Interpersonal and Effective Communication Essay

P.1 – Produce a guidance document explaining the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in a health and social care context for a new member of staff (using a hospital or care home setting) to include: Communication: text messaging, written, oral, signing, technology. Interpersonal interaction: language, non-verbal (choose 2 issues under each heading from unit specification page 3). Effective communication The role of effective communication is important in any work setting especially in any health care setting. Effective communication is when someone is getting a message across or explaining a topic fully with using the least information possible it is when information is transmitted accurately and simply such as in a hospital or care home information that any staff needs to know will be given to them in the easiest and simplest form possible. Communication although is not effective if the person you are giving the information to is not listening. Effective communication can be between colleagues or professionals and people using the services. There are many different forms of communication these include; †¢text messaging †¢written †¢Oral/verbal †¢ signing †¢ symbols †¢ touch †¢ music and drama †¢ arts and crafts †¢ Technology Text messaging This is done on an everyday basis this is done on devices such as mobile phones and computers. The messages are sent through a large ariel in space. Such as in a care home or nursery school the staff would sometimes keep in contact through text messages this is good for when they are out of work and can’t speak to each other. Written There are many different forms of written communication. Most of our communication is in written form. We have newspapers that tell us what’s happening round the world daily, also we have books about everything under the sun and we have magazines and leaflets that give information on health topics such as pregnancy, diabetes, care etc. Within in any health care setting this is important and comes into play in recording medical treatments or medicines, instructions on treatment and medication and also agreements between two people. Signing This is a way of communicating for those who are deaf they use their hands to speak. There is an official British sign language. This would come into health care frequently and in hospitals and care homes there should always be someone that knows this in case of a patient who is deaf. There are different contexts of communication these include; One to one this is one individual communicating to another individual such as in a conversation or email or instant messaging. This can occur on an everyday basis in any health care setting such as one nurse speaking to another nurse about a patient. Group This is when more than two people are communicating with each other this can range from 3 to any number such as a class lecture consisting of about 60 people. Group communication is effective as it sends the same information to the entire group at the same time. This can happen in a health care setting such as a care home when they have staff meetings. Formal This is when people use rules of language in either written or verbal communication such as in a letter from your doctor or either when you have an interview for a job. Formal communication comes into every health and social care setting such as when you’re in hospital and the doctor comes around to see you he would use formal language. Informal This is a more laid back type of communication such as if you were talking to your family or friends you don’t have to use rule of language and this can be present in some health and social care settings such as a social worker or key worker that you have known for perhaps a long time you would then be more comfortable with them and your language would be more laidback rather than formal. There are a few factors and skill that help in effective communication these include; †¢eye contact and visible mouth †¢body language †¢asking some questions †¢checking for understanding †¢silence †¢encouragement to continue †¢smiling face †¢summarising what has been said Interpersonal interaction Interpersonal interaction is the way in which we communicate and interact with each other. To have efficient communication skill in a health and social care setting is vital in helping building relationships with clients, to provide and receive information, understand and meet the needs of clients and to report on work done with clients. There are two type of interpersonal interaction these are language and non-verbal. Language Language consists of every day communication we use this on a day to day basis. There are many different types of language such as Spanish French German etc. and everybody has a first language even if they know a few our first language would be English. In a hospital there can be many people that come in on a day to day basis that don’t speak English but this can prove a barrier to communicating with that person. In most hospitals and care settings there would be a few nurses and doctors that would speak more than one language and if not an interpreter may have to be brought in. Dialect also comes under language this is the way certain people from certain places or cities speak such as wales would have a welsh dialect and England has an English dialect. This can happen in any care setting such as a care home when residents could be from different places and speak different ways the carers may not understand them as much but after a period of time they may get to know their dialect. Jargon would also come under language this is basically just a manner of talking that is very difficult to understand or even sometimes senseless. And slang would be another form of language this is very similar to dialect and is based on word people say that are not in the dictionary but a lot may know the meaning certain towns and places would have their own slang such as Derry city is well known for its slang. In a hospital if someone came in that was injured and they only talk in slang it can be very hard for the person treating them to understand although he person doing it may not even realise. We use speech everyday although some people cannot do this there are alternative ways for them to communicate with others such as picture cards for the deaf these would be cards that contain pictures on them of everyday things so that someone who cannot speak tell someone what they want or need or for someone who cannot hear so that the person communicating with them can tell them what they’re saying this would come into health care settings such as therapy like speech therapy there would be picture cards for children who cannot talk to communicate also there is electronic devices such as Light writers are small, robust, portable voice output communication aids (VOCA) specially designed to meet the particular and changing needs of people with speech loss resulting from a wide range of acquired, progressive and congenital conditions. Non-verbal Non-verbal is the way in which we interact and communicate with each other without speaking this can be in many different ways and we can do this without even knowing. These include posture that can portray to someone if you are interested of not if someone is talking to you and you’re sitting slouched and sloppy they may believe you’re not interested in what you’re saying. Facial expression can tell a person a lot such as if someone tells you something that is very surprising you would open your mouth and maybe gasp this shows the person that you are shocked without having to speak there are a number of different facial expressions for many different feelings such as happy sad angry scared etc. Reflective listening is another form such as if someone was telling you something and you are listening intensively then they know that you have got the message and that you are interested without having to ask you. Proximities is different things people need when communicating with someone such as your own personal space The amount of distance we need and the amount of space we perceive as belonging to us is influenced by a number of factors including social norms, situational factors, personality characteristics and level of familiarity. For example, the amount of personal space needed when having a casual conversation with another person usually varies between 18 inches to four feet. All these non-verbal methods communication are used in any health and social care settings on an everyday basis such as I a hospital when a consultant has to talk to someone they would use their non-verbal communication along with verbal by having good posture when talking to the person having a low voice if giving the person bad news and would also use facial expressions when the patient is talking to them to maybe let them know they understand what they’re saying.