Developing Effective Communications in Health and Social Care

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Developing Effective Communications in Health and Social Care

Describe the Stages of the Communication Cycle and Reflect On Your Own Experiences (P2)

The Communication Cycle was first identified in 1965 by Charles Berner.

A few years later, Michael Argyle (1972), said that interpersonal communication was a skill that had to be learned, just as you would learn to drive a car. He said that when you are driving a car, you have to change your method to match the conditions of what is happening on the road.

Driving involves a constant cycle of watching what is happening in the road, working out how to respond, making the required responses and then repeating this cycle until the end of your journey.

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Argyle argued that, communication involved much the same ‘cycle’ as driving a car required.

The stages involved in this cycle are:

  1. Ideas occur
  2. Message coded
  3. Message sent
  4.  Message received 
  5. Message decoded
  6. Idea understood        

 To enable the cycle to work successfully, two or more parties must be present. Communicating involves expression of thought and interpretation of the other parties understanding.

        There are six stages to the communication cycle, the first is expressing your own thoughts, and the second is watching the other person non verbal response and body language. Thirdly is interpreting the other person’s ...

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Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

This is a nice short essay that explains the communication cycle in a clear way. The writer could extend a little by including references and trying to put the ideas into a health and social context. ****