Different Ways of Communicating free essay sample

This is essay is going to be based on the importance of communication within the broader context of health and social care, it will give you a definitive insight to different communication techniques, such as verbal and non-verbal communication. Within this essay I will also discuss how important effective communication can be and the barriers that can restrict the care practitioner from doing his/her job effectively by using communication as the main tool. Furthermore how personal beliefs and values need to be taken in to consideration and the effect it may have on a service user in the light of working professionally. According to Julia scherba de Valenzuela, Ph. D (1992) communication is Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that persons needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes. In a health and social care setting it is important for the care practitioners to use therapeutic communication skills in the light of working professionally. A therapeutic relationship is more patient focussed, purposeful and time limited where carers come to know a patient as a unique individual that is why it is important for carers to use therapeutic communication. Theraputic communication is purposeful form of conversation, serving a point of human contact between the carer and the client allowing them to reach common health related goals. † Jones(1998) Therapeutic communication is a more formally based communication it is usually taken place in a health or social care enviroment such as a doctors surgery or in a counsellors clinic it is usually a conversation based upon reaching a certain outcome. On the other hand therapeutic communication differs to social communication, as social communication can be very basic, it may not serve a common related goal, the language used can be informal, the environment atmosphere and setting is not important, body language and posture can be very casual and relaxed, social communication differs to therapeutic communication as it can be used in everyday situations and is used a lot more than therapeutic communication, it can be seen as a lot easier for people to have a social communication ather than a therapeutic communication as it may not be possible to reach an outcome or objective in social communication settings as a lot of the key communication techniques such as eye contact, correct posture, verbal and non verbal nods, these techniques may not be used in a social conversation, only very simple and what can be seen as unconscious communication techniques may be used in a social conversation. Communication between care practicioners involves more then verbal information exchange, communication can be altered by changes in pitch of voice and use of accompanying facial expressions or gestures, other techniques used of communication used in a health and social care setting are verbal, non verbal, para verbal. Verbal communication is when words and symbol are used to share experiences with each other, verbal communication is used in a health and social care setting to gather information and to transmit information from care practitioner to the service user it involves having good listning skills and assertiveness, as when two people misinterpret a meaning of verbal communication miscommunication occurs. Miscommunication can be more damaging then a lack of communication especially in a health and social care setting for example if a client was to misterpret what a GP had said to him such as instructions for medications etc. The Care practicioner should communicate in language that the client understands meaning avoid using medical terms as this may be a language the client is un familiar with. Non verbal communication is messages we send out to express ideas or opinions without talking. This might be through the use of body language, facial expressions, gestures tone of voice, touch or contact signs this can be done intentionally or unintentionally. It is very important to be able to recognise what a persons body language is saying especially as a Health and Social care practitioner as incorrect interpretation of communication can lead to miscommunication. Gerad Egan (2004) created an acronym to describe good non verbal communication â€Å"S. O. L. E. R this stands for S- sit squarly O – open posture L – lean slightly forward E – Eye contact R- Relax. † It is vital to use ‘Egan’s’ techniques by care practicioners as it is a key aspect of communication, it is important to apply these functions especially in a thereaputic conversation as it shows effective communication and confidence as a professional body. It is important for professionals to be able to make good use of para verbal communication. Para verbal communication Is made of verbal and non verbal communication it reinforces non verbal communication in communicating attitudes feelings and social statuses . It is based upon the aspects of speaking such as tone of voice and volume, it also accompanies non verbal listing such as face expressions, gestures and non verbal nods. According to direction service. org(2011) Professor mehrabian states â€Å"A sentence can convey entirely different meanings depending on the emphasis on words and the tone of voice. It is vital health and social care professionals to use para verbal skills effectively as if not then it could easily result the exchange of information and being incorrect which could lead to problems such as lack of trust and little understanding and loss of respect. For example if a speaker is trying to convey a certain message but uses the wrong atone and volume in their speech, then that same message may be perceived as something different to the listener. As part of this essay it was required to watch a few videos based upon communication, one of the videos was regarding a client that has been called to the Job centre plus to discuss a letter that has been received, that she has been working and claiming benefits. The advisor shows no social communication skills, he does not introduce him self nor does he build a relationship with the client but jumps straight into conversation this created a unfriendly and cold atmosphere. In this video it shows a lack of effective communication by the advisor. The reasons for this is, he has not used key communication techniques such as non verbal communication, as he does not show positive facial expressions through out the video such as smiling laughter, he makes little eye contact and does not use gestures such as hand and head movements. This gives out the impression that the advisor lacks confidence. In the beginning of the video it shows a lack of effective verbal communication, when the advisor asks if she received the letter that was sent out to her, she is un aware of the letter and the reason why she is here. The advisor then asks if she has been doing some work the client repeats him and says â€Å"work? What Work? † the client has to clarify what the advisor is saying as she is unsure this shows little understanding from the behalf of the client as the advisor is not clear and precise about the situation. Throughout the video the advisor has a monotone this showed negative para verbal skills coming from the advisor and he came across very rude which lead to lack of respect and trust from the client when she requests to look at her own notes if he had changed the tone of his voice and volume of his speech the client may have respected his decisions. There are many barriers that link to effective communication and would contribute to the outcome of the conversation not being achieved such as physical barriers, it the video the conversation takes place in a small confined room with poor lighting and items scattered in the room this can be distracting. Personal thoughts and feelings can also be a barrier to effective communication, in the video it shows how the client is being acused of benefit fraud, the client displays different emotions like, anger, confusion, humility, this could lead to client feeling intimidated. According to www. marin. edu/buscom â€Å"recognising barriers to effective communication is a first step in improving communication style† In a health and social care setting, professionals will be in contact with people from different backgrounds religions, religions, race which means they will have personal values. They will have certain beliefs which they count as more important. Therefore as professionals it is important this is recognised as the service user may find certain things offensive. It is important to use para verbal skills very well like being empathetic to someone from a different back ground may actually make the client feel as though the professional is not respecting there personal values for example personal contact from the opposite sex like touching a persons hand to show sympathy can be against other peoples beliefs.