Academy of Communication in Healthcare (ACH)

The Academy of Communication in Healthcare (ACH) is a non‐profit association founded in 1979 as the professional home for all those who are committed to improving communication and relationships in healthcare. ACH strives toward the vision of a relationship‐centered culture where all healthcare communication is effective, empathic, and equitable. In commitment to the vision, ACH faculty conduct research and teach evidence‐based communication skills that enrich equity and relationships between clinicians, patients, and health professionals.

Mission Statement:
ACH is the professional home for all those who are committed to improving communication and relationships in healthcare.

ACH accomplishes this through:
• Welcoming researchers, educators, clinicians, patients, patient advocates, and all members of the healthcare team.
• Providing opportunities for collaboration, support and personal and professional development.
• Identifying strengths, resources and needs of patients, their family members and healthcare professionals, both as unique individuals and in relationship to one another.
• Developing skills that integrate biological, psychological and social domains.
• Applying existing scholarship from multiple disciplines and developing new knowledge through research.
• Promoting collaborative relationships between clinicians and patients, teachers and learners, and all members of the health care team.
• Incorporating core values of respect, empathy and genuineness in human relationships and the importance of self-awareness in all activities.

Vision:
A health care system where all patients, healthcare professionals, trainees and researchers feel valued, are treated equitably with respect, compassion, understanding, and are actively engaged in healthcare processes and decisions.