Methods of Communication in Health and Social Care

HEALTH AND SOCIAL
CARE MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
Q1. Methods used to communicate in health and social care .....................................................3
Q2. List of all methods used to communicate in health and social care .....................................3
Q3. Strength and weakness of formal and informal communication methods ...........................4
Q4. Principles of effective communication ...............................................................................5
Q5. Ways by which barriers to communication will be overcomes. ..........................................6
Q6. Methods of communication in health and social care environment......................................7
Q7. Advantages and disadvantages of using technology in communication for an organization
in health and social care environment.........................................................................................8
Q 9: Data protection issues and their impact on people and organization of health and social
care environment..........................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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Q1. Methods used to communicate in health and social care
Health and social acre professional in their daily or working days makes use of various
methods for communication when they have to give or receive information, providing the
patients and staff with emotional support and also to their family members. In health and social
care sector there are various methods of communication which are as follows:
Verbal – It is communicating with patients or staff of heath and social care through use
of words to present the thoughts, ideas and feelings. The health and social care professional use
this type of communication to respond to questions, finding out about the problem and issues of
the patients, providing support to patients and their family members and also to staff working
there.
Non-verbal – It is communicating with patients or the staff of health and social care
through body language. It is very important form of communication as the health and social care
professionals are dealing with people who are in pain (Wijayanti, 2017). The non verbal
communication is in the form of facial expression, touch or contact, gestures, proximity, eye
contact.
Written – It is communicating with patients and other staff members in the form of
written format and is also formal. As health and social care sector have to keep various records
which are related to personal problems and diseases of the patients and also the records have to
be kept of the health and social care professionals.
Through technology – As the trends are changing and people are shifting from
traditional communication methods to communicating with technological aids. All the
information and details about the patients and health and social care professionals are kept in the
digital format. Technological aids such as electronic computers, videophones, websites, software
are used in health and social care to keep the records and also for other purpose.
Q2. List of all methods used to communicate in health and social care
As there is a training day in care home and all the methods used to communicate in health
and social care is to be listed. The following are the methods of communication:
Verbal communication – Verbal communication in care home uses words to
communicate and k now the feelings of the person and trying to understand what they want to
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say. The person treating in care home must ensure that the tone of word used by them must be
polite and low.
Non verbal communication - There are various forms in which non-verbal form of
communication can take place such as:
Facial expression in which there is movement of face which sis used to express the feelings.
Touch or contact which includes physical touching and holding a person.
Gesture is also a type of non verbal communication in which hands are used deliberately to
express meaning.
The professional in health and social care sector also uses proximity for communicating with
their patients and staff. It involves physical closeness between people and during interactions.
Eye contact is also a methods of non-verbal communication which involves looking into the eyes
of the patients or the staff.
If any staff or health and social care professional have to communicate with people with
visual impairment or hearing impairment for these kind of people communication is done
through Braille, lip reading or sign language.
Q3. Strength and weakness of formal and informal communication methods
Formal communication
Flow of information through predefined channel or route and the information floated in this type
of method is controlled and deliberate efforts are required to communicate (Papadonikolaki,
Verbraeck. and Wamelink, 2017).
Strengths
 Communicating through formal method increases the efficiency of the management as all
the rules and procedures are followed properly.
 Better coordination of work is there in formal communication between different
departments and functions.
 The formal communication creates a sense of discipline in the minds of the staff and
professionals related to health and social care.
Weakness
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