Communication within the health and social services.

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Introduction

Communication within the health and social services.

 

Communication is the passing of information from one person to another or from one place to another. There are a number of different ways in which communication can occur. These include verbal communication, non-verbal communication and written communication (e-mail).

 

Health and social care brings care workers into contact with people who may be lonely, anxious, devalued, discriminated against, emotionally vulnerable or unable to express their thoughts and feelings. Effective communication is needed by a care worker in order to improve a person’ quality of life. Effective communication is also about communicating with relatives, colleagues and other professionals to create a safe, welcoming and valuing environment. Effective communication is needed if care workers are to foster people’ equality, diversity and rights.

 When we are having a conversation we usual use two types of communication, verbal and non-verbal. We can send messages to people through our body language, the way we look. You can tell if someone is sad or happy through their facial expressions and eyes. Through the eyes we can tell if someone is attracted, excited or interested in someone else if their eyes get wider. If someone looks away it can mean they are not interested or bored. A fixed stare may be obtained as someone being angry or annoyed. Peoples faces usually tell us how they feel, we can tell if someone is depressed as their eyes signal this as they look down, there may be tension in the face and neck and their mouth will be closed. Whereas a happy person will have wide eyes and they will be smiling. In my work placement I noticed that all the staff always gave a smile to the children. The teacher made appropriate eye contact when talking to the children and smiled to make the children feel at ease as they were in a strange environment.

Non-verbal communication is a way of giving out messages and signals to other people through body signals and gestures. Sometimes messages can be sent to other people without us deliberately meaning to send these messages. Types of non-verbal communication include eye contact, facial expressions, voice tone, body movement, posture, muscle tension, gestures, touch and proximity.

Eye contact is defined as direct visual contact with another person’s eyes by making eye contact; a person is showing that they have an interest in what the speaker has to say. Eye contact is one of the main methods of non – verbal communication because our eyes can express a lot of different emotions. If a person’s eyes widen they may be excited about something or they may be scared. If a person stares at another person this may be to show anger. Looking away from someone can often indicate boredom or not being interested in what is happening.

 

A person’s facial expressions can say a lot about the emotional state they are in. If a person is smiling it can show they are happy. If a person is yawning it can show they are bored.

 

A persons voice tone can also indicate what sort if mood they are in. If their tone is fixed and loud you can tell they are angry. If it is shaky and quiet you can tell the person is nervous.

 

The way in which a person sits can show how they are feeling at the time. If a person is having a conversation with another person and they other person is sitting with their arms crossed it may show that they are not taking any notice or if a person is leaning in on their chair it can show that they are very interested in the conversation.

 

Posture This is the way in which a person sits or stands. If a person is sitting on a chair with their hands behind their head it shows that they are being laid back which can mean they are not taking notice of what is going on or if a person is sitting with their hands together on their knee it can show that they are being formal or that they are nervous with the situation.

 

Muscle tension means how tense the muscles within the body are. If a person’s shoulders and facial expressions are relaxed it may show that they are relaxed. If they are tense it may mean that the person is not comfortable with the situation.

 

Gestures are hand and arm movements that can help people to understand what someone is saying. If a person shrugs their shoulders it may show that they don’t know something or if a person sticks their thumb up it may indicate that everything is going well.

 

Touch is another way of sending a message to a person these can be to send messages of care, affection, power over them, or sexual interest. Many carers shouldn’t make assumptions about touch. It can be mistakenly understood for example holding someone’s hand may be seen as trying to dominate him or her. During my work placement the teacher was in a situation were she was comforting a child by giving them a hug or by patting their shoulder or back.

A big factor that influences effective communication skills is proximity. Where the space between people usually shows how intimate the conversation is. Different cultures have different expectations when it comes to how close you should be when talking to others. An arms length is usually kept when talking to strangers. People find it socially acceptable to stand closer to someone if you have been introduced with a handshake. Relatives and partners usually are not restricted in how close they can come but in some cases a father and his adult son may have firm rules on proximity that are unwritten. Some carers can appear to be dominating or aggressive to clients if they interfere with a client’s personal space without asking for the client’s permission or explaining to them why they are there. Not only can proximity tell us how intimate the conversation is but the positioning of the people who are engaged in the conversation can as well. If two people are standing or sitting eye to eye it may show that they are being angry or formal. Where as if they are at a slight angle it may depict a more friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

In the classroom the teacher or classroom assistant may change the tone of their voice in order to make the student feel more at ease with them or they may touch a student on the arm to show understanding to something that they have said.

 Verbal communication is expressed through the use of words. Effective communication involves a process of listening. This cycle involves:

Hearing what the other person has said, watching the other person’s non – verbal messages, having emotional feelings, beginning to understand the other person, sending a message back to the other person.

 

Skilled listening involves a number of stages. These include:

  • Looking interested and ready to listen.
  • Hearing what is said.
  • Remembering what is said.
  • Checking understanding with the other person.

 

A care worker needs to use verbal skills to talk to the client and to be able to express understanding to them. The client also needs to use verbal skills in the care setting because they need to be able to tell the carer if they are in pain or if there is anything wrong and also to express their thoughts and feelings on certain things.

 

 

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

 

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows that in order for a person to reach their full potential there needs to be effective communication. Maslow’s theory was that the goal of human life was for a person to reach their full ability and potential. But before they could fully develop this they had to meet each level of needs on the next page is an example of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how effective communication meets these needs.

 

 

 

 

 

Barriers to communication in the health care setting.

There are a number of barriers that can stop people from communicating with one another. These could be:

 

  • Physical barriers

-         Deafness.

-         Blindness.

-         Speech defects.

-         Age.

-         Language.

 

  • Environmental barriers

-         Noise.

-         Lack of privacy.

-         Poor room layout.

 

  • Other barriers

-         Culture and race.

  • Physical barriers.

 

Deafness, blindness and speech defects can cause barriers in communication because if a person has one of these disabilities they may not be able to understand fully the message that is being given or be able to send messages out to other people.

 

Age can be a barrier in communication because if a there is a big age gap between the client and the carer this can cause things to be uncomfortable for the client if they are an older person as it may make them feel inadequate if they or being looked after by someone much younger and it may also cause them to feel like their right to their dignity is being ignored.

 

Language can be a barrier in communication because if the client speaks a different language than the carer then they are not going to be able to communicate effectively if they do not understand what each person is saying.

 

These can all effect communication because if a carer had to find out personal details about the client by asking them in a room which was poorly laid out and people were sitting very close together as well as there being high levels of noise then the client will not want to give the details to the carer as they will have a lack of privacy and would want their details to remain confidential.

 

Culture and race differences between clients and carers can cause communication barriers because both people may not understand the other persons culture or race and they may not know of differences in the way the other person does things.

 

Disabilities:  In the school there are a number of different disabilities, which may cause difficulties in communication between staff and clients. These include speech disabilities little mobility.

 Evidence of inappropriate communication was observed while I was on my work placement. (find sumthin) 

Some of the clients in Colinvale Court Private Nursing home suffer from some sort of speech disability. In order to allow the client to communicate the staff allow them the time they need to be able to do this.

 

The effects of ineffective communication on an individual’s life.

 

If there is ineffective communication in a person’s daily life it can have a major effect on them as an individual. Things that can happen may be:

 

A loss of self- esteem – this will leave the person feeling that they are not worth much to other people because they do not take the time to communicate with them.

 

A loss of purpose in life – this will make the person feel like they are alienated or excluded from others if they do not communicate with them.

 

A loss of support – if a person is not being communicated with by other people they may find it difficult to cope because their social and emotional needs are not being met.

 

A feeling of being threatened – if people do not communicate with a person they may feel that they do not know what is likely to happen because they are not age aware of things.

 

If a person goes through this because of ineffective communication they may risk learned helplessness because they feel they have no control over life circumstances.

 

If a person ends up with learned helplessness they may become depressed and this can result in death.

 

There are four stages of learned helplessness, which are:

 

Stage 1 – pre-helplessness, feeling frustrated or angry.

 

Stage 2 – giving up, stop trying to control their own life.

 

Stage 3 – helplessness and anxiety.

 

Stage 4 – depression and withdrawal, in some cases helpless withdrawal may result in death.

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Inappropriate communication used in Colinvale Court Private Nursing Home.

 

While on my two-week work placement in Colinvale Court Private Nursing Home I think that the communication between staff and clients and staff and other professionals was very effective, because everybody seemed comfortable with everybody else and also that things were being done how they should be. Also the residents in the home had their daily needs met and their self-esteem was not affected by anything that was said or done while they were in the care of the staff.

 

 There were times when inappropriate communication was ...

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