communication in health and social care setting

Communication in health and social care setting

How communication skills are used in health and social care

Introduction

Communication is the means by which information is transferred amongst a

given group of people. For a communication process to be considered effective it

has to follow a given channel. Generally, there has to be the source of the

information being communicated, a proper channel that the information has to

follow and finally the receiver.

The need for an effective communication within a health or a social care

set up cannot be overemphasized. In a hospital, for instance, there comes a time

where a patient come in on an emergency and the hospital attendants have to

know what exactly is wrong the specific patient and consequently perform the

relevant treatment for him or her. Otherwise, a precious life could easily be lost

as a result of a lousy communication system.


1.1 Communication in a health and social care set up and relevant

theories

According to the Case Study: Hospital Appointment,2014. We are

presented with a masterpiece of poor communication whereby Paul takes her

wife to the health facility for treatment of a weird behavior on her wife Anna. On

reaching the hospital premises, literally nobody is enthusiastic about receiving

them. The non-verbal communication imparted by the workers alone already

makes Anna lose hope in getting a quick attendance, in response her face drops.

Eventually a doctor attends to her and the doctor seems to have an

attitude to words here, he accuses her of being drunk even before he examines

her. Paul gets into a heated argument with the doctor which ends up in a great

disappointment just as extrapolated in the video Just a Routine Operation.

[Electronic print] Available at:


numerous communication theories that apply specifically to the health and social

care setting. The model developed by Harold Lasswell defines the communication

the whole process than encompasses who said who speaks, what does he or she

speaks, what channel does he or she makes use of, who is he or she addressing

and what is effect does the communication cause? This theory is also referred to

as the Dance Model.

The theory developed by Harold Lasswell is a very ideal one for a health and

social care platform. This is because in such a set up the patient needs uttermost

attention. When one is sick as in the case in Case Study: Hospital Appointment,

2014. Australia, where Anna is ill and the health attendant is supposed to

examine her, he has to be so keen on who Anna is addressing at any given point,

what she is saying, and her body language and then react appropriately in order

to help save her life.

The Shannon and Weaver theory too cannot be underrated in the health

and social care set up. It says that a good communication model should have the

following parties; the sender, the message, the channel and finally the receiver.

This definitely applies to the health set up too. The communication procedure is


well defined and easy to track. If this had been followed in Case Study: Hospital

Appointment, 2014 Australia, Anna could have been well-attended to.

1.2 Use of communication skills in a health and social care context

Health communication: theory and practice (Berry, 2006) gives a very

relict outline of how communication skills should integrate into a health and

social setup. He appreciates that the process of imparting and receiving

information in the health context gets so complex in many occasions due to the

fact that most of the times the sender doubles up as the receiver. Its essentially

not a very interactive platform as in most occasions the doctor or nurse will tend

to ask the questions and receive only the answers relevant to the question they

asked. For this to happen, a most viable channel must be considered. For

instance, in the Case Study: Hospital Appointment, 2014. Australia, the doctor

was totally out of context of the hospital context. He should have asked the

relevant questions about the patients condition face to face in order to get the

relevant answer immediately and affect treatment promptly even as in the case in

of Just a Routine Operation. [Electronic print] Available at:


The channel chosen for any communication purpose should be very clear to

avoid any contradictions. Department of health (2004,p.2) expounds that the

channel should also ensure the security of the information considering that in

some cultures around the world contracting some diseases is tantamount to

stigmatization. Therefore, the message should be highly confidential and should

only be accessed by relevant parties; this will ensure observation of professional

ethics too in a hospital set up.

The attitude is also a very crucial factor to consider in the contemporary set

up. Borrowing from the sad incident in Case Study: Hospital Appointment,2014.

Australia, the doctor has a stinking attitude. He makes a baseless accusation that

Anna is just drunk, yet Anna is suffering from an acute pain caused by stroke. His

attitude towards the patient leads him to draw a wrong conclusion that Anna is

drunk, then he goes ahead to discharge her without doing a proper extermination

on her.

1.3 Methods of dealing with inappropriate interpersonal communication

between individuals in health and social care settings

Human beings are very social beings with unique traits that vary from one

individual to another. This gives rise to diversity. As a result of diversity, its


normally impossible for one person to please the other all the times, just as the

case in Just a Routine Operation. [Electronic print] Available at:


able to speak on could be unconscious but by merely judging from the body

language an experienced health worker should be able to interpret whats wrong

after a few glances. Judging from how Annas head fell for instance with reference

to Case Study: Hospital Appointment, 2014. The doctor should have noted that

the situation is serious.

Revoking the license chronic violators of unprofessionalism

The doctor in the case study obviously addressed the Anna and Pauls

situation in an unprofessional manner. He could have done better. To serve as a

warning to others, such unethical professionals should be barred from practicing

because they put the very life they ought to protect at risk by poor

communication.

1.4 Strategies to support users of health and social care services with

specific communication needs

Effective partnership working

Understanding the people with special needs may prove difficult to

perfectly understand, especially in the case of a person with special needs. in

order to understand them better, measures should be put in place to ensure that


they are attended to by many workmates at a go so that they are better

understood.

Consultation with disabled people

Every health and social care units should have at least somebody trained in

sign language and the use of Braille machines so as to help people with special

needs with communication when need be.

Flexibility

Specialization enables workers to major in only one aspect of their careers;

however, in the case of a health and social care setting, the professionals need to

be flexible enough to accommodate even clients with special needs.

A learning culture, including evaluation and feedback

A good health and social care workers should be open minded and ready to

learn new skills that will help the unit to accommodate people with all kinds of

communication needs effectively.


How various factors influence the communication process in

health and social care

2.1 How the communication process is influenced by values and cultural

factors

Everybody has some values they live by which they acquire as they grow up

or the society imparts into them as norms. These values and cultural factors affect

communication in the following ways:

Nonverbal communication

It is said that the non-verbal communication accounts for at least 70% of all

communication. In different cultures around the world certain body languages

symbolize different inferences which may vary from one community to another.

For instance, considering the case study, which is set in a health and social care

facility, the student nurse under consideration attends to patients with an

attitude which can be noted by how she handles the Arab patient.

Her personal values are also wanting because when she is corrected instead

of humbly accepting and taking responsibility for being uncouth, she accuses her


mentor of bullying her. The non-verbal communication in this case study alone is

sufficient enough to tell the mentor that the student nurse has a bad attitude.

Language barrier

Different cultures use different languages. There are numerous languages

spoken around the world that a person brought up in one culture may not serve

well as a specialist in a health and social care unit somewhere else unless he or

she is open minded and ready to learn the language of the patients at his or her

work station otherwise the two parties will not be able to communicate

effectively with each other. This often results into a communication breakdown.

Cultural differences

A culture is a way of life. All individuals belong to a relict culture with

established procedures of doing things and a set of beliefs. The student nurse in

the case study for instance, seems not to like the Arab patient due to cultural

difference which has translated into a bad attitude. As a result, she tells the

patient you have to wait a minute, the phrase is rather harsh.


Geographical locations

Every culture is established in a given geographical setting. This often

affects the way a person walks, talks or articulate words. This too affects

communication. If the effect of the geographical set up where one grew up causes

him or her to pronounce ones incorrectly it may significantly affect the

communication process.

Personal values

The values of a person are like a transcript that dictates how he or she

handles the people he or she interacts with. The student nurse in the case study is

definitely devoid of good values. Otherwise, she would treat her patients with

tender care and respect not only because the code of ethics demands so but

because of her values.

2.2 How legislation, charters and codes of practice impact on the

communication process in health and social care

The legislation, charters and codes of practice directly impact the process of

communication in a health and social care unit in the following ways:


Limitations of confidentiality

Confidentiality of information in a health or social care set up cannot be

gambled with. The attendants should only avail information concerning various

parties to authorized persons and not just every other Tom, Dick and Hurry.

Legislation, charters and codes of practice stipulate the relevant degree of

confidentiality therefore limiting communication. As in the case study, the mentor

calls the student nurse to a private room and addresses her on her conduct

private, if not limited by the regulations he would have addressed her publicly.

Availability of information to the service user

The codes of ethics concerning communication in the health and social care

stations require that the service users are always informed about anything that

concerns their operations in an accessible manner. They should also be informed

on the relevant uses and disclosures of the information. When they are informed,

they are in a better position to transmit effective and clear information too.

Permission to professionally discuss/consult on concerns

There are certain concerns that often arise in health and social care

facilities which require that the best decision is made and communicated. In order


to make good decisions its very important that various stakeholders opinions are

listened to with regard to legislation, charters and codes of practice hence

affecting communication.

Consent of the service user

According to the legislation, charters and codes of practice concerning

health and social care demand that the information shared by the personnel

should be consented by the service user; otherwise it is not valid for

communication. In this way the codes of conduct directly affect communication in

a health and social care set up.

2.3 Effectiveness of organizational systems and policies in promoting good

practice in communication

Organizational systems and policies concerning communication are those

strategies that have been put in place by health and social care managements to

ensure communication is well encoded, flows through the right channel and

causes only the intended effects. These policies are very essential in ensuring

good practice and promoting professionalism.


They are very effective because failure to observe them comes with

associated consequences. They also help in proper management of data and

securing it so that only the relevant persons access them. Considering the case

study, the student nurse had serious problems with her communication skills at

her health workstation, it is because of the policies such as duty of care that

she had to be called off duty to reconsider her position.

2.4 Ways of improving the communication process in a health and social

care setting

Setting up effective policies concerning communication

Communication in any organizational set up should often follow a specified

channel. Every health and social care sector should formulate its policies

concerning communication and abide by them.

Government legislations

The government should pass laws that stipulate the format of every

communication system that take place in public health and social care units with

the aim of improving the communication process.


Training personnel on how to attend to people with special needs

The units should ensure they have at least a few personnel who can

effectively communicate and interact with service users through sight language,

bruise or other forms of integrated technology.

Encouraging consultations among professionals

To ensure good decisions are made in an organizational setting up, the

health and social care systems should encourage professional consultations

before major decisions are communicated.

3.1 The use of standard ICT software packages to support work in health

and social care

Integration of ICT into the procedures at health and social care stations has

led to amazingly interesting outcomes that has made the procedures not only fast

but also very accurate and specialized. The ICT packages come as a blessing

because they are well programmed to repeatedly do the work they are purposed

for and give predictable outcomes. Most of them are scientific programs

engineered by the government, non-governmental organizations or research

institutions. Considering GE Healthcare UK, 2014.Discover our full scientific


program.[online] Available at: < http://www3.gehealthcare.co.uk/> [accessed 20

May 2014] some of the ideal ICT software packages that health and social care set

up should consider investing in are:

The vivid E9 with XD clear

This is an E9 cardiovascular ultrasound device that was developed in the

Netherlands. It doesn't only shorten the examination time, but also greatly

enhances the diagnostic confidence in both the adult and childrens ultrasound

laboratories during the interventions. This applies to the modern healthcare unit

which continually sees a rise in cardiovascular cases caused by obesity as

addressed in GE Healthcare UK, 2014.Discover our full scientific program.[online]

Available at: < http://www3.gehealthcare.co.uk/> [accessed 20 May 2014]

The OEC mobile hybrid OR

The cost constructing, operating rooms with all the healthcare facilities

around the world is an activity that can overwhelm the government both in terms

of money and other resources. GE Healthcare UK Discover our full scientific

program (2014) explains that the OEC mobile hybrid OR is a great option

because it has the whole theatre package and can be moved from one station to

another.


The two are a great masterpiece that shows how ICT can be applied to the

health and social care units in order to increase efficiency while at the same time

making work easier and reducing costs of operations.

3.2 Benefits of using ICT in health and social care for users of services,

care workers and care organizations

It very important to keep accurate records concerning patients who seek

healthcare services, the institution should be updated on the illness that a given

patient has suffered from in the past, what drugs they have swallowed or been

injected with before and if they have had operations done on them. Formerly all

these details were written on a piece of paper so that the doctor simply glimpses

on the paper them decides on what to do next with the patient.

However, there was often a problem when these important documents

were misplaced. This has led to both the public and private practitioners to

heavily invest in ICT to help avoid such scenarios. The information system

platforms are getting even better as days go by and the management of health

and social care facilities is even getting better. With reference to GE Healthcare

UK Discover our full scientific program (2014), some of the advantages this has

brought along are:


Online health services

Thanks to ICT doctors today rely on a blend of online computer services and

the paper records about every patient they attend to. Once a search is launched

on the databases of the facility the doctors and nurses can view all the details and

even watch the progress and compare notes with the paper records to ensure

accuracy. This is lately the case with the social care services today; all information

concerning both service users and clients is available online. This has greatly

increased the quality of services.

Electronic alerts

This applies more so to the social care system whereby the social care unit

is run based on an informatics service. In case of any emergency, a tele-health

system is activated and it helps the users of the service, to detect the problem,

then directs on which the best action to take is based on the nature of the

emergency.

Modern laboratory management systems

There have been numerous cases of samples taken for testing getting lost

or being confused due to lack of proper laboratory system management system.


With the integration of ICT in data management in social care and health units

laboratories, every sample is well labelled and information concerning all patients

is well kept. The records are kept safe and can only be retrieved by the relevant

personnel.

Publications

Health and social care situations can today communicate their official news

to the public through publications. With the appropriate ICT mechanism put in

place, all information concerning users of services, care workers and care

organizations can be recorded, analyzed, projected and published.

3.3 How legal considerations in the use of ICT impact on health and social

care settings.

The ICT in the field of health and social care is highly appreciated and

recommended. However, it has to be regulated and used with moderation to

ensure efficiency, for this reason, governments make laws that govern its use.

When use of ICT is considered dangerous, it should be avoided. Every piece of

technology has to be tested and tried to ensure it does not put a patients life in

any form danger. Users of services, care workers and care organizations must


succinctly study the government regulations concerning the ICT devices before

approving it or otherwise face the law.


References

Collins, S.Effective Communication. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2009.ISBN:

978 1 843 109 27 3

Just a Routine Operation. [Electronic print] Available at: [accessed 20 May 2014]ISBN:

978 1 412 922 85 2

Moss, B.Communication Skills for Health and Social Care. Sage Ltd. 2007.

NVQ/SVQ Level 4 and Foundation Degrees. Heinemann. 2008.ISBN 978 0

435 500 07 8

Thompson, N. Third Edition.People Skills. Palgrave. 2009.ISBN: 978 0 230

221 12 3

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