Communicating in Health and Social Care Organizations: A Comprehensive Guide

Communicating in Health and
Social Care Organizations
Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................2
LEARNING OUTCOME 1...............................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.1...................................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.2...................................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.3...................................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1.4...................................................................................................................................................5
LEARNING OUTCOME 2...........................................................................................................................6
TASK 2.1...................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2.2...................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2.3...................................................................................................................................................7
TASK 2.4...................................................................................................................................................8
LEARNING OUTCOME 3...............................................................................................................................8
TASK 3.1...................................................................................................................................................8
TASK 3.2...................................................................................................................................................9
TASK 3.3.................................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
In health and social care proper communication is a skill which is essential for the health professionals
while dealing with different kinds of people. Communication is a process of mutual understanding and is
a two-way process. In this essay communication in health and social care sector has been discussed. It
connects different people. Several theories of communication skills are discussed in this assignment.
Different ways of interpersonal communication have been identified. Different measures regarding
supporting the customers and how cultural factor affects the communication process has been
described. Important policies, codes of practice and legislations which required for communication in
health and social care settings have been given. Advantages and limitations of information
communication technology (ICT) have been evaluated.
Communication Process: Shannon – Weaver’s Model
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LEARNING OUTCOME 1
TASK 1.1
Communication involves active listening and understanding what others say. There are various theories
of communication which are applied in health and social care. The theories of communication are
humanistic theory, operant conditioning theory, psychoanalytic theory, social learning theory, cognitive
theory and behaviorist theory. Operant conditioning theory was given by Skinner. The theory comprises
two reinforcements: NEGATIVE and POSITIVE. Negative is seen when the action is caused due to
withdrawal of anything unpleasant whereas, positive reinforcement is seen when the behavior is felt as
desirable. In the given case, the reinforcement observed is negative, which makes Mrs. Jones previous
experience of the hospital was unpleasant and she was not satisfied with services offered to her. If the
nurses were friendly with her, then Mrs. Jones would have been relaxed. She wasn’t given proper
medicines, meals and even wasn’t assisted in taking a bath. Behaviorist theory states that behavior is
acquired through conditioning. Our behavior gets influenced by the environmental stimuli. In this
theory, learning is a product of stimulus condition(S) and responses(R) (Stretch B., 2007). In the given
study, behaviorist theory is relevant as the impact of the negative attitude of the nurse was not
favorable for Mrs. Jones. The nurses must be instructed to be polite and must be trained to follow their
duties properly. Social learning theory states that, behavior is gained by observing others behavior. The
relation of nurse and Mrs. Jones could have been improved by using this theory. The nurse should have
treated Mrs. Jones with proper care and could have created trust regarding the hospital in Mrs. Jones
and others. The nurse taking care of Mrs. Jones could have learnt to communicate politely with the
patients and other service users, from already trained nurses.
TASK 1.2
Communication involves two processes which are, receiving and sending of information between
recipient and sender. It is a way of interacting with people and forming healthy relations with them.
Main components of communication include communicators, messages, noise, channel, feedback. While
transferring of messages through channels, the skills required for communication are reflecting,
questioning, summarizing, paraphrasing, listening, consultation, mentoring and explanation. Having
appropriate listening skills is also very necessary in health and social care. It includes listening to what
other persons have to say. Active listening can be explained as thinking and giving response to the words
of other people. This didn’t happen with Joanna as mentioned in the given case scenario. The doctor and
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nurse were not co-operative with Joanna and nobody in the hospital was able to speak Vietnamese. So,
this could have been the reason of miscommunication between the hospital staff and Joanna. This made
the situation for Joanna more stressful. At my work place, proper listening and communication skills
assist me to communicate with the service users. This is helpful for me in getting an idea of other
problems and gives me information about the condition which is useful for me to provide good care to
the customers. There are less errors and working time is reduced if proper use of communication skills is
done. The doctor and nurse were not able to understand Joanna’s language. Their behavior was unfit
and amateur. The questions which doctor asked did not make her comfortable. The questions asked by
the doctor must be open and clear, so that the patients are comfortable to express their feelings. The
nurse could have been polite to Joanna and could have assisted her in filling of the form. Better listening
skills helps the service users, the nurses or health care workers in health and social care settings to
deliver good quality care (Beresford et al, 2008). A healthy communication must be present among the
health care professionals and the customers. My attitude and appearance reflect my personality at the
work place and gives information about my attitude to my colleagues or the customers. My body
language as well as of the patient is also very important. Recording the blood pressure and heart rate of
the patient very systematically is my duty. The data must be easily readable and appropriate. The tone
of my voice gets higher at times while interacting to the patient. Therefore, my efforts are to be polite to
be everyone and be careful at the time of speaking anything. The higher tone of mine can make the
patient uneasy and the judgement can become wrong. All the information of the patient must be kept
confidential.
TASK 1.3
Interpersonal communication is when people of different work fields come together to bring their ideas
together welfare individuals. It helps the health professionals to handle different tasks and in interacting
with other people. This comprises of non-verbal along with verbal communication and good listening
skills. The communication theory which is suitable for the given case scenario is social exchange theory.
It is related to the idea of increasing pleasure and reducing the pain. Mutual influence is involved here. It
happens when we all consider each other as unique human beings (Bourgeault et al, 2010). The social
exchange theory suits the given case of Joanna because the staff of the hospital should have made
Joanna comfortable by saying something positive. Another best suitable theory applicable in this case
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