Peanut gallery. Master bedroom. Wheelchair bound. Birth defect.
What do these terms have in common? They all have the power to offend – the first two because of their racist origins and the next two because they're often considered ableist.
As our guest Bella De Soriano points out, the words we use have the power to make people sick - but also to heal.
In her work with Healthline Media, De Soriano recently created The Conscious Language Guide to improve patient-provider communication and advance their work toward health equity.
Through conscious language, we can ensure better health outcomes for everyone. In this episode, we’ll talk about how an ever-evolving language can create challenges, as well opportunities that can bring everyone closer together.
GUEST: Bella De Soriano, Healthline Media’s Senior Public Health Integrity Manager, Medical Affairs
GUEST BIO:
Bella De Soriano is the senior public health integrity manager for Healthline Media’s Medical Affairs team. She has spent nearly 10 years focused on health equity in research and community settings. Along with Healthline Media’s editorial team, she created The Conscious Language Guide as part of a broader Conscious Language Initiative to ensure Healthline Media’s content is nonjudgmental and inclusive of communities that have historically been excluded. Working across all of Healthline’s brands (Healthline.com, MedicalNewsToday.com, Greatist.com, and PsychCentral.com), De Soriano and her colleagues strive to make content more accessible and inclusive to more people, by addressing systemic bias and health disparities.
LINKS:
Conscious Language Guide – Healthline’s resource guide for health equity in language.
Diversity Style Guide – A resource for journalists and media professionals.
UCSF Transgender Clinic (Terminology) – Guidelines for the care of transgender and gender nonbinary people.
National Center on Disability and Journalism – A comprehensive disability language style guide.
Autism Self Advocacy Network – Resources include books, guides, and articles.
National Association of Black Journalists – Stylebook for newsrooms and others, including students, educators, and researchers.
National Association of Hispanic Journalists – Cultural Competence Handbook
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