Promoting_Effective_Communication

Promoting communication in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings. Communication is a way of helping a person express their thoughts, feelings and ideas. One of the main reasons that we learn to communicate is to share information. Sharing information relies upon having the interest to do so. Communicating is a two way process involving a sender and receiver of information. A person can use a variety of methods to get a message across. This information is received and then interpreted. To respond, the receiver must become the sender. Communicating is a complex process where information is being passed and interpreted all the time. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the sender. Communication allows people to express their needs and offers equal opportunities. Good communication in the workplace builds trust between workers. This allows people to build good working relationships and value each other’s efforts. It enables the staff to know what their roles and responsibilities are within their job and promotes staff development through team meetings, individual meetings and ongoing training. By staying informed, individuals are naturally more trusting of their colleagues and surer that any dependent work is being done. Rapid communications can also mean that issues and risks or opportunities are being quickly raised and can be acted upon. All messages need to be clear in order to ensure there is no lack of understanding. Regular communications ensures that constant progress updates are be maintained and that issues or risks are being raised. Effective communication allows service users to make informed choices. To enable service users to do this we must establish the best way to communicate. By using communication aids that are tailored to their specific needs we can establish better communication. It can often help to speak to family members or healthcare professionals to establish if there is a preferred method of communication that has been previously used. Sometimes trial and error is required to see which method is most effective. Also icep meetings and reviews are an advantage in establishing better communication. This can be especially beneficial when first making contact and interacting with the individual as it can help to avoid misinterpretations in matters such as family culture or even differences in accents or dialects. The way some messages come across may be different to others with a different cultural background. Good planning may help avoid problems. There are barriers that sometimes affect the effectiveness of communication. Children with autism are often unable to successfully communicate and interact with others. Children with autism may have difficulty developing language skills and understanding what others say to them. They also may have difficulty communicating non verbally, such as through hand gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions. A child’s ability to communicate will vary, depending upon his or her intellectual and social development. Some children with autism may be unable to speak, whereas others have a wide vocabulary. Most children with autism have little or no problem pronouncing words. The majority, however, have difficulty using language effectively, especially when they talk to other people. Often another non-verbal form of communication is beneficial to help aid communication and support verbal communication. Learning disabilities also provide barriers for effective communication. Often a person with learning disabilities may have a limited understanding so it is therefore important to communicate on a level that they can understand, giving them time to process information and respond appropriately. Many people with learning disabilities rely on facial expressions, vocal sounds, body language and behaviour to communicate. Some people may use a small range of formal communication, such as speech, symbols or signs and they may rely on others to interpret their reactions to events and people. Some people will rely heavily on the context in which the communication takes place, such as the clues given routine. It is important that those who support people with learning disabilities spend time getting to know their means of communication and finding effective ways to interact with them. Illness may also create a barrier to communication. These difficulties may have been present since childhood (slurred speech due to cerebral palsy, stammering, hearing impairment) or occur later in life as the result of illness (stroke, dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson disease. motor neurone disease), or a head injury. It is important to understand that their responses may be slower and processing time longer. Methods of communicating Objects of reference is a term that describes the use of objects as a means of communication. Objects, just like words, signs and symbols can be made to represent those things about which we all communicate. The object or picture is closely associated with and comes to represent another object, an activity, a person or an event. These objects and pictures give the person information about what is going to happen if they are used consistently. The important thing is that the same objects and methods are used. The objects and symbols should have relevance for that pupil. If possible, the objects could be used to give him or her an element of choice in their day, once they understand what each object represents, they may be able to indicate a choice, perhaps through giving the object. It is important to remember that what is relevant to one person may not be relevant to another, and so the procedure of selecting objects of reference may be different for each person. Someone who uses 'real life' objects or photographs may not be able to understand abstract objects, such as 3D or symbols. Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all communication is from non-verbal behavior. Eye contact is an especially important type of nonverbal communication. The way you look at someone can communicate many things, including interest, affection, hostility, or attraction. Eye contact is also important in maintaining the flow of conversation and for gauging the other person’s response, as are gestures. Gestures are a part of our daily lives. We wave, point, and use our hands when we’re arguing or speaking, expressing ourselves with gestures often without thinking. However, the meaning of gestures can be very different across cultures and regions, so it’s important to be careful to avoid misinterpretation. The human face on the other hand is extremely expressive, able to express many emotions without saying a word. And unlike some forms of nonverbal communication, facial expressions are universal. The facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust are the same across cultures. Also, the way we communicate with our voices, even when we are not using words is very important. Non-verbal speech sounds such as tone, pitch, volume, rhythm, and rate are important communication elements. When we speak, other people listen to our voices in addition to listening to our words. These nonverbal speech sounds provide subtle clues to our feelings and what we really mean. Makaton and signalong are based on everyday words, which uses speech, gesture, facial expression, eye contact, body language, signs, symbols and words to aid communication. These allow a person who couldn't express what they would like to do through speech for example, they could choose a symbol to show what they wanted, from a limited choice. These same symbols could be displayed around the setting to reinforce their meaning and encourage the person to communicate their needs. Both makaton and signalong have been developed for people with learning disabilities. British sign language is a language in its own right, and does not need to be spoken. It relies on signs, body language, facial expression and gesture. It uses the key words in our language today and therefore much fewer words are signed than actually spoken. It is important to remember with British Sign Language that there are regional dialects, and signs can vary in different parts of the country and that other Sign Languages are a different language. Verbal communication allows for the most immediate feedback and clarification of messages. It has many purposes, but its main function is pass a message to one or more recipients. Direct verbal communication allows for clarification of misunderstandings as quickly as possible. A variety of challenges may arise when using verbal communication to express feelings as misunderstandings can arise because of poor word choice, differing perspectives and poor communication techniques. Often, the same word has different meanings for different people depending on their own history, upbringing or social status. Language barriers are a major cause of confusion when attempting to communicate verbally as differences influenced by location, education and social status can create barriers even with those who speak the same language. We often use verbal communication when trying to clarify a misunderstanding as it is the quickest way to do so and with good body language can help calm a situation, such as one caused by miscommunication. Extra support is available to help maintain good communication. Regular visits from health professionals such as speech and language therapists enable them to identify better and more efficient ways of communication. Also the use of challenging behavior practitioners may be able to help with new techniques to help with better communication. It is also an advantage to keep up to date reports and records to identify any communication difficulties. Regular and consistent use of methods being used to communicate needs will be beneficial. Communication is important when maintaining confidentiality. Observing the principle of confidentiality means keeping information given by or about an individual in the course of a professional relationship secure and secret from others. This confidentiality is seen as central to the maintenance of trust between professionals and service-users. Information should only be shared with health professionals who need access in order to fulfil their own duty of care to the patient. Professional ethics will sometimes require confidentiality to be breached for other reasons such as the risk of "serious harm" to identifiable individuals or to society at large. We try and maintain confidentiality on a day to day basis by the way we communicate information. It is important to keep conversations private and away from others. We also aim to keep all confidential documents in a locked office, only accessible to staff fulfilling their duty of care. It is also required that staff use appropriate identification and only communicate with other professionals that require the confidential information. Tension may arise when through your professional role know something, but it does not fall into the category where it must disclosed, and you must therefore maintain professional confidentiality. Also, you may feel it is important to disclose information as it is your duty of care even though it may cause conflict within your team or place of work.