However there are also many ways of interpersonal interaction such as speech, non-verbal communication, touch, silence, proximity, reflective listening and variation between cultures.
Speech-
Different localities, cultural groups, and professions have their own words, phrases and speech patterns, which may some causes service users to feel threatened or excluded by the kind of language they encounter. Nevertheless just using formal language will not solve this problem.
The technical terminology used by care workers which is often called Jargon may also create barriers for people who are not a part of that “speech community”. Some people like informal greetings while other prefer formal greetings.
Non-verbal communication-
When meeting a service user you will be able to tell how they feeling for example if the service user is tired, happy, angry, sad or even frightened this will show in his/her body posture and facial expressions.
Usually you can guess what a person feels by studying their non-verbal communication, non-verbal communication means “without words”.
Non-verbal communication is the messages people tend to send without using words, we can use our eyes, our hands, gestures with out arms and hands, facial expressions, the angle of our heads, the way we sit or stand and the tension in our muscles to send messages.
The way we sit or stand can send messages, also sitting down with arms cross can mean you either not paying attention, not interested by the other person is saying or just not happy about what they saying to you.
Leaning back in your chair can send messages meaning that you either relaxed or bored however leaning forward shows interest or intense involvement.
Also body movements communicates messages such as the way you walk, move your head, sit, cross arms or legs, these will send messages whether you are tired, happy, sad or bored.
Touch-
Touch is another way of communicating without words, you can send messages of care, affection and sexual interest by touching another person. A person’s body language will usually help you understand what their touch means. But most touches can be easily misinterpreted.
Proximity-
The space between people can sometimes show how friendly or intimate the conversation between them is.
In some cultures they have an amount of space between the people they are talking to.
Proximity is very important in a health and social care work, many service users have a sense of personal space.
Using close proximity without giving the permissions can sometimes be seeing as domination or aggression.
There are also informal and formal communications.
Informal communication is used when we communicating with people that we know well such as friends and families. Friends and family use words that may be not understood to other people.
Each local group have different way of speaking to the other people, some are straight forward and comfortable around you but some are reserve and shy.
However different groups of people use different informal language; it can be difficult to understand the informal communication of people from different social groups.
Formal communication is used in work placements such as nurseries, nursing homes and even offices. Formal communication is understood by many people, formal communication also shows respect for others. The degree of formality or informality is called the language “register”.
