Updated February 2026
Join The Conversation
Are you a healthcare professional using a communication board or other visual aids and strategies to support a patient? What is the greatest challenge you face? Leave me a comment here, and join the conversation on Facebook where I asked, “The greatest challenge I’ve faced when supporting a patient with a communication barrier is_____________.”
Workshop Presentation - Visual Aids and Strategies
EVERYONE Benefits from Visual Aids!
Contact Vizually Speaking today to learn how customized Visual Aids and Strategies can decrease undesired behaviour(s), improve communication, promote independence, and increase self-confidence. Through our dynamic presentation, you will:
✓ Uncover the importance of using customized Visual Aids and Strategies.
✓ Explore the wide range of benefits of customized Visual Aids and Strategies.
✓ Learn practical ways to overcome communication barriers.
✓ Support independence and decrease undesired behaviours.
✓ Access NEW and valuable resources.
Supporting Communication in Health Care Settings
Interacting with patients who experience communication challenges can be complex. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE), infection-control measures, and clinical environments can further limit access to facial expressions, speech clarity, and non-verbal cues.
To address these barriers, COVID-19 customized visual aids and strategies were developed as practical communication tools for health care settings. These customized visual aids enhance two-way communication and clarification between medical professionals and support staff (communication partners) and patients (users) during periods of heightened infection-control precautions.
Purpose of COVID-19 Visual Aids
These customized visual aids are designed to:
→ Improve understanding when verbal communication is limited
→ Support patient participation in care and decision-making
→ Reduce frustration and miscommunication
→ Increase efficiency and safety during clinical interactions
They are especially beneficial for patients with aphasia, cognitive impairment, dementia, brain injury, developmental disabilities, hearing loss, or anxiety.
Safe & Practical Use
→ Designed for single-patient use
→ Should be discarded when no longer required or upon patient discharge
→ Compatible with standard infection prevention and control (IPAC) practices
→ Suitable for acute care, long-term care, outpatient clinics, and community health settings
A Person-Centred Communication Tool
By supporting understanding and expression, visual aids help maintain dignity, reduce distress, and promote patient-centred care—even in environments where PPE and safety protocols are necessary.
If the patient is unable to use the visual aid effectively now, that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to use it later (today, tomorrow, or in the week).
The options for visual aids and strategies in healthcare are endless, and we’re ready to help you get started. Vizually Speaking understands that finding time in today’s highly demanding world to create customized visual aids and strategies can be a great challenge. Vizually Speaking is committed to working collaboratively, providing step-by-step support and assisting in the development and implementation of customized visual aids and strategies.
Contact us today for your FREE consultation.
The images and words are designed to support communication, clarification, and information gathering with patients affected by or recovering from COVID-19. They provide an accessible way for patients and health care providers to exchange information when speech, hearing, or comprehension is limited.
These customized visual aids are also a valuable resource for use with any patient who experiences communication barriers, including but not limited to individuals who:
✓ Are nonverbal or minimally verbal
✓ Are deaf or hard of hearing
✓ Have unfamiliar, impaired, or difficult-to-understand speech
✓ Do not have the vocabulary to respond verbally
✓ Are not fluent in English
✓ Are experiencing medical, cognitive, or neurological conditions that affect communication
✓ Have visual or processing impairments that impact understanding
The customized visual aids are intended for single-patient use to support infection prevention and control practices and should be discarded when no longer required or upon patient discharge.
COVID-19 communication boards support a wide range of patient needs for medical professionals and support staff. They enable patients to clearly express their main concern, type and location of pain, and immediate needs, even when verbal communication is limited.
By supporting clear, two-way communication, these customized communication boards help reduce stress and frustration, improve understanding, and reassure patients that they are being heard and supported with high-quality, compassionate care.
Order or download your Covid-19 Communication Visual Aids visual aids today!
The options for visual aids and strategies in healthcare are endless, and we’re ready to help you get started. Vizually Speaking understands that finding time in today’s highly demanding world to create customized visual aids and strategies can be a great challenge. Vizually Speaking is committed to working collaboratively, providing step-by-step support and assisting in the development and implementation of customized visual aids and strategies.
Contact us today for your FREE consultation.
