A–Z of Health Research Equity: J is for Jargon

How’s your week been? Mine’s been busy and has so far included: an MMM, working on a DAP for a CRO client, considering IRB views when reviewing drafts of patient materials (ICF and PIS), developing slides for an EDI presentation I’m giving at an HRA REC development day, and reviewing JDs for team CES sessions. 

I’d be surprised if you understood any of that, and shocked if you understood all of it. 

Today, I’m talking about Jargon.

(For those that want to know, scroll down to the bottom of this post for a list of definitions from my jargon-filled intro.)

Jargon is one of those words that’s used so frequently that it seems to grow less specific over time. With that in mind, let’s start with a definition: jargon refers to technical language, and words and phrases that are used by specific groups of people. 

This could relate to various scenarios and skills, some examples are:

A hobby

People that lift weights will know the language of reps, sets, drop sets, cluster sets, ROM (range of motion), AMRAP (as many reps as possible) and their 1RP (one-rep max).

Shared spaces

Sharing a space with people often leads to a collective vocabulary that others don’t understand, these are known as familects. For example, our various COUCH team members’ families refer to the television remote as: the ‘buttons’, the ‘doofer’, the ‘zapper’ and a ‘thingy’. Most of us have no idea how their family chose their word, we absorbed it and use it just like any other part of our vocabulary. 

Your workplace

During lockdowns and homeworking, was anyone else confronted with the reality that their partner was someone that said, ‘circle back’, ‘bandwidth’, and/or ‘low-hanging fruit’ at work? This sort of non-specific corporate jargon is everywhere in corporate office environments and can be baffling for people when they first enter the workplace. 

The wider industry

Any job will have language quirks, but the list increases significantly when you work in industries with their own technical languages. The clinical research industry is awash with acronyms and abbreviations. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it becomes a problem when we want to engage with people that do not understand our language. 

To effectively involve patients in our work, we need to speak their language. That doesn’t mean a blanket approach of lowering the reading age of patient materials. Reading age is a powerful tool to improve readability and help to prevent jargon overload, but it is not the only factor you need to consider. Writing universally and avoiding colloquial language and slang are just as important and may be overlooked if you solely rely on reading age checkers.

Is it jargon, or is it just a long word? 

Making decisions about whether to use specific language can be tricky when it is so familiar to you. I’ve heard the phrase, ‘imagine you’re explaining it to your mum’ used to encourage people to rethink their approach. Personally, I find that unhelpful. My mum has listened to me talk about my job so much that she has inadvertently (perhaps unwillingly), absorbed a lot of the language I use. Instead, I take a step back and first ask myself, ‘Who am I trying to speak to?’. This simple question guides not only the words that I use, but also the framing and communication approach I use. 

The flow chart below summarises my approach and the questions that I ask myself throughout any communication outside of my immediate team. Other teams in the same business have different areas of expertise, and it’s important to remember that inclusive communication should be embedded within our work whether patients are in the room or not. 

It’s important to remember that your target audience is unlikely to be made up of people with consistent experiences. There will be variation in any group, and you should work to understand your target group before you begin this process. In addition, people are not static. Our understanding and comprehension can waiver based on how much sleep we’ve had, how stressed we are, and what else we have been doing that day. Practical factors such as lighting, the size of text, and the sounds that surround us when we’re trying to take in information all play a role. 

Removing jargon improve accessibility, supports the development of meaningful connections, increases transparency, and facilitates trust. Enhancing the way that we engage with people is the first step to breaking down barriers to research participation, and ultimately equitable health outcomes for all.