir, she shares anecdotes on overcoming insecurities, navigating her way through shootings, the disappointment of deaths of friends - and the death of her father. She caps off the story by revealing how she applied what she learned on the streets, in the classroom, and from her family to rising out of adversity and into prosperity.

A visual celebration of iconic buildings, cityscapes, and skyscapes of Wichita, Kansas.