Communication Skills in Practice: King’s College Hospital Case Study

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Communication Skills in Practice: the influence of
communication skills and techniques on outcomes for
service users in a health or social care service
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Executive summary
The importance of research for practice, which is based on evidence, was given. A project plan
was proposed and literature review was performed on the topic. Furthermore, primary research
was conducted by surveying dementia patients, by setting some relevant questions. Conclusion
was drawn by comparing the survey result with findings of literature review. A proposal was
given for the project by highlighting objectives of it. Methods, which will be used for collecting
data, were given and justification of is available at this study. Literature review’s success for this
research was justified and lastly a performance review was performed for every week.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Task 1: Literature review and project proposal...............................................................................5
Task 2: Performance review..........................................................................................................18
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................20
Reference list.................................................................................................................................21
Appendix........................................................................................................................................23
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Introduction
Evidence based practice relies on evidence, which are scientific and uses it for taking decisions.
The study at first will conduct a literature review on communication skills in health care service.
In addition, a primary research will be conducted, a proposal for the project will be given, and
lastly, a review of performance will be done. The organisation chosen here is King’s college
hospital, which is located in UK. It was found in 1840 and comes under the National Health
Service (NHS) care system of UK. There are 11723 employees working for this organisation at
present and Clive Kay is CEO. They generated about 145 million pounds of revenue in 2018
(kch.nhs.uk, 2019).
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Task 1: Literature review and project proposal
1. An introduction in which you discuss the role of research for evidence-based practice for
health and social care and outline your aims and objectives for the literature review
Research helps in gathering necessary data for practice, which are evidence based in health care.
It can supply information to care workers, which can support their assessments as well as
interventions. Primary and secondary research will give strong evidence that can support
experiential knowing and it is critical for evidence-based practice (Newell and Burnard, 2010).
Aim
To understand the amount of influence communication skills have on service users in King’s
college hospital
Objectives
 To understand ways communication is necessary in case of dementia patients
 To understand impact of technology in communication inside King’s college hospital for
dementia patients
 To provide recommendation for overcoming barriers in communication inside the
hospital
2. A project plan, to include key milestones, and actions to meet objectives and timeframes
Scope
The research could have been performed by using thematic analysis and qualitative method.
Therefore, some data were not collected related to communication skills required in health care
setting. Latest techniques, which are being used by major healthcare organisations were not
analysed, which were excluded. General techniques in communication, which are used in
hospitals, are part of this study. Importance of communication for dementia patients and the
reason behind using it comes under scope of this analysis. Furthermore, technologies, which are
being used in communicating with dementia patients, are included. A recommendation based on
these techniques is included in scope of study.
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Resource and cost
Resource Time (days) Estimated cost(per
day) (£)
Total cost
Human resource 30 10 300
Questionnaire printing 3 15 45
Data analysis 5 5 25
Case history of
service users
10 3 30
Personal computers 15 6 90
Travelling 10 20 200
Table 1: Resource and cost
(Source: Created by the learner)
There is a huge amount of work to do and it involves some great amount of cost. There are
resources like human resource, questionnaire printing, data analysis, finding case history of
patients, using computers and travelling. These will incur costs and estimation is provided to
understand it better.
WBS
Activities Start date Duration End date
Choice of research topic 21.9.19 2 23.9.19
Setting aim and objective 23.9.19 3 26.9.19
Research upon topic 26.9.19 6 2.10.19
Critical review of literature 2.10.19 5 7.10.19
Selecting research methods 7.10.19 5 12.10.19
Data collection 12.10.19 25 6.11.19
Analysis of data 6.11.19 15 21.11.19
Reviewing analysed data 21.11.19 8 29.11.19
Deducing conclusion 29.11.19 2 1.12.19
Final submission 1.12.19 1 2.12.19
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Table 2: WBS
(Source: Created by the learner)
Gantt chart
Choice of research topic
Setting aim and objective
Research upon topic
Critical review of literature
Selecting research methods
Data collection
Analysis of data
Reviewing analysed data
Deducing conclusion
Final submission
21.9.19 11.10.19 31.10.19 20.11.19 10.12.19
Figure 1: Gantt chart
(Source: Created by the learner)
Risk registers
Risk Occurrence Influence Impact on
project
Mitigation
Assessing
irrelevant
information
Medium High Irrelevant
information will
make the
research faulty
and the outcome
will not match
with desired
result.
Authenticity of
information
should be used
and relevant
sources can be
used.
Irrelevant High High Data will be Relevant
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collection of data faulty and will
not satisfy the
aim of this
research.
questions
according to the
topic can avoid
ambiguities.
Furthermore,
maximum
sample size
should be taken.
Wrong
interpretation of
data
Low High Wrong analysis
will bring out
faulty
conclusions.
Discussion with
fellow peers can
help in
interpreting the
data properly
without any fault.
Table 3: Risk register
(Source: Created by the learner)
3. A critical discussion of some of the main published work on the topic, showing an
awareness and understanding of different arguments, theories and approaches. (You
should aim to discuss at least four pieces of research).
Necessity of communication for dementia patients
According to Au et al. (2015), dementia patients have weak processing power when they are
engaged in conversation. Effective transmission of information becomes important, as many
patients suffer from high uncertainty, anxiety and cannot interact properly. At early stage of
dementia, normal communication can be effective but after the disease progresses, it becomes
necessary to modify methods of communication. In contrary, Burgio et al. (2018), say that
patients having dementia can be depersonalised and they are looked upon differently due to their
functional impairments. This can lead to further low expectation and social environments, which
are poor. It can affect that person negatively and can worsen their condition. Therefore,
communication is important, as these patients need to express their emotions.
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Role of communication technology in dementia care
According to D’Onofrio (2015), ICT devices can help formal caregivers to communicate better
with dementia patients. Patients with dementia can be taught cognitive skills and they can easily
maintain social interaction by using these devices. For example, medication management
prompting device can remind patient of their daily dosages of medicines and social contact can
be provided by cell phones. In contrary, Lorenz et al. (2019), that repetition is necessary for any
dementia patient, as they have weak memory. Therefore, a phone with recording feature can be
used to record phrases and it can be repetitively played for a patient, so that the person can
remember it. In UK, about 6 out of 100 dementia patients use social media to express their
condition and communicate. Therefore, utilising these technologies inside care home is
necessary to help dementia patients communicate better.
Recommendation for overcoming barriers of communication
According to Teipel et al. (2016), it is necessary to keep conversation simple with dementia
patients and this is the reason, which made them suggest some methods for overcoming barriers.
In order to have quality interaction, simplicity and subtlety should be maintained by care
providers. They should strengthen the role of non-verbal communication and encourage patients
to communicate in their own way. However Chmelik et al. (2016), provides some different
recommendation for caregivers and focus on elaboration is given. Long-term sufferers of
dementia can have tangled memories and therefore, elaborating on a particular topic may help
them to remember it better. Time should be given to dementia patients and pauses during
conversation are necessary to get their responses.
Literature gap
Necessity of communicating to dementia patients by care home providers were discussed,
however there was a vast amount of literature available on more topics related to
communication. There was a possibility to research further on topics related to communication
between health care providers. In addition, communication technology for dementia care is quite
expansive and it was not possible to evaluate every one of those. Moreover, dementia patients
can have different problems and same communication techniques may not work for everyone. It
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was not possible to find out every method of communication in this research, which created a
gap in this literature.
4. Primary research sources, to include first-hand accounts from service users,
practitioners and other experts as appropriate, which support or challenge the findings of
your literature search.
1. Mention your age
Options Number of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
16-25 10 20 50
26- 50 15 30 50
50-80 25 50 50
Table 4: Age group of respondents
20
30
50
16-25
26- 50
50-80
Figure 2: Age group of respondents
Analysis
It is clear that young people at UK are suffering a lot from dementia and there is a gradual
increase in it. About 20 percent of respondents were patients, who are at age group of 16 to 25.
The evidence suggests that older people are the ones, who mostly have dementia and it amounts
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up to 50 percent of total respondents. Middle-aged people are having this disease at high rate and
they amount up to 30 percent of total patients. This whole data suggests that dementia is an
underlying issue in UK and people from various age is having this disease.
2. Do you like to communicate with doctors and others?
Options Number of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Yes 30 60 50
No 10 20 50
Do not know 10 20 50
Table 5: Response of dementia patients relating to their preference to communicate
6020
20
Yes
No
Do not know
Figure 3: Response of dementia patients relating to their preference to communicate
Analysis
There were 30 respondents, who said that they liked to communicate with doctors more often.
Patients said that they want to socialise like normal persons and communicating with others
makes them feel better. This shows the importance communication holds for dementia patients
and underlines its necessity for using it in hospitals. Twenty percent patients said that they do not
like to communicate and they think that communicating is not necessary for them. In addition, 10
patients were oblivious about their choice regarding communication and could not tell that if
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they like to communicate or not. Therefore, the result proves that most dementia patients like to
communicate and feels that interactions can help them in betterment of their condition.
3. Which method of communication are you comfortable using?
Options Number of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Cell phone 15 30 50
Social media 15 30 50
Face to face
communication
20 40 50
Table 6: Most liked mediums of communication by patients
30
30
40 Cell phone
Social media
Face to face
communication
Figure 4: Most liked mediums of communication by patients
Analysis
The result shows that 30 percent patients like to use cell phone for communication and it help
them to keep in touch with their families. Therefore, they want to have cell phones with them in
care facility to communicate with their families. Thirty percent respondents told that they like to
use social media to express their feelings in forums related to dementia. They get additional help
from patients and can connect with them emotionally. Majority of patients told that they prefer a
face-to-face conversation as they can express their feelings better in this manner. They can
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