Dealing with Challenges

Ways to anticipate and address common challenges when leading or coaching your team.

Common Challenges

Making Time for Teach-back

  • Ideas for addressing concerns about making time for teach-back. Click here to download.

When People Cannot Teach Back Accurately

  • Ideas for helping staff know what to do when people struggle to teach back, including re-explaining differently and checking again, or identifying the need for a different support or plan. Click here to download.

Handling Concerns about Using Teach-back

  • Guidance from experienced teach-back leaders for considering staff concerns about using teach-back. Click here to download.

Promoting Collaboration Across Professions and Roles

Documentation and Interprofessional Collaboration

  • Learn about development of collaborative teach-back processes so everyone in the health service or care continuum works together to support patients, families, and clients in subsequent care delivery, settings, and plans. Click here to download.

Using Teach-back in Transitions in Care or Services

  • Recognize how teach-back should be used in care and service transitions to assure consistent messages and reduce risk for harm. Click here to download.

Using Teach-back in Practice for Different Professions or Settings: Lead-ins and Questions to Assist with Understanding

  • All members of the health team can improve equity, quality, safety, and experience of care and services through use of teach-back. Here are examples of lead-ins, non-shaming open-ended questions, and Taking Responsibility lines that can be used by various health team members to help reveal what patients and family caregivers may not fully understand. Click here to download.

Role-specific Teach-back and Open-ended Question Examples: Cardiology

  • Role-specific examples of using teach-back and non-shaming open-ended questions across the cardiology care continuum. Click here to download.

Role-specific Teach-back and Open-ended Question Examples: Neurovascular

  • Role-specific examples of using teach-back and non-shaming open-ended questions across the neurovascular care continuum. Click here to download.

Working with Interpreters

  • Guidance on working effectively with a qualified interpreter while using plain language and teach-back during health-related encounters. Click here to download.

Learn more about the essentials of teach-back, and who, where, when, and how to use it.

Getting Started and Choosing Your Focus

This guidance and the Teach-back Interactive Learning Module help you lead a reliable sustainable teach-back initiative.

Building and Coaching Confidence and Skills

Guidance from experienced teams for leading or coaching a team to put teach-back into practice.

Dealing with Challenges

Ways to anticipate and address common challenges when leading or coaching your team.

Common Challenges Making Time for Teach-back When People Cannot Teach Back Accurately Handling Concerns about Using Teach-back Promoting Collaboration Across Professions and Roles Documentation and Interprofessional Collaboration Using Teach-back in Transitions in Care or Services Using Teach-back in Practice for Different Professions or Settings: Lead-ins and Questions to Assist with Understanding Role-specific Teach-back and Open-ended Question Examples: Cardiology Role-specific Teach-back and Open-ended Question Examples: Neurovascular Working with Interpreters

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