Academy of Communication in Healthcare (ACH)

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 Statement:
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.