Communication and Values. This piece of report will show my understanding of the different types of communication used in the care settings.

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        27/01/2011

Communication and Values

Introduction         

This piece of report will show my understanding of the different types of communication used in the care settings.  In my piece of course work I will be talking about different types of communication for example non-verbal communication, verbal communication, listening skills and reflective listening.  I will also talk about the care value base, empathy and empowerment, as well as the barriers to communication.  I will be doing work experience in two different places to get the taste of the care home environment.  Doing my work experiences in two different places will help me to find more information and gain more experience and information.  I will be going to a work placement where I can get more experience and I will be able to understand the different types of communication in more depth.  I will give examples from the work placement in each interaction and this will show all the information that I have achieved from the work placement.    

Methodology

I arranged my work experience with the help of my college.  My college helped me to find the placement because my CRB check was sent out late and so took longer in returning.  College found the placement where they accept students without a CRB check.  I worked in a day care centre for elderly people.  I chose elderly people for my placement because I think I am not very good at working with children.  The other reason for working with older people was that the nursery and primary school do not take anybody without the CRB check.  

In my placement I arranged the communication with my supervisor.  I told her about the interaction that I was going to make with the client groups.  My supervisor asked me to have a general conversation first so that I will know which person was easy to communicate with and with whom I was more comfortable to interact.  I asked my supervisor to supervise me whilst I interacted with the service user.  

I performed my interaction in the sitting room because the sitting room was nice, quite and comfortable so that it can be easy for the service user and me to interact with each other.  While I was interacting with her I asked my supervisor to keep an eye on me. I had a checklist with me as well as one for my supervisor in which I was ticking all the communication skills I used.  I did three one-to-one interactions and one group interaction.  I did four interactions so I could compare all of them and see what the differences in them are and how I can improve on them.  These interactions also gave me an idea of how to interact with people in one-to-one and groups and this has helped me in my second placement.  My supervisor was watching me while I was interacting with them and she was filling in the pink book which was given by my college for completion by a supervisor and other care workers as well.  I could have done it in other ways, like videoing myself while interacting so I can know exactly what skills I have met and the ones I missed, so that I can improve in them next time.  I could also have asked my service user to tell me how well I did in using all communications skills during the interaction.  I used my own method because the other methods like videoing were not available in the care settings. I did not use a tape recorder because it would only record my verbal communication and not non-verbal communication.  I also used my pink feedback sheets to remind me of all the communication skills that I have to use.  

Types of Communication

There are different types of communications listed below with examples:

In care settings many different languages (English, Urdu) are used by the service users and the care workers.  A Language could be sign language that is used for the people who cannot hear (deaf) or cannot speak or it could be the communication through technology such as hearing aids, computers for example in care homes the communication will be with old people and in this situation the care home workers will have to change their voice tone because some old people might not be able to hear if you do not speak clearly enough.  As well as this there might be some workers who can speak more than one language or sign language which will help some other service user to understand what has been said.  This is the bit which is the most workable and the most plausible thing that I can get done.  

Some forms of signing include shrugging, waving, nodding or shaking the head, giving a thumb up or down sign.  These signs are different in different cultures as well as in some particular things for example  Thumb up means that every thing is going ok, or in some cultures it could be known as good luck sign or a sign to show that the person is happy.  In care settings like primary schools or nurseries these type of signing is usually used when communicating with children.  You have to nod your head so they can know that you are listening and interested in them.

Cultural variation is also an important thing in communication.  Body position in relation to others, such as proximity or sitting close to someone can suggest intimacy and affection.  Different cultures have different rules about proximity.  For example in care settings touching some one is not preferred until there is a good reason to do so and before touching some one you should make sure that there is no problem with the person you are touching, that is, the person should agree to the touching.  

Visual, electronic and other technologies are also ways of communication.  Some people understand much better when technology or visual electronics are used to explain something for example in nurseries little children may like to watch a film rather than have a story read out to them, so this is also a type of communication that can be used easily in care settings.  

Promoting Relationships and Offering Support are types of communication which are used when a person wants to share other person’s sadness and wants to ask if they could help them. This is used when old people are sad and they want someone to talk with and they want to share their problems with. This can also offer them support.

Verbal Communication

Verbal communication always involves the process of listening. This is called the communication cycle. The cycle involves hearing people communicate. Verbal communication is when a person is communicating and interacting with words i.e. speaking from their mouth. We can often understand other people’s emotions just by watching their non-verbal communication; but we can’t always understand someone’s thoughts without good listening skills. Listening is not the same as simply hearing the sounds that people make when they talk. The purpose of verbal communication is to pass messages to other people by talking to them using words from your mouth.  For example, in my placement I have seen the care workers using verbal communication when the care worker was describing her tiredness to the service user using verbal communication rather then non-verbal.  She was using words to describe how she felt like ‘I am so shattered, I slept late tonight and came to work at 6 o’ clock’.  The non-verbal communication will be when the care worker will act out how she feels and use the body language to show that she is very tired.  

Improving verbal communications requires first that we understand that communication is rarely perfect or clear in itself. We must learn to listen better and speak more clearly. We must also check whether our message is delivered correctly and whether we have heard a message clearly.  We can do this by asking the person we are talking to, to repeat what we have said to check that they understand us.

Non-Verbal Communication

Non verbal communication is a communication which can tell everything without using words.  In non-verbal communication body language is more important than words.  Non-verbal communication includes most of our body parts.  

Body language plays an important part in non-verbal communication.  A person can understand the feelings of the other person by looking at their body language.  You can easily know if the person is sad or happy and there are many ways in which you can identify them.  

These are some of the ways in which people send non-verbal messages the ways are listed below:

  • Eye
  • Face
  • Voice tone
  • Posture
  • Body movement
  • Muscle Tension
  • Gestures
  • Touching

Eyes play an important part in this type of communication because any person can guess just by looking at the eyes what the other person is feeling. For example, if the person is angry the eyes will be staring and you will be able to see the anger in the eyes.  A happy person will have their eyes open and will seem active, the person will feel free in looking everywhere.  If the person is sad you will be able to see sadness.  The eyes will not be widened and the person will react in an unusual way, such as looking downwards and not making eye contact.   For e.g. in my placement the care workers usually guess how the service users are feeling.  

The face is the easiest way to send non-verbal messages because it is very visible to every one.  Facial expressions can tell the other person if you are very happy or very angry.  By making different types of shapes for example an angry person will be looking at you with their teeth clenched together and you will be able to understand that the person is very angry.  I have seen the examples of facial nonverbal communication in my care setting.  The service users were making facial expressions sometimes to tell if they like the food or not.  

Voice tone is not everything that we say, voice tone can also tell the other person what you are feeling with even one word said and you don’t have to explain how you are feeling.  In my placement I have seen the examples of voice tone that is used in non verbal communication for e.g. the service users had a happy voice tone when they get the choice of the game they wanted to play.    

 

The way we move our body can also describe our feelings for example if we sit with our arms crossed, it gives the signal that the person is not listening to any thing.  If you are leaning over, this means that you are interested and if you are leading backwards this means that you are bored or that you are tired.

If you walk stamping your feet very hard on the floor than that means that you are angry.  It is very easy to know your feelings by looking at your body movement. The tension in our body parts can tell how relaxed or tense we are.  Some people may start biting their nails when they are scared or tense.  In my placement I have seen the care works using body language to show that they are tired.    

Hands and arms move differently when you speak, the movement of hands and arms depends on what you are talking about.  Gestures sometimes have meanings in them and it is usually used by people when they don’t speak but the other person can understand for example showing a thumb up can mean good luck as well as that every thing is going well, whereas the thumb downwards could mean that every thing is going wrong or I didn’t succeed.   Gestures were being used in my placement mostly with the people who were not very well at listening.  

 

“Touching another person can send messages of care, affection, power over them or sexual interests”.  Touching can make people understand what the touch means for example Touch can be used when some one is sad or depressed to give them comfort etc.  The care workers used touching when the service users were sad or need some one in my placement.  

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Listening Skills

Listening skills are the skills in which these points are important when listening to other person’s words, thinking about what they mean and planning what to say back to the other person.  Hearing another person means listening to their sounds.  

Listening is known as a skill.  It is more than just listening to someone’s words.  Listening includes hearing things and then remembering them.  To remember what has been said, we need to understand it first.  According to some psychologists, people usually remember only about one out of every two thousand things that have been ...

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