Communication and care values

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MOBEEN AKRAM

UNIT 2 – COMMUNICATIONS & CARE VALUES

INTRODUCTION

As part of my Health and Social care ‘A’ level I have been asked to produce a report on Communication and care values.  For me to produce my report I need to undertake a placement in one of the following areas, where I will research and conclude my findings based on my initial report.  

Here are the following settings or service user groups that I will have to choose from to base my report on:

  • Health
  • Early years – (care and education)
  • Care of older people
  • Individual with specific needs

The setting or service user group that I will be focusing on through this report is:

Early years – (care and education)

And the placement that I have chosen to base my report on is:

 Nursery

The purpose/objective of this report will be the following:

  • The types and range of communication skills you have used, and an awareness of the care value base.
  • The transmission of the care values in the way you have communicated with the person concerned.
  • Possible barriers to communication and how you overcome these.
  • An evaluation of the interactions and conclusions drawn from the evidence collected.

These are the objectives that I will have to look for and carry out at my nursery placement and with the children – (service user group) and then I will have to make comparisons between the interactions made.

THEORY

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?

It is a learned skill, we must learn to speak well and communicate effectively. Speaking, listening and our ability to understand verbal and non-verbal meanings are skills we develop in various ways. We learn basic communication skills by observing other people and modelling our behaviours based on what we see.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATIONS

The different types of communication are the following:

Language – spoken, signed or written communication can communicate complex and subtle messages between individuals or groups of people. Language also allows people to develop concepts and these concepts are; influence the way individuals think, enable us to predict the future and enables us to group experiences together to help us to understand events that we have experienced.

Signing and Braille – there are systems such as the British sign language that help people to communicate in a full language. Braille provides system of written communication based on the sense of touch for people who have limited vision.

Cultural variations, including accents - both verbal and non-verbal communication must be understood in a particular context. For example the word wicked can have lots of meanings to it. If an older person used this word to describe their experience in the World War 2 it would mean “horrific” or “terrible”.

Music, drama, arts and crafts - paintings, music, and drama scenes all can describe and communicate messages and emotions to people. People often buy paintings or music to remind them of the happy experiences or the sad experiences.

Visual, electronic and other technology - people all can communicate using emails, mobile phones, text and other ways such as recorded messages on the video, tape player etc and we can re experience the events of the past.

Body language – facial expression, the way we sit, the way we stand etc are all the ways that express how we feel.

INTERPERSONAL INTERACTION

Who interacts with whom?

The health and social care workers must be able to interact or communicate with effectively with wide range of other people, and they could be:

  • Patients or clients and their relatives – who maybe children, adolescents, young adults, middle aged or elderly.
  • Colleagues and managers
  • With professionals, e.g. doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologist etc.

These maybe one to one interactions, with clients and other professionals or group interactions such as case conferences, group work and staff meetings. Communications within a care context should follow the five principles of good practice and they should:

  • Enable people to develop their own potential
  • Enable people to have a voice and to be heard
  • Respect people’s beliefs and preference
  • Promote and support people’s rights to appropriate services
  • Respect people’s privacy and rights to confidentiality

Lack of effective communication between a care worker and their patients or clients can result in the clients not receiving the help that they need. So it is important that communication takes place effectively.

THE PURPOSES OF INTERACTION

The main purposes of interactions are the following:

  1. The exchange of information - for example a patient visits the doctor and tells them what is wrong with them and then the doctor will turn that information around to understand what medicine to give to the patient.

  1. Explaining procedures  for example a nurse will get a patient ready for surgery will explain why she is doing that and why it is necessary.

  1. Promoting relationships and offering support  - for example a social worker will make sure that regular contact with a family in need takes place and lots of support is given to them. But both clients and staff are aware of the boundaries of the relationship.

  1. Getting to know the clients or service users and assessing their needs – for example a professional care worker will make sure that they communicate with the individual or client to build up their assessment needs.

  1. Negotiation and liaising with service users - for example no service user can be considered in isolation. Lines of communication have to be established not only between professionals and the clients but the professionals and the client’s family members.

  1. Promotion of interaction between group members – for example any group needs a common identity and shared purpose; most groups have a leader who determines the success of the group.

TYPES OF INTERACTION IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SETTINGS

There are lots of different types of interactions between people, but they can be classified as verbal – spoken or non-verbal.

Verbal communication – this is speaking and listening this maybe:

  • A spoken language such as English, French, Spanish, Urdu etc.
  • A signed language such as British sign language or Makaton
  • By computer on the internet
  • By videophones, text phones, synthetic speech communicators or automatic computerised control systems

Non-verbal communication – this is all of the body signals, which we consciously or inadvertently make when we are with other people.

There are about eight kinds of non-verbal communication:

Paralanguage – this is when emotions are expressed by the way in which language is spoken and this includes:

  • Tone of voice
  • Pitch
  • Emphasis of particular words
  • Volume
  • Tempo of speech
  • Pauses in speech

Eye contact – people’s eye contact can express lots of emotions. When beginning a conversation people will usually make lots of eye contacts as a signal that they are listening or ready to speak. Regular eye contact during a conversation can show interest and friendliness to the other person.  

Eye contact has five important functions in communication:

  • It regulates the follow of conversation
  • It controls intimacy in a relationship
  • It gives feedback to the speaker on what has just been communicated and gathers information in turn
  • It express emotions
  • It informs both speaker and listener of the nature of the relationship they are in

A care worker who is listening to a client must use lots of eye contact to show that he or she is listening to them and understand them.

Facial expression – can reveal various emotions such as; happiness, fear, interest, contempt, surprises, sadness and disgust.

People workings in care settings have to hide their feelings by controlling their facial expressions.  For example to spare a patient embarrassment when attending to intimate bodily functions.

Postures – how people stand or sit is an important aspect of body language. Postures can signify differential status, emotion status and persuasion. It has been found that high status individuals adopted relax and calm position when they are seated. But the low status individuals who tend to sit more upright and rigid in their chairs.

Open and closed postures – opened postures when seated will encourage communication, whereas a closed position may inhabit communication.

Gesture - people who are communicating with each other often show “postural echo” i.e. they copy or mirror the gestures and posture of the person they are talking to.

Touch – physical contact is the earliest form of social communication, which we experience. Our first contact with the outside world and what it is going to be like comes through tactile experience. Such touches experiences include midwife hands as the baby is delivered.

Personal space – this means the distance you are in relation to another person. It is sometimes called proxemics or physical proximity.

Dress and personal grooming – personality characteristics can be reflected in the style of clothes worn. Conservative people prefer more muted colours and conventional styles and whilst more extrovert people tend to dress in the latest fashion.

EFFECTIVE SKILLS THAT IMPROVE COMMUNICATION

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These skills include:

Respecting for other people’s beliefs and views – we all has different ideas about how we conduct our lives. It is predictable that a care worker will come across many people with vastly different backgrounds, beliefs and outlooks on life. Regardless of your own views, you should always respect the views of others. This involves:

  • Not passing judgment on the way other people live
  • Avoiding stereotyping people on the basis of age, sex or ethnicity
  • Not trying to impose your views onto others

Establishing boundaries – all organisations operate within ...

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