Session: Interpersonal Communication Processes Among Adolescents and Young Adults in Healthcare (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)

Adolescent and Young Adults (AYA) consistently encounter barriers in accessing healthcare and experiencing developmental stressors in tandem with serious health conditions. One process that is central to deconstructing these barriers and addressing multifaceted stressors is interpersonal communication. It is imperative to build trust and rapport among patients, partners/families, and interdisciplinary teams to address health challenges, enhance psychosocial support, and improve health outcomes. When optimizing patient care, interpersonal communication can help identify points of intervention. Communication processes allow for recognizing critical medical and psychosocial health concerns, increasing accessibility to diagnosis-specific services, and resolving conflicts within families and between providers. This topic is underdeveloped in healthcare contexts and warrants attention. Better understanding of interpersonal communication can improve interprofessional knowledge for working with vulnerable populations. The purpose of this symposium is to showcase studies that demonstrate how influential interpersonal communication is during care involving AYAs, their families, and allied health professionals.

1. The first paper focused on interpersonal coping strategies among young women with breast cancer and their partners. The results showed the importance of interpersonal processes for younger patient-partner dyads during breast cancer care. Communication about stress, supportive coping, and delegated dyadic coping alleviated the impact of distress on health-related quality of life outcomes for these young women.

2. The second paper explored the nature of communication between adolescent heart transplant recipients and nursing and social work staff during a mobile health intervention which aimed to promote their medication adherence. Access to and use of in-app messages provided 1) opportunities for building interpersonal social support and rapport with patients, 2) information about the mobile directly observed therapy intervention, and 3) education about individualized medication regimens. Results demonstrated the degree to which interpersonal engagement occurred during the intervention, the nature of these exchanges, and its relationship to medication adherence.

3. The third paper explored the experiences of AYA cancer patients and survivors who served on an advisory board at a well-known cancer clinic in Texas. This patient advisory board worked with clinicians and staff to improve the quality of oncological care for AYA patients. Findings revealed how participating on these boards facilitated relationships at multiple levels throughout care which increased sense of social support, communication around stressors, and awareness of unique challenges experienced by AYA cancer patients and survivors.

4. Lastly, the fourth study produced nationally representative estimates of care coordination and perceptions of communication between parents and providers among adolescents diagnosed with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescents with autism were found to experience lower rates of quality coordination than their neurotypical peers. Subgroups presented with greater risk for poorer quality of care, including children of color and those from lower income households.

Across these studies, interpersonal communication among AYA patients, families, and healthcare teams was integral to addressing patient needs, overall influencing health outcomes. Social workers have an irreplaceable and needed role in promoting support throughout the continuum of care. This symposium highlights the need for continued research and clinical focus on communication processes in healthcare settings.