The terminology used can also change depending on the environment of a health and social care setting and the people within the setting. For example a nurse to another nurse may use complicated words to describe a patient such as referring to them as a service user. But when the nurse is actually talking to the service user they may use less complicated words such as referring to them as a client. This could this can prevent the client from feeling isolated as they don’t know what the nurse is talking about and stop this from affecting their self esteem. And instead help them feel appreciated and looked after.
Sometimes when people talk they subconsciously put in fillers or pauses, this could be because the person is nervous or feels uncomfortable with the subject they are addressing. In a health and social care environment, it is important that service providers talk fluently and use as little fillers as possible so that the point of what they are saying is clear and digested by the receiver easily. For example, a secretary in a hospital will tell a service user clearly without fillers and pauses so it is understood which ward and which bed the client is in, in whom the service user has come to see. So that they do not end up going to the wrong bed and disturbing another client invading their privacy, which in turn could make the client feel unvalued having a negative effect on the clients self esteem. Also if service providers are having a meeting and one has to do a presentation. It is important that they prevent using pauses and fillers because this could make them look unconvincing and lack confidence which can have a negative impact on the effectiveness of what you are trying to say.
In different health and social care environments it may be required to speak formally this means speaking proper with no use of slang, using the Queens English. This may be important in a health and social care environment so that there is always a level of understanding. You are not likely to run into colloquialisms or idiomatic meanings that people don’t understand. Care setting that may use this sort of speech may be hospitals. As this helps maintain a polite respectful manner to clients and helps develop a professional rapport that is less likely to have emotional attachment. However in other health and social care settings it may be encouraged to speak informally. As this can helps give of a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, which can make service users feel more comfortable and more likely to confined information about them self’s to service providers, because they feel like they do care about their health and wellbeing. An example could be a nursery nurse they will speak informally with the service users to help make them at ease in their presents and help develop a friendly rapport.
Volume pitch and tone play a massive role in how something said comes across to the receiver. Sometimes it is not what we say to someone but how we say it that has an effect. Depending on where you put empathises and your tone of voice in a sentence, depends on the meaning you convey. When we are, excited or angry speech tends to become more rapid and high pitched, if we are bored we tend to slow down our speech and talk with more monotones; and when we feel defensive our speech can be seen as more abrupt and assertive.
In health and social care environments it is vital that a service provider maintains a professional volume level and pitch level but it is also important that they change their tone, so they keep a service user and other service providers interested in what they have to say so that they do take in everything that is said. Such as a counsellor they need to maintain a professional volume and pitch so a service user does not get a view on their personal feeling and a professional rapport can be formed between the service user and the counsellor; helping the service user trust their counsellor with their issues as they do not feel like they are being judged. In addition, it is also important that the counsellor change their tone to keep the service user interested in what they are saying. The counsellor could also show that they are listening to the service user through active communication and paraphrasing.
Application to care settings: how are clients valued and supported through oral communication.
I am now going to go on and explain three example of how oral communication can be used to support and value clients in a range of health and social care environments.
Example one
A client is just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's even though they are on a rapid decline they want to carry on living independently. The community psychiatric nurse comes round to the client’s house regularly to make sure that the client’s health and wellbeing is positive. To do this an assessment of the client’s needs is done by the community psychiatric nurse. This is done through verbal communication. The CPN asks the client open questions that that enables the CPN to get a substantial amount of information on the clients to health and wellbeing to make sure they are okay. They also use active listening to show the client that they are listening and taking in what they said which in turn encourages the client to carry on explaining.
the client has just been given a new medication to help slow down the process of Alzheimer's. so the CPN also has come round to explain to the client how to take this medication and when to take it, the CPN makes sure the client has understood what has been explain by getting them to paraphrase it back to them.
Example two
A student has just started at a primary school and has special educational needs. They find number work difficult to understand, the student’s teacher in maths has noticed this and has professional referred them on to get one to one help with the schools special educational needs coordinator. The SENCO uses oral communication to help explain on a one to one basis a way for the pupil to understand the parts that the pupil doesn't understand about numeracy. And help to empower the pupil to keep trying. This is done in a private room so the Childs confidentiality is kept and it helps the child feel valued and supported as they are making progress and are understanding the information given.
Example three
a client has just been professional referred from their dentist to an orthodontist to help make their teeth straighter via a brace. The client has gone to the dental surgery for the first time to meet and talk to their orthodontist. Their orthodontist uses oral communication to help discuss with the client what they are going to need doing to their teeth how long they may need braces on and how frequently they are going to be meeting. this meeting helps develop a rapport between the client and the orthodontist and helps the client feel supported as they know what they are going to be going through to straighten out their teeth, it also makes them feel valued as their orthodontist has made a point to introduce them self to the client to help make they feel comfortable when they go to the dental practice in the future.
Written communication
Written communication is the communication through symbols these can either be printed or hand written it is an effective an essential way to keep records of communication for a later date. They are much more permanent than the spoken word, and are essential in a health and social care environment. However if the information that is written down for a receiver is inaccurate this is when things can start to go wrong in a health and social care environment. it may lead to delays in meeting a service users needs, inability to follow up questions and enquiries, arrangements dates and times set for a client to receive care could be mistaken, important meeting may be missed. Services for service users may be unable to be organised and important information may be inaccurate which could delay the progress of an important decision being made. All these things could end up in a service user not receiving good quality care.
There is many different ways in which written communication can be used in a health and social care environment and why it is important. These can include. Helping to make records of achievement and learning; these may be used in schools or nurseries. Medical records which a doctor or a nurse needs to know before treating a patient. Formal policies, procedures, agreements and assessments are all important things that need to be followed in a health and social care environment. Staff rotas are very important for nurses in hospitals to know when and where they are starting their shift. A clients record of information which may be passed on from one member of staff to another if they client is in the middle of being professional referred. Service user plan so both service providers and service users know what care needs to given. Contracts and codes of conduct are also very important things that need to be written up formally.
it is important that when written communication is made that spelling of names phone numbers or other information is double checked so there is less chance of the information being incorrect.
A problem with written communication is the fact that the person who is writing it needs to have some sort of good quality writing skills and grammar. Spelling needs to be correct and so does punctuation. to make it effective so the reader is not only understanding what has been written but also interested in it so it is took in and understood.
The Layout of written communication needs to be simple and attractive so that it looks interesting and is easy to read. This can include not overcrowding words so they become difficult to read; information should be broken down into clear section such as paragraphing making it easier to digest. Including colour and pictures can also help break up information.
Ideas that are stated should follow logical explanation so the receiver knows why and how this idea was made.
The design of the written communication should be appropriate for its audience such as if it is for children complicated words should be avoided.
Application to care setting: how a client is valued and supported through written communication.
I am now going to explain like I did in oral communication the ways in which written communication is used in health and social care environments through three examples.
Example one
A client has gone to the doctor’s surgery to visit their general practitioner and enquire about a rash that has recently just come up on their skin. Their GP checks out the client’s rash and tells them that it is and writes down a prescription for some medication to help the rash go down. the client will then take this written down prescription to the pharmacist so the pharmacist knows that they have been authorised the medication by their General Practitioner giving them permission to give the client the medication. This helps the client feel valued and supported as their GP has took the time to find out what is wrong with them they have also authorised some medication to help the rash go away and put the clients health back stable.
Example two
A client is suffering from anxiety and depression they have been professionally referred by their local General Practitioner to a counsellor to help them overcome this. The client goes and visits the counsellor for the first time, during their sessions the counsellor makes written notes about the client to help them understand how to make them better they also make written notes about the clients progress which they show to client at the end of every session to help empower them to make more progress. It also helps them feel appreciated as their service provider is interested in their progress and wants to support them through their troubles.
Example three
A care worker in a caring home is looking after one of client the client is a bit forgetful and has a important appointment that they need to attend however it is in the near future and there is a likelihood that the client will forget to attend this appointment the care worker decides to get the client a diary and write down all the appointments that the client has what they are for and when they need to attend them. This aids the client’s memory so there is less chance that they miss their appointments. The client feels aided by the carer worker as they have helped put them at ease about their appointments as they are no longer in fear of forgetting them.
Computerised communication
Computerised communication is communicating with others and access information through a variety of technology. This technology can include the internet, email and text messaging. It can reach people a lot faster than written communication minimising the chance of delays. It can also be interpersonal such as electronically recorded messages between groups of professionals this is a great advantage as meeting can now take place with the professionals being in different geographical backgrounds, it can also mean that some health and social care jobs can be done from the comfort of the service providers own home as computerised communication can be done anywhere at any time. Computerised communication can be converted into hard back and kept for long periods of time, it can also be transferred onto disks and tapes. Less money is wasted on paper which is more environmentally friendly.
As the years have gone by computerised communication has become more widely spread and more relied on. It is an increasing important aspect in health and social care environments.
Such as records, nearly all of medical records and many other types of records have in recent years been transferred from written forms to computerised forms; Such as the NHS medical history. This is a great advantage as records can be more easily shared so good quality care is easier to obtain. important medical history that a service provider needs to know can access it more quickly and efficiently which can be lifesaving and could mean in certain care setting like a doctors surgery or a walk in centre; appointments will be quicker so more people can be seen in a day. which could improve the health and wellbeing of a population in a whole.
it is also a lot safer in the past a doctor or a nurse ect, obtained a service users medical history through asking the client to fill out forms if a service user forgot a piece of information to their medical history this could decrease the chances of them getting good quality care. However now you medical history can be pulled up from the electronic storage system by quite simply asking your name and date of birth. this way no information is forgotten and it can all be seen in full by the service provider.
It also is saving the NHS money, due to the fact it is more efficient less time is spent on finding filled information and less space is took up with this filled information making less labour needing to be done.
However it is important that this sort of information is kept secure so confidentiality isn’t breached there has been a range of security measures made to make sure this doesn’t happen. These security methods could include having password protected computers and password protected documents so that only the staff that needs to know this information can access it.
When electronic records are made it is important to keep a back up copy in case the original copy is lost. it is important that when printing off information the printing policies are looked into. When printing out documents such as fax documents they should be printed in a confidential area and the documents should be kept in a safe secured system. This can help make sure the hard copies are not lost and people that do not have the right to see the information do. Record systems should not be changed/altered or lost without the permission from the person who authorises these changes.
Computerised records are not the only way computerised communication is used. There is many health and social care services that are provided via computerised communication.
The internet helps provide some of these services. For example NHS direct/online they provide health advice twenty four hours this is good because if someone's health and wellbeing declines at time when a doctor’s surgery is not open but they feel it is not serious enough to go to ANE they can get medical advice over the internet via NHS direct. Talk to frank, child line and Samaritans are all internet websites which people can look at if they want help with drug use, child abuse or domestic violence. These health and social care services can be looked at privately and confidentially in the comfort of the clients own home.
However there are factors that can affect computerised communication.
The cost of it can be one of these factors, although over recent years technology has become more affordable it is still rather costly. People may not have the money to go and buy the equipment needed to communicate via technology. This could leave them isolated from the ever-growing reliance on technology. It could also prevent clients from receiving good quality care.
In order for people to be able to communicate through technology the sender and receiver both need to understand how the technology works. they need to be computer literate.
Application to care settings: how are clients valued and supported through computerised care:
I'm now going to go on and explain how clients can be valued and supported through computerised communication via three examples
Example one
A case conference needs to be made between all the service providers for one client to help plan and discuss the future care for the client to make sure they are getting good quality care. However the client’s key worker is in a different geographical background and cannot make it to the case conference. It is decided that the rest of the service providers are going to go to the case conference and talk to the Key worker via video calling. This way everyone is going to find out the information and be able to take part in the discussion about the clients care. this will help make the client feel fortified and appreciated as the service providers are going out of their way to make sure the client’s needs are being met. This would not have been able to be done if computerised communication did not exist.
Example two
A client has been feeling a bit under the weather for most of the day but it is only at two o clock in the morning that their health seems to take a rapid decline they are suffering from sickness and a temperature however the clients local doctors surgery is closed so they decide to type in their symptoms into NHS direct which helps give them advice about what is wrong with their health and what they need to do to put their health back stable. This helps to make the client feel comforted and put at ease as they now know what is wrong with them and there is no need for them to get in contact with their GP which also benefits the GP because they will not need to go out and see to the client.
Example Three
It is snowing and a pupil doesn't know if their local primary school has been closed because of this. They decide to go onto the primary schools website in which it states that the school is close but should be back to normal by tomorrow. The client appreciates this information being on the schools website as it stopped the pupil from having to get ready and walk down to the primary school to find it being shut.
Special Methods of Communication
If a person is deaf or blind or even both this may cause a barrier for them using the types of communication I have talked about above. this can cause them to feel socially isolated. however to overcome this barrier certain communication methods have been developed by these people such as for someone who is deaf their first language may be British Sign language, or if someone is visually impaired they may use braille in order to read written communication. another method is Makaton which is a language to help people who have learning difficulties.
British sign language
British Sign language is a communication made up of visual signs from hands, arms and body gestures. for many deaf people it is their first language. in 2003 following a big campaign BSL (British sign language) was finally made a minority language. However BSL users can still find communication barriers as not all service providers can be accessed through BSL. It is also not a universal language as it is often mistaken as being, there are many dialects to it, it can even vary between regions in Britain.
BSL has to be learnt it takes training and to be good at it, it may take years, this can be a time consuming and costly process. For a BSL user to communicate with someone else using BSL the receiver has to understand BSL and know how to respond to it. this can be a problem in health and social care settings as not everyone knows sign language which could cause a communication barrier between a service provider and a service user. This makes the service user feeling isolated and has a negative impact on their self worth. Which could prevent the service user’s illness being treated, they do not want to go back to the care setting, or because bad quality care is given due to the communication between the service provider and user not being understood. But if a service users service provider provides BSL then this can help the client feel valued and supported as it is not inhibiting the communication between them it also makes the client feel like the service user wants to get to know the client and has gone out their way to use a different type of communication to do so
Makaton
This is a way of communicating to help people with learning difficulties so they improve their communication skills and their language skills. It uses speech, signs and symbols to help people with learning difficulties to recognise an idea and to be able to communicate their ideas with others. Picture cards being tied in with a facial expression to help explain a word. This can help make feel assisted as they are being show what is being said so they know and understand the care they are going to receive this helps make them feel valued as it stops them from being isolated from society and disclosed in the communication between the service provider.
Braille
This is a method of communication used widely by blind people to communicate through the written word, as it helps them read and write. It is a series of raised up marks that can be felt with your fingers, to form words of communication. Braille was first invented by Louis Braille in 1829 he was at the age of 20 and blind. Computers have now been developed to turn the written word into Braille. This is a great use for health and social care environments as it means the written word can be turned into Braille more quickly and efficiently overcoming the communication barrier between a service provider and a service user. This can help a service user feel valued as written communication is not inhibited between a service provider and user. It has been adapted to make sure the service user has all the information they need to know about their care so they can understand to input their own ideas and personal beliefs into their care making it more individualised.
Factors that Support and Inhibit Communication
Care values
In a health and social care environment services providers have to work under a system of care values to help provide good quality care to service users. They are a framework of codes and standard that service users and service providers should follow. To help make sure service users and providers are valued.
I am going to go on to explain three care values: Promoting equality and diversity, maintaining confidentiality and promoting individual rights and beliefs. Then go on to show how they enhance and inhibit communication.
Promoting diversity and equality
Definition
Promoting Equality and Diversity is about making society a fairer more equal place where everyone has the potential to reach their goals and recognise that people have different view and ideas and these should be accepted. It is about understanding that everyone is different but should be treat equally.
However stereotyping and discriminatory behaviours can affect the equality and diversity of a society these things can include Age, gender, race, class, religion, sexuality, ability, health, relationships and politics. This can in turn inhibit or support communication.
How equality and diversity can enhance communication
In health and social care settings, it’s important that service providers should get to know the service user before making false assumptions of their preferred care. They need to have knowledge about different ethnic groups in the world, religions cultural values and gender roles. The best way to do this is to communicate with the clients through any of the ways they can communicate with them. It is good in a health and social care environment to have people that have differences, as they may have different view on how people health and wellbeing should be looked after; this means there are more diverse views which can help put together new ideas and views to in turn develops a better quality care for service users.
When service users feel their care is diverse and equal it can make them fee more comfortable with their service provider and help develop a more positive rapport, which could make them feel more empowered and confident in helping their service provider get their own health back to a stable state.
How equality and diversity can inhibit communication
It is important that health and social care providers understand different ways in which a client will verbally and non verbally communicate with them in order to show respect and value the clients; helping stop the likely hood of inhibiting communication between service provider and user.
Service providers and users should not make assumptions about one another as these assumptions can lead to discriminatory acts, which can also inhibit communication as a service user may feel disrespected and unaided which could lead to poor quality care given.
For example, people seem to fall into a age bracket whether this is children, teenagers, middle aged or old. We all seem to be in one. However sometimes discriminating attitudes are made towards people of different ages for example someone may make an assumption that a client is not capable to do something because they are “old” this may disempower the client and have a negative impact on their self worth. This is also stereotyping the client. Stereotyping is having a automatic opinion on something without enquiring about it.
Gender can also be another aspect. As there can be a stereotype of what females should be like and what males should be like. This stereotype can have an impact on health and social care. Looking at a article in the BBC news it states “Women are more likely than men to complain about their health even when they are in better shape, according to government statistics” (). This shows that women are more likely to report their health and wellbeing or go to the doctors more when feeling unwell than men. This can have an impact on health and social care as it can lead to more research being done to provide better quality care for issues concerning women’s health as there is more demand. Making male services suffer more. It can also mean that men’s illness can get a lot more serious before diagnosed than women’s which could lead to them being more life threatening.
It is important that we do treat people as equally as we possibly can just because someone is working class doesn’t mean they should be getting as good quality care as someone who is upper class. However these things do happen looking at the idea of ‘postcode lottery’ this is where in the UK depending on where your postcode is can depend on what sort of quality of care is available to you on the NHS such as someone who lives just down the road to you may be entitled to a better quality of cancer treatment. This can inhibit communication as a client may feel disempowered to go and discuss about getting the care they need of a service provider because they feel they will not be getting the best quality care as what they could get.
Culture can affect non verbal and verbal communication which can inhibit communication, because the way we communicate with people is influenced by our culture. it is important that a health and social care provider understands a service users culture in order to understand how they might communicate. For example a health visitor may asker a client if they are trying to give up smoking as they said they would, but the client doesn't give the health visitor eye contact when telling them that they have. This makes the health visitor think the client is lying because in the health visitors culture they see this body language as shifty, however the clients is actually doing this out respect because due to their culture they believe it is rude to give eye contact.
Maintaining confidentiality
Definition
Confidentiality is keeping information that has been disclosed protected throughout its lifecycle and only given to people that are authorized to obtain the information. It is vital in a health and social care environment as it helps provide a boundary of the amount of information about a client can be disclosed without consent. It also helps make a client feel secure and trust that whatever personal information they are going to disclose to a service user their privacy is going to be kept. The Data Protection Act is an act that was made in 1998 that all health and social care providers have to go by to ensure confidentiality in their care setting. It provides the right that information about a person is not disclosed to someone that isn't authorized to obtain it. The right to know what information a service provider has about you and the ability to change this information, update it and make sure it is only kept for the period of time that is necessary. And the refusal to provide information that may be enquired
How confidentiality enhances communication
In a health and social care setting, generally a service user needs to know personal information about a service user in order to get the details needed to provide the right care. If the personal information isn’t shared then the service provider may find it increasingly difficult in knowing what care needs to be provided for the client.
The idea of confidentiality helps make clients feel more at ease about sharing their personal information with a service user as it helps build trust which helps add to building a positive rapport.
When a client knows their information is going to be kept private they may open up more giving the service user more helpful information to providing good care. The service user can also walk away without feeling anxious that they shouldn't have said what they said or paranoid that their privacy is going to be breeched, so it minimises any negative feelings the client may feel about disclosing personal information. This will have a direct impact on the verbal communication between a service provider and their service user.
It can also encourage and empower a client to go to a service provider such as a client may feel they have caught a sexually transmitted infection. They are embarrassed about this and don’t want anyone to know however to get the problem treated they go to their local sexual health clinic when the nurse tells them that their information will be kept confidential and private the client feel a lot more at ease and enhances the communication between them as the client goes on to tell the nurse more information about their symptoms.
How confidentiality Inhibits Communication
In a health and social care environment it's important that a service provider does not breech the confidentiality of a service user, as it could cause the service user to not trust the service provider and stop giving information that is vital for them to receive good quality care. It can also make a service user feel disempowered and have a negative impact on their self esteem and in turn their self concept; therefore can have a bad impact on their health and wellbeing. The client may feel loss of security making them vulnerable and putting their safety at risk if personal details about habitat are shared openly. All these things may make the client angry towards the service provider as they had no right. Which in turn has a negative effect on the rapport developed between the service provider and user and the quality of the care given. This inhibits further communication the service user and provider as it can cause the client to clam up and feel withdrawn.
An example of this could be a teacher gets a email about why one of the pupils is absent from their lesson, the teacher walks out of the room and leaves the email unprotected and open on the computer so all the other pupils can see it and read it. This is breeching the client’s confidentiality as the other pupils did not need to know this information. The teacher should have made sure the email was closed and the computer locked before walking out of the room and leaving the computer unattended. This may inhibit the pupil to want to communicate with the school and tell them why they are absent in the future.
However sometimes Confidential dilemmas occur. These are caused when a service user may ask a service user to not pass on some personal information they are going to enclose with the service provider. However the service provider has to pass on the information to another service provider because they are on a 'need to know basis'. This may be because the client is putting themselves at risk or another person at risk.
The other person may also need the information as the absents of it is preventing decision making, or may also be working with the service user and need to be kept up to date with information about service user.
An example of a confidential dilemma could be a student at a secondary school tells her school nurse that she has missed her menstrual cycle and confesses that she has been having an affair with one of the school teachers. She tells the school nurse not to tell anyone. The school nurse tell the client that she can't keep that to herself as she has no right to do so and will have to pass this on to a higher member of staff at the school, (head teacher) as she is putting herself at risk. However she tells the girl that she will do this in a private confidential way. This may disempower the girl to communicate with the nurse in future about personal information as she may feel her privacy has been breached.
To prevent confidential dilemmas when a client asks a service provider to not tell anyone a service should also tell the client before they disclose the personal information that they may need to tell someone if they are on a ‘need to know’ basis.
Promoting individuals right and Beliefs
Definition
Every person is individual and different from the next so it is important when a health and social care provider is looking after a client that the note the clients personal beliefs to make their care plan individualised to the client and their personal rights are being followed. A client has a right to changing their care whether that’s refusing treatment recommended, not wanting to eat certain food that may be suggested or the participation of certain activities. A service user is entitled to their own opinion and beliefs.
How individual rights and beliefs enhance communication
If a service users individual right and beliefs are taken into account when a service provider is shaping their care plan. This will make their care individualised so it is suited to the service user without ever putting them in a situation where they are not happy and not comfortable. This will enhance the communication between a service user and provider as the service user will feel assisted and empowered to follow the care plan and a rapport will be developed between them where the service user feels comfortable in telling the service provider when they are not happy about an area of their care. They know it will be changed into something they are happy about and it will be done in a discreet way so they are not singled out to others.
A service provider may enhance the communication between them by asking the client what they would like to be called instead of assuming as this will make the service user feel valued as if the service provider wants to develop a rapport between them and get to know the clients personal beliefs. They also will feel like they have been consulted about their care plan from the beginning. The service provider is therefore setting a good standard that client will be consulted throughout their care with this service user, so the care comes individual. This promotes the client to feel at ease about speaking their own opinions and enhance them to verbally do this.
How individual rights and beliefs can inhibit communication
A service user has the right to complain about their care and voice their concern if they are not happy. However sometimes a service user may feel in a health and social care environment they can’t do this, which can inhibit the communication between the service user and the service provider. As they may feel intimidated by their service provider and not want to talk to them about their concerns in case they are belittled. This will cause a negative rapport to be developed between them and abuse of the idea that all care should be individualised.
An example of an individual’s rights and beliefs inhibiting communication could be. A client in a care home says to the care worker that they don’t want a service provider of the opposite gender looking after them because it makes them feel uncomfortable and uneasy. The carer laughs at the client and tells them don’t be silly. This affects the clients self esteem as they feel stupid and belittled. It also affects the communication between the client and this service provider as they feel embarrassed and a loss of dignity which has made them feel withdrawn and defensive. This lack of respect by the service provider has cause the service user to not want to openly communicate with this service provider about their personal beliefs again. This means the service provider is not respecting the clients personal beliefs and not supporting and valuing them in a way they should to give them good quality care and enhance communication between them.
I am now going to go on to explain other factors that can enhance and inhibit communication. These factors include positioning, emotional, environmental conditioning and special needs.
Positioning
Positioning is putting and arranging someone or something into a particular way. In health and social care environments this is a very important aspect of communication as the way the things and the people in a setting are positioned can depend on the sort of communication that is going to .take place. As it can enhance and inhibit communication.
For example if the communication is informal then the room may be set out in a way so the chairs are in a circle or next to each other, where everyone is on the same level with nothing blocking contact. However if it way more formal there may be a table in between them. If it is a person talking to a audience then the chairs may all be facing the person and not each other so that the speaker can be heard and seen clearly by everyone that needs to hear and understand what is being said it also causes a barrier between the people so they do not communicate between them self’s.
Positioning should also take into account the space of a room and the space between the service provider and user as this can often mimic the relationship or intimacy of the communication.
How positioning can enhance communication
Positioning is a big factor in enhancing communication the way a group are positioned can help influence how affective the group work and communicate. And the way a group of people may communicate.
It is about positioning people in a way that can make them feel equal to one another and everyone can be seen or heard, non verbal communication isn’t being blocked.
In a health and social care setting a group of service providers may be having a meeting to discuss the care plan of a service provider they are all working for. If they are all sat in a circle then the idea that they are united and are all peers that are equal can enhance communication as they are sat in a way which shows they are expected to have a conversation between themselves. This will help improve the sharing of ideas and decisions so the service user they are all talking about will receive good quality care.
It is important that people with different height can access the things in and a health and social care setting without it being done in a patronising way. for example at a reception of a health and social care environment the desk could be low down so wheelchair users and people who may be of a smaller height can reach the desk and be on eye level with the service provider so they feel equal and enhance the communication between them.
When a service provider is talking to a service user on a one to one basis mimicking the service user’s body language could make the service user feel more at ease in the service provider’s presence and more confident and relaxed making convocation flow more easily and communication to be enhanced. This can also be used when working with children, it is important that a service provider when working with children gets on to their level and when speaking to them makes sure the child can see the whole of the clearly the service provider so non verbal body language isn’t blocked and the child can understand what is being said clearly and not be distracted or feel dominated over by having to look up to the service provider all the time. This can help make the child feel less like the service provider has authority over them which can make them feel defensive and not want to communicate with them. But more like the service user is interested in the child’s health and wellbeing which can enhance the child to want to communicate with them.
How positioning can inhibit communication
When a service user is in a health and social care environment the way a service provider positions themselves around them can inhibit communication as it can cause a barrier towards it which can be physical. Such as if the client can’t see who the service user is when talking to them they may not trust telling them their personal information, inhibiting the communication between them.
Also if a service user made a client sit down but stood above them or leaned over them when talking to them this could intimidate the service user and make them feel that they are not equal to the service provider, as they are dominating over them. Which could lower the clients self esteem and cause them to feel withdrawn to communicate with the service provider due to the lack of confidence that service user has.
It is also important that a service provider is aware of a service user’s personal space and not to enter it without asking as a service user may find this disrespectful and demanding which can inhibit the communication between the service user and provider as the service user may become defensive and clam up stopping the flow of conversation.
For example as service user may be hard of hearing they may lip reads to understand more clearly what is being said but the communication between the service user and provider is inhibited because the service provider is facing away from the client and they are therefore unable to understand more clearly what is being said as they can’t see the service providers lips.
Emotional
Define
A client has four main types of needs these can include intellectual, physical, social and emotional when a service provider is dealing with a client they need to take into account the emotional state of a client and how it could affect their care plan. This could be through listen to the client’s problems and assessing their emotional needs. However sometimes certain emotions displayed between a service user and provider can inhibit but can also enhance the communication between them. These emotions can include:
Fear, this is seen as a negative emotion that a person may feel when they think something or someone is dangerous and should be seen as a threat.
Happiness, this is seen as a positive emotion when a person is content.
Self esteem can either be high or low when a person’s self esteem is high this means they have a sense of pride in themselves. However low self esteem can make a person feel like they are not good enough and think negatively about themselves.
Trust, is when you feel you can rely firmly on something or someone.
Empathy, this is a person has the ability to share and understand the way a person feels.
Responsiveness, this is when a person is able to respond to something that has happened
Attentiveness, when very aware of what is going on around you or paying particular notice to something.
Regarding a person beliefs and opinions can be seen as being respectful toward them. Respect can also mean admiring what someone has done. -20
How emotions can enhance communication
The emotions I stated above can enhance communication the communication between a service provider and service user. When a person is happy this can give a positive view on things for example is a service user is feeling down about the issue with their health and wellbeing. When discussing their care plan with their service provider they can help the client develop a different perspective of their health and wellbeing which could be more positive.
If a service provider empowers a client this can help the clients self esteem to rise and feel more confident to voice their opinions and communicate with the service provider. If a service user trusts a service provider this can enhance communication between them as they will trust what the service provider has to say and more likely to accept it. Which could decrease the amount of time it may take for the service users health and wellbeing to become stable again. It can also enhance communication as a client who has trust is more likely to communicate with the service provider about confidential things as they trust that it will be kept private.
If a service provider is responsive to a service users questions and needs this makes the service user feel valued and supported by the service provider and makes them more likely to ask questions in the future as they feel the service provider is keen to support the clients best interests. If a service provider combines this with empathy this can enhance the communication between them as they can put themselves in to the shoes of the client and see their problems from their perspective.
How emotions can inhibit communication
It is important that a service provider listens to a service provider in a health and social care environment as this is one of the most important ways for a service provider to understand what is wrong with a service user. Sometimes a service provider may avoid listening to the service user to prevent the feeling of unpleasant emotions.
A service provider should consider the emotional impact of what they say on a service user and try to adapt their communication skills to the emotional needs of a service user. If a service provider does not do this it could inhibit the communication between them for example if a service provider doesn't respect their client and listen to what the client has to say this may lower a clients self esteem and inhibit further communication, it could also inhibit the service provider for developing empathy with the client which can prevent them valuing the client.
It is important that if a client has a stigma again a health and social care environment that the service user helps remove this stigma so the client is not fearful which could inhibit the communication between them as the service user may become withdrawn from the service provider and not be taking in what they are saying as they are not paying much attention to them but more to their feeling of fear.
As I mentioned before it is very important that a service user and service provider develop trust. But if this trust is misplaced by the service user and they are betrayed this can have damaging affects on the communication between the service user and provider in the future and as they are likely to not want to tell the service provider things again as they don’t want to be betrayed again.
Environmental conditions
In a health and social care environment it is important that the environment it is suitable for communication to take place. Environmental conditions are the things surrounding us that impact what the environment is like. These things can include space the amount of area that is unoccupied. Noise the amount of sound in the environment. Lighting how well a room is illuminated and ventilation which is the type of air in the room and what sort of temperature it is.
How environmental conditions can enhance communication
If a service user and provider are sat at a distance from each other that they feel comfortable in this can help them relax and make a conversation flow more easily between them enhancing the communication.
Also if the lighting is right for example if a councillor is with a service user and the light is not glaring bright but not to dark this can stop the service user from feeling uncomfortable and to exposed. Which could mean the client is more likely to open up and discuss their issues.
When the temperature and ventilation of a room is not to hot and stuffy and not to cold this can help keep a client from feeling nostalgic and but not make them stressed and frustrated by not being able to get warm which could cause them to be distracted. This way a service user will be attentive and responsive toward a service provider and vis versa.
How environmental conditions can inhibit communication
In a health and social care environment if there is too much background noise surrounding a service user they may find it hard to hear what a service user is saying especially if they are hard of hearing. This can inhibit the communication between them as the service user does not know what is being said to respond. Also if a service user has a hearing aid the background noise can make it difficult for them to hear what is being said.
It is also important that the lighting is right in a care setting so both the service provider and service user can see what is going on if it is not this can cause problems with communication. For example if a service user is hard of hearing they may lip read if the lighting is too dark the service user may not be able to see the service providers face and therefore cannot clearly understand what is being said. Also when a service provider is doing written communication it is important that both the service provider and user can see what is being written if they can’t this may cause the service provider to write down inaccurate information which could affect a clients quality of care.
If a rooms ventilation is too hot or cold this can prevent communication as it can cause the service provider or service user to become distracted as they may start feeling tired or stressed. Stopping them from taking in what is being said.
Special needs
Special types of communication where mentioned before. These include Braille, makaton and British sign language. It is important that in a care setting there are facilities that have the use of Braille, makaton and BSL. So service users that use these, communication is enhanced and not inhibited.
How special needs can enhance communication
When these communication skills are implied with a service user that uses them it can only enhance the communication. But it is important that both the service user and service provider can see each other’s faces clearly. This way the service user can see the service provider facial expression and their lips to help understand what they are saying. If the service provider speaks clearly and at steady pace this can help enhance communication.
A service user may be visually impaired; a service provider could provide Braille so they understand what they have to read if required to read something. Touch can also be used as a service user may be able to identify and picture things more when after touching it/them.
How special needs can inhibit communication
If a service provider does not provide special needs to a service user if they are needed this can inhibit communication as it can mean the service user does not understand what is being said also this can make the service user feel unvalued and unsupported. It may lower their self esteem as they may feel the service provider is assuming they can do something which they can’t. This may disempower the client and make them withdraw from communicating with the service provider and it could also cause a negative rapport to be developed between them.
Inhibiting special needs could include the service user talking with fast with a strong accent, using a lot of non verbal communication when a client is visually impaired. Badly light environment, or the service provider covering their face so service user unable is unable to see their lips or facial expression.
The Content of Communication
The way you start and end communication is vital to the flow of a conversation. Usually communication starts with small talk this can include asking generally how a client is or discussing a general topic like the weather. It is rare for a conversation to go straight into the task at hand as this could be seen as abrupt and not socially accepted.
Usually when a conversation has started to flow and the client and the service provider are feeling at ease this is when the conversation should take a turn and you begin to discuss the reason why you are having a conversation.
Sometimes the main point of a conversation is to have small talk to talk about each other’s lives in general and maybe developing a deeper relationship. An example of this could be in a doctor’s surgery during the period of waiting to see a general practitioner. Clients may sit around and chat amongst them self’s to pass the time this would be small talk as the clients wouldn’t know each other and may not want to intrude on a person’s personal life to deeply as this can be seen as rude.
Conversations that involve business, asking questions, or discussing ideas are known as task-focused conversations. These sorts of conversations use skills like asking closed or open questions to find out the information needed.
Such as a social worker may be given a new case study they meet with the client and after having a bit of small talk the social worker begins to ask questions about the clients health and wellbeing to help make it clear to the social worker what sort of care they need to organise for the client so they get good quality and individualised care.
Other conversations involve focusing on emotional issues. For example it would be predicted that a counsellor would have an emotional conversation with their service user as the service user will be sharing their worries emotions and problems. So the counsellor can help the client help them self’s.
It’s important that whatever the type of communication as a service provider you have the skill to change the style of response you give. To make sure you are on the same level as a service user and support them, through following the care values such as treating service users as equals but valuing their diversity and identity. Making sure their privacy is protected by following the guidelines of confidentiality. Identifying a service user’s culture and making sure that factors such as emotion, positioning, environmental conditions and special communication needs are all taken into account before communication takes place.
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