The effectiveness of interactions can be enhanced in different types of factors, for example non- verbal communication, empathy, common interests, tone of speech and attending specifically to individual difficulties and disabilities by using preferred form of interaction.
Non- verbal physical actions can encourage and discourage oral communication, for example in a hospital if I doctor is sitting or standing positively smiling and shakes the patients hand the patient will feel more comfortable by the doctors body language. Therefore the patient is more likely to communicate orally about their problem in a relaxed atmosphere. Discouraging oral communication in a health care through non- verbal physical actions could affect patients and or health professionals when talking, as one would feel not comfortable to speak. For example; a support worker would want their patient to come out and talk about certain issues to try and deal with them or even just to comfort the patient. So if the support worker was sitting with their arms crossed and not looking the patient in the eye then the patient could be uncomfortable about speaking to the support worker.
Being non- judgmental meaning not to judge people can lead to obtaining important oral communication. If a doctor starts to judge a patient about what they have done or about something personal, the patient could feel upset and may not want to talk to the doctor further. However if the doctor just listens and does not judge the patient for problems they are having they will build up more trust towards the doctor and feel happy about talking to the doctor about certain problems.
Common interests are important for patients in health care settings. This is because some patients attend social clubs for their illness. Some of these people find it hard to socialise so by having the same interests as someone else it will give them something to talk about and also build a relationship with that person. This is a great way to get maybe some of the quieter patients to interact with each other.
The effectiveness of tone of speech can vary depending on how loud or politely someone is speaking. If a nursery nurse shouted at a child the child would probably become upset and wouldn’t want to talk to the nursery nurse, they may also become quieter as they may be scared of getting in trouble again. Reducing children’s oral communication could affect them while they are growing up. in that situation where the child is in the wrong it is better to come down to their level and speak calmly because this will benefit the child more and make them see wrong, rather than just being scared. When people in all settings use a calm tone of voice it encourages people to talk back and form a conversation, as it’s a respectful manner.
Attending specifically to individual difficulties and disabilities by using preferred form of interaction could involve sign language and other techniques. As oral communication is very important it is very unfortunate for those who are deaf for example. So to increase the level of personal value and support improved through oral communication care settings communication can still be used greatly through sign language, lip reading and even a hearing aid. Communication will need to be made more clearly to make sure the other person understands fully as there could be misunderstandings that could be frustrating.
Communication can be inhibited by inappropriate poor oral communication firstly through physical factors such as noise distractions. Being in a noisy health care environment can annoy or distract people. For example in a hospital where there is a lot of shouting in the background the patient could be distracted and not hear what the doctor is explaining, this could be important information being misheard.
Patronising people can make them feel upset and uncomfortable. If a doctor was patronising to a patient and looking down to them it could cause the patient to become upset and offended which could cause a very awkward atmosphere and the patient would possibly not feel ok about speaking.
Stereotyping people is similar to patronising people as it can cause upset. For example if a health professional viewed all travellers as trouble makers it would cause that group of people to be upset as they are represented in that way. The patients would therefore not want to communicate to the health professionals.
Inappropriate language may well be oral communication but is very offensive to most people. Inappropriate language could include swearing or slang. This type of language can prevent people from communicating orally. For example if a patient were talking to a nurse rudely the patient would most likely be ignored even if they did need help with something.
Lack of awareness or disregard of individual difficulties and disabilities is very naïve. People who do not show any respect or awareness for a type of disabilities or difficulties prevents those who are suffering with problems related to this. They may find it upsetting and hard to communicate. For example in a hospital a disabled person in a wheelchair and the person pushing the wheelchair could be communicated to differently. The person pushing the wheelchair could be spoke to more by a health professional rather than the disabled person.
