University Health Assessment: Reflection on Communication Techniques

This report reflects on two videos, analyzing non-verbal communication techniques and assessing the physical and emotional health of individuals depicted. The first video showcases a father-daughter interaction, while the second features an elderly man with Alzheimer's and his family. The report describes the communication styles, including body language, eye contact, and verbal cues. It then assesses the general health status of a person from each video, considering physical appearance, emotional state, and potential needs for care. The STARL reflective model is used to analyze the learning experience, highlighting challenges in video analysis and assessment, and identifying skills developed, such as critical observation and research. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of reflective learning in improving practice and adapting to new situations. The student effectively incorporated observations, research, and the reflective model to analyze the videos and document the findings, providing a thorough analysis of the communication techniques and health status of the individuals.

Running head: REFLECTION
REFLECTIVE ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1REFLECTIVE MODEL
Introduction:
Reflective learning forms an integral learning process that helps to ensure continuous
professional development based on the acquired practical experience (Howatson-Jones, 2016;
Adamson & Dewar, 2015). This paper intends to reflect upon the two provided videos and
discuss the quality of the communication technique used in the video. In addition to this, it
also intends to discuss the general physical health status of the two subjects in the video and
present a reflection on the experience of completing the assignment using the STARL
Reflective Model.
Description of non-verbal communication techniques:
The first video included three characters. The primary content of the video included a
father trying to convince his daughter that the correct way to count is 1,2,3,4 and 5. However,
the daughter was adamant on her stance that the correct way to count was 1.2,3 and 5. The
father and the daughter were walking along sideways and the father kept interrupting that the
correct way of counting was 1,2,3,4 and 5. The father made use of verbal gestures such as
showing his daughter the correct way on counting on his fingers. The daughter still did not
seem convinced. After repeating for multiple instances, the father seemed to have lost interest
and walked away from the child. Meanwhile, the mother asked the daughter to count up to 4
and it was only the she said aloud, ‘1,2,3,4….’ The interaction between the father and the
daughter can be identified more as persuasive. The father did not maintain eye-contact
throughout the interaction and walking at a distance from the daughter appeared to cause
distraction for the daughter. It can be said on account of lack of concentration and focus she
kept repeating the incorrect form of counting.
The second video was based upon an old man who was suffering from Alzheimer’s
and was visited by his brother and his wife. The daughter of the old man was also there in the

2REFLECTIVE MODEL
video who communicated with the old man and helped him remember his brother with the
help of old photographs. The quality of non-verbal communication between the old man and
his brother as well as his wife was excellent. There were instances where the brother and his
wife hugged the old man and encouraged him to remember them by being patient with him.
The interaction between the daughter and the old man was majorly verbal, however, non-
verbal gestures such as being patient with the old man and showing him photographs to help
him remember his brother and his parents appeared to be appropriate.
The main subjects of the two video included emotionally sensitive and vulnerable
subjects such as the little girl and the old man. Research studies mention that while
interacting with emotionally sensitive subjects, it is important to make use of non-verbal
gestures such as maintenance of eye-contact, maintenance of patience and composure, clearly
conveying information in a humble tone and actively listen to their concerns (Eaves &
Leathers, 2017). These factors help to establish a positive rapport and help engage in a
positive communication process (Feo et al., 2017).
Assessing the general health status of two people:
The person chosen for the physical health assessment, psychological and emotional
health assessment from the video 1 would include the father of the daughter. No information
was available with respect to pain assessment, vital assessment or primary health assessment.
The physical appearance of the person appeared to be healthy and the person appeared to be
in between 34-38 years of age. The person appeared to be overweight and was short-statured.
The motor activity appeared to be normal.
The personal hygiene and grooming of the man appeared to be neat and tidy. The man
appeared to be slightly agitated while his daughter kept arguing with respect to his mood.

3REFLECTIVE MODEL
Speech quality was clear and facial expressions were prominent. The patient appeared to be
aligned and oriented and did not appear to be distressed.
The person chosen for the physical health assessment, psychological and emotional
health assessment from the video 2 would include the old man. In this case again, no
information was available with respect to the vital assessment, pain assessment or primary
survey assessment.
The person appeared to be in between 86 to 90 years old. The person appeared to be
extremely weak and frail. The person appeared malnourished. The person appeared to
experience difficulty with his gross motor skills.
The grooming and personal hygiene of the patient appeared to be neat and tidy. The
person appeared to experience low mood and affect. The person was unable to communicate
with clarity and his facial expressions appeared blunted. The person appeared to be
disoriented to time and place and it seemed that he required palliative care and psychological
support (Kelley & Morrison, 2015).
Reflection on learning using STARL Reflective Model:
The experience of working on this project was an incredible one. The projected
required students to reflect on the two videos and analyse the quality of communication and
analyse the physical health status of the people.
The project required individual assessment so the video had to be analysed thoroughly
and sincere individual effort had to be put in. The most challenging part of the assessment
was to analyse the videos and identify the health status of the characters in the video.
I could efficiently analyse the physical, psychological and emotional health status of
the people by thoroughly watching the video a number of times and by critically paying

4REFLECTIVE MODEL
attention to the appearance of the characters. The assessment was generalized as the video did
not provide information about the vital assessment of the general body assessment. Therefore,
the major components that were considered included evaluation of the physical appearance
and the facial expression.
Upon considering the mentioned factors the assessment could be effectively
documented. I feel I have been able to incorporate all the important information that was
shown in the video. In the first video there was no such important observation, however in the
second video, important considerations such as the old man’s physical health status as well as
emotional health was duly considered and also appropriate referral to palliative and emotional
support services was made.
The two skills that I have identified during the process of completing this assessment
would include, ability to critically observe minute details and ability to research. The ability
to observe minutely helped me to address the assessment section and the ability to research
helped me to align the observation with the evidence base in the first question. I believe these
skills would help me to address my future assessments appropriately and pursue higher
studies.
Conclusion:
Therefore, to conclude it can be stated that reflective learning helps to introspect on a
particular topic and helps to identify the existing strengths and weaknesses and accordingly
adapt measures to improve the scope of practice.

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References:
Adamson, E., & Dewar, B. (2015). Compassionate Care: Student nurses' learning through
reflection and the use of story. Nurse education in practice, 15(3), 155-161.
Eaves, M., & Leathers, D. G. (2017). Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and
applications. Routledge.
Feo, R., Rasmussen, P., Wiechula, R., Conroy, T., & Kitson, A. (2017). Developing effective
and caring nurse-patient relationships. Nursing Standard (2014+), 31(28), 54.
Howatson-Jones, L. (2016). Reflective practice in nursing. Learning Matters.
Kelley, A.S. and Morrison, R.S., 2015. Palliative care for the seriously ill. New England
Journal of Medicine, 373(8), pp.747-755.