Communication Skills for Health and Social Care Management - Level 4

This report examines the critical role of communication skills within the context of health and social care management, specifically focusing on Alpha Home Services. It begins by outlining different modes of communication, including verbal and non-verbal methods, and their impact on both staff and service users. The report emphasizes the importance of personal relationships, non-verbal cues, and environmental factors in facilitating effective communication. It also explores the influence of technology and the use of conventions in written communication. Task 2 delves into the communication processes within healthcare organizations, highlighting formal communication methods, essential face-to-face interaction skills, and the crucial issues of confidentiality. The final tasks involve planning and delivering a meeting, utilizing technology for oral presentations, and addressing key points regarding staffing and budget reductions. The report concludes with an evaluation of the outcomes of the meetings and the effectiveness of oral and written communication strategies employed, providing a comprehensive overview of communication skills in healthcare management.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL
CARE MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
Different modes of communications......................................................................................1
Impact of personal relationships for effective communication..............................................1
Impact of non-verbal communication to oral communication...............................................1
Factors that impact clarity of communications......................................................................2
Environmental factors: it includes noise pollution which impacts concentration. Poor lighting
also disables a person to understand any non-verbal communication....................................2
Impact of technology on oral and written communication.....................................................2
Uses of conventions in written communications....................................................................2
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................3
Process of communication within health and social care organisations with examples........3
Formal communication methods............................................................................................3
Communication skills needed in face to face interactions.....................................................3
Issues of confidentiality..........................................................................................................3
Additional skills needed by health care professionals............................................................4
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................4
Planning for the meeting........................................................................................................4
Oral presentation using technology........................................................................................4
Key points regarding staffing and budget reductions including charts and graphs................5
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................6
Presentation...........................................................................................................................6
Outcomes of the meetings......................................................................................................6
Effectiveness of my oral and written communication............................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
In today's world, it is essential to have excellent communication skills for every one.
It is very important to be successful in any field. In health and social care management, it plays a very
important role. This report will cover preparation of some notes which will be based on the impacts of different
modes of commutation on staff of Alpha home services and its service takers (Moss, 2017). Also it will include
notes on presentation of various impacts on both the staff members and also the users of its services.
Task 1
Different modes of communications
There are various types of communication which can be used to communicate with both the staff and users of
the services. These are given as follows:
Verbal communication: This kind of communication includes speaking and listening In which one person
speaks and the other one listens. Being a member of residential care homes like Alpha home services, a care
worker needs to apply verbal communication mode to figure out problems of users, to give answer to their
questions, and also to provide support to them. It can also be helpful to give contribution to the team members
as well as for breaking any bad news in front of them.
Non-verbal communication: It is a kind of communication in which a person convey his message by his body
language or by some kind of gestures. Some use facial expression to communicate, while some choose to
contact physically (Livingston and et. al. 2014). Also, many people try to make an eye contact, or can say their
message with any other gesture. This type of act can be used sometimes because people find it more appropriate
at any particular time rather than communicate by speaking. It is used for the care users and sometimes for co
workers too.
Impact of personal relationships for effective communication
It is essential for every one, especially in health care or residential care centres like Alpha home services
to communicate effectively with each other. To make the communication more effective it is required to have
good personal relationships between a care taker and a service taker (American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association, 2016). The strong relationship is also needed in building a bond between two co workers too. In
this way, they will communicate easily to one another, also by the time passes, it will take less time to convey
messages from one person to another.
Impact of non-verbal communication to oral communication
It is an old saying that “actions speak louder than words”. It is true. One can use his or her smile, voice,
or any other gestures to communicate without saying anything verbally. This makes the communication more

impactful when, the other person is deaf or both deaf. It can also be more effective way to communicate when
the other person is not familiar with the speaker's language while he is speaking. In these kinds of cases, if a
care taker is skilled enough to communicate with non-verbal language, it will be beneficial to make other
person understand what he is trying to convey with his movements or gestures.
Factors that impact clarity of communications
Environmental factors: it includes noise pollution which impacts concentration. Poor lighting also disables a
person to understand any non-verbal communication.
Sensory disability: The problem related to vision or hearing is a big factor which can impact the
communication in negative way. It disables a blind person to see the writing signs and for a deaf person to
understand verbal language.
Cultural problems: different people comes with different language and culture. The common language of
communication varies from person to person which creates problems to understand the language with which
one is communicating.
In addition, the situation of stress and different emotional levels of people, also impact greatly in the effective
communication.
Impact of technology on oral and written communication
Positive impact: technology makes communication easy when used appropriately. When a care taker of heath
and home care services like Alpha home services knows use of technology like mobile and e-mails, it becomes
more easy to communicate.
Negative impact: after the vast use of technology, today's generation has lack of interpersonal skills like non-
verbal and expression by face and gestures. This effects badly the non-verbal skill of communication. Because
people generally use texting or chatting rather than by communicating face to face.
Uses of conventions in written communications
Conventions include spellings, grammar, sentence formation etc. It helps to understand the written stuff
clear. For example, in health care centres such as Alpha home services, it makes easy for both the service users
and also care givers to understand the written stuff clearly. They can read the written thing very easily and
clearly. This helps them to act according to the written stuff. It also helps to improve written communication
skills.

Task 2
Process of communication within health and social care organisations with examples
The communication process is very dynamic. It mainly contains a sender and a receiver. In this process, sender
sends his message with the help of a channel. That message is received by receiver and gives the feedback
accordingly. Next step is known as encoding, in which sender uses any kind of communication mode like,
verbal, non-verbal or by gesture to send a message. After that, sender gets to know the message what he wants
to convey with receiver (Lawrence and et. al. 2016). Then he chooses a communication medium to send message.
After this, the receiver gets the message, decodes it and then react accordingly. For instance, in a healthcare
centre, like Alpha home service, a doctor wants to provide any information regarding the workers of the care
centre. In this scenario, he will be the sender and the care takers are the receivers. Then doctor will create a mail
on his computer, which is a medium of communication in this case, then send this to all the care takers. After
receiving that mail, they will get to know what doctor wanted to convey with them and give their feedback in
return.
Formal communication methods
It is a kind of communication which is generally held for the authorities or for any job responsibility.
These are the ways to share message officially. The formal methods of communication follow some rules and
procedures to imply. It can also be applied Within any health and social care organisations like Alpha home
services. These methods include application for job in HSC, telephone calls for official use, a note from doctor
to any care taker in the care centre for his absence due to any kind of illness etc (Dietz and et. al. 2015).
Communication skills needed in face to face interactions
It is very important to be skilled while communicating face to face, to make the communication more
effective. One of them is, being attentive to the postures, in this, one should maintain a very relaxed and an
open posture to communicate (How to Improve Face to Face Communication Skills, 2017). The most important thing
to remember in this communication is making eye contact. Also, one should have the qualities of listening,
choosing appropriate words, being audible to others and also the quality of listening (Bourgois and et. al. 2017).
For example, if a resident in Alpha home services need to know something regarding the centre, then the care
taker of the care centre would make him understand all the services given by the centre by face to face
conversation.
Issues of confidentiality
Confidentiality means one has to protect the right of privacy of the person who has shared any kind of
personal or information regarding to the work centre. It is the responsibility of care providers to keep every

patient's personal or health related issue confidential. Also, if service takers gets any information about
particular care taker or the home care centre, they should keep that information to themselves. They should only
share the information when needed. If any kind of confidential information related to the centre or specific
person has been shared without their permission, it can be harmful for that person and the care centre (Baldwin,
2017). Also, it can be said that one who has given the information on the basis of trust which the person has on
the listener, should not be spread public ally. It can also ruin the image and the person will lose the trust of the
one who shared the information which will eventually can harm the job of the listener, if the information harms
the centre.
Additional skills needed by health care professionals
In order to communicate with service takers by care providers it has been discussed earlier to have good
communication skills. But in addition, they should know the techniques to attempt any service user. They
should listen carefully and understand the needs of them and provide services accordingly. In order to do this,
they should tend to effective communication. In this, they have to be patient to listen them and if needed, should
repeat the whole thing again. In this way, they will be able to explain the diagnosis, treatment and give
instructions accordingly.
Task 3
Planning for the meeting
This a brief plan to organize a meeting. The operation manager has planned it for the staff members. It is
planned to create awareness in the staff to build effective communication skills. They should be notified by mail
regarding the time and venue of the meeting (Heijmans and et. al. 2015). It should also be known that if it is a
sudden meeting or have given some time to staff. It will need some documents which are given below:
Agenda: This is the plan which outlines the meeting. The main agenda for this meeting is to spread awareness
about how to make communication skills more effective with the users of the services.
Post presentation questionnaire: Once the presentation completes, some questions will be asked to staff and
colleagues and also will give answers to their questions. It will also invite new and innovative ideas regarding
the topic.
Oral presentation using technology
Purpose of the meeting: The main purpose of meeting is to provide information to both staff members and also
the users of the services about what changes and modifications will be occurring in the coming time in care
centre. Also, how these changes will be beneficial for the service users and members of staff.

Communication with the staff: This meeting is for the staff members of Alpha Home Services to make them
aware about how to better your communication skills with the residents of this residential centre so that you will
be able to communicate in a much better way with them.
Communication with the service users: The purpose for this meeting for the residents is to make aware them
the changes which will be bring in this home care centre and how it will give benefits by providing better
services to users.
Key points regarding staffing and budget reductions including charts and graphs
Staff reduction
It can be seen in the graph that the staff member of Alpha Home Services has been reduced. The posts
have been also reduced by 61.5 and staff members have been reduced by 10. Earlier there were total 78 staff
members.
Budget

The budget is also reduced by 25% as shown in graph. It was $125000 before and now it has been reached to
$93750.
Task 4
Presentation
Covered in ppt.
Outcomes of the meetings
The meeting was successfully held with the staff members and users of the services. It was observed that
both of them, whether the staff members or the service users, have understood the basic ideas which were
presented in the meeting. They raised out some questions which were obvious, they had answered and they
have been satisfied now. There were a few issues which were unresolved like new equipments with high
technology, but this will be solved shortly.
Effectiveness of my oral and written communication
The skill of communication is the thing in which one can communicate in a better manner of what the
person wants to convey. As far as my skills of written and oral skills are concerned, they are probably good and
effective, though I have to learn more about the written communication skills but during the presentation
regarding communication skills I have learnt many new things and approaches for better writing skills (Coulter,
and et. al. 2014). Now, if I talk about my oral skills, I have observed throughout my presentation that it became
much better than before and I have communicated with all the participants in a very effective manner so that
they can easily understand what I was intended to convey them.

CONCLUSION
This report was all about how to improve communication skills in the context of a particular residential
care centre which is Alpha Home services. In this it is said that how the care centres can work to better
communication skills of its staff and workers towards the users of the services of this care centre. This fact was
shown by a presentation and by arranging meetings for staff members and users. Like this care centre, all the
social and health care centres should work on the effective ways of communication within the centre. For this,
they can run training programs to train their staff so that the users will understand them in a better way and also
they will be able to make the staff members understand their needs and requirements. By this, a bond will be
created between staff and the users and both of them will understand each other in a better way.

REFERENCES
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Baldwin, M., 2017. Care Management and Community Care: Social Work Discretion and the
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Bourgois, P. and at. al. 2017. Structural vulnerability: operationalizing the concept to address
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Coulter, A. and et. al. 2014. Collecting data on patient experience is not enough: they must be
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Dietz, W.H., Baur, L.A., Hall, K., Puhl, R.M., Taveras, E.M., Uauy, R. and Kopelman, P., 2015.
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Harris, J. and White, V., 2018. A dictionary of social work and social care. Oxford University
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Lawrence, W. and et. al. 2016. ‘Making every contact count’: Evaluation of the impact of an
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behaviour change. Journal of health psychology. 21(2). pp.138-151.
Livingston, G. and et. al. 2014. A systematic review of the clinical effectiveness and cost-
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Online

How to Improve Face to Face Communication Skills, 2017.[online]. Available through
<https://www.eztalks.com/unified-communications/how-to-improve-face-to-face-
communication-skills.html>