About Project Respect
Project Respect was founded by Prof. VJ Periyakoil several years ago. The goal of this project is to better understand respectful interpersonal interactions through systematic research conducted in Dr. Periyakoil’s SAGE Lab. This work has been published in medical journals and featured in the New York Times.
Our work has been funded by federal and foundation grants to conduct research and advance training to promote high-quality, respectful interactions between all players and stakeholders in the healthcare arena. In our work, we have created numerous videos and multi-media assets that are being used in research and training.
NOTE: All of the Project Respect videos and multi-media assets are the intellectual property of Dr. Periyakoil and copyrighted to her. For researchers interested in utilizing these videos in research, more information is available by contacting her at <periyakoil at stanford dot edu>.
PROJECT RESPECT FAQ
What is Respect?
Respect is a relation between a subject and an object in which the subject feels a sentiment and or demonstrates a behavior towards the object that recognizes its dignity and worth.
What is the goal of Project Respect?
Dr. VJ Periyakoil (Twitter: @palliator) founded Project Respect a few years ago to study healthcare communication and foster mutually respectful interactions between health professionals and their patients. Respect is demonstrated through verbal and nonverbal microbehaviors.
What is microcommunication?
In any encounter, small packets of information are exchanged continuously like a tennis volley. There a minute-by-minute variation of the information communicated, the underlying affect and how it impacts the effectiveness of the communication. As we communicate, we transmit information admixed with microaggressions and microvalidations. The quality of communication is eroded with every microaggression and augmented by each microvalidation.
What is non-verbal communication?
Communication comprises of both verbal and nonverbal information. Over 90% of communication is nonverbal. Nonverbal communication is heavily contextual and is influenced by the culture of the communicator. Nonverbal behaviors include eye movements, body posture and movement, tone and cadence of voice, use of touch, use of silence, use of space, and use of artifacts. The skillful use of nonverbal communication can foster effective intercultural interactions. Effective communication involves awareness and modulation of our microcommunication pattern on an ongoing basis.
What is a microvalidation?
Microvalidations are communications that appreciate the experience, thoughts, abilities, or feelings of an individual who may feel unwelcome or invisible in an environment.
Microcompliments are subtle communications implying praise, admiration, or respect for an individual’s identity or heritage. Microcompliments suggest that the person giving the compliment perceives that the recipient possesses something of high value, including identity or experience.
Microsupports are intentional communications that provide feedback and scaffold resources with the intention of supporting an individual who may feel unwelcome or invisible in an environment. Examples of microsupport include a person who actively listens, makes eye contact, expresses interest and attention, or provides resources to students.
What are the activities of Project Respect?
We conduct research to better understand interpersonal interactions in healthcare between the workforce, patients, and families from diverse backgrounds and how this might impact the quality of care.
HOW CAN I JOIN PROJECT RESPECT ?
Please contact Dr. Periyakoil if you have other ideas or questions
