Communication with Different Client Groups - Essay Example

mmuniсаtiоn with Different Сliеnt Grоuрs Name Institution Course Tutor Date Public health and social care Role play: I: Greeting the patient. How are you Maggie Maggie: I am fine sir. I: With me is Cate, a care worker from a home-care provider on the right. (Pointing at Cate) I: next to her is Chrissie a housekeeping assistance. (Pointing at Chrissie) I: Then the other one is June- a care worker from the home care. (Pointing at June) I: At the left-hand ends with Sharon who comes from Alzheimer’s society working as a charity worker. (Pointing at Sharon) Maggie: Okay. I: (Looking at Maggie with empathy) Feel free to interact with them as they offer the possible assistance towards your health problem. Maggie: Thank You. I: Kate! Chrissie! June! And Sharon! This is Maggie Hammond and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (dementia). You will also meet with her husband Mick who stays with her. If possible, you will also meet their home-care provider who helps in the provision of Maggie’s personal care. June: Nice to meet you, Maggie. Maggie: Welcome I: (Laughing), wow, I like how all of you are excited. This form contains the report about Maggie’s health problems and other issues associated with her personal care, (looking at Kate, Chrissie, June, and Sharon). Kate: Can I have a look at it, please? I: Sure, (giving it out to Kate). I: Maggie, kindly allow us to assess you. Maggie: Okay I: (Looking at the carers) Based on your profession, each one of you will assess Maggie and take records. Chrissie, you will assess the condition of Maggie’s home to understand how you can assist in improving it. We will begin with the care workers, and then Sharon before Chrissie takes over. I will be available in case of any question, as I will be evaluating your work. Let us begin. I: (After offering the required support to Maggie and training the care giver, leaving with other carers) Thank you very much, Maggie, for your time. We now bet to leave. Maggie: Welcome. I: (To the carers) you have done a very good work. Keep up. Kate: Only one concern, will we be coming regularly for the care? I: Yes. This will help you improve your skills and experience. Chrissie: Sure. I: Thank you all. Individual evaluation Introduction In the provision of effective health and social care, it is significant for the carers to practice effective communication skills. Effective communication is essential in all healthcare settings. Health care providers and other carers are supposed to have an effective communication with the patients, and family and among themselves. Poor communication among the carers leads to poor provision of care and lack of patient satisfaction. When carers engage in efficient communication, the practice leads to improved patient’s health (Moss, 2015, 23). This paper seeks to explore the communication methods to be applied by health and social care providers. It identifies the important of effective communication skills among the carers and between carers and the patients and their families in the case of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease (verbal and non-verbal communication, communication theory and model). There is the application of various communication skills such as listening, questioning, explaining, empathy reflection, humor, and laughter, self-disclosure; with users, colleagues, and peers. Communication methods essential for working in health and social care In the particular instance and for effective communication when offering health and social care to Maggie, there was the consideration of different communication methods. During the visit to Maggie and the training to the carers, we used spoken and written languages. When speaking, the speaker would be listened to by others. Effective communication is the practice through which the health professionals communicate effectively among themselves and communicate with patients and their relatives (Eggenberger, Heimerl, and Bennett, 2013, 346). In the healthcare system, the health and social care professionals are supposed to offer efficient care through communicating critical information effectively. Speaking is linked to verbal communication among the colleagues, peers and health and social care users. Verbal communication means the exchange of the information between parties through spoken or written words. The language applied by the health and social care professional to communicate should be the one understood by other professionals and the patient. If the language understood by the care provider is also understood by the patient and the significant others, it should be applied to effective communication (Morgan, Entwistle, Cribb, Christmas, Owens, Skea, and Watt, 2017, 245). I was using a language that all of us could understand. Use of proper language helps in the evaluation of the knowledge and feelings of the other person (Weller, Boyd, and Cumin, 2014, 150). I was able to understand the patient and the carers more. There should be verbal interaction with the patients, families, and healthcare team members, which was the case during our visit. This is where I would listen carefully to Maggie, her husband, and the other carers as they speak. When talking, I would ask some questions to them differently. Writing involved proper documentation of the data and making it available to the intended recipient. I used writing through preparing some care plans for the peers, which was to direct them towards their roles during the visit to Maggie and her husband. I was verbally speaking to the patient, colleagues and the families. In the care system, the assessment data has to be documented, and this should be the initial step during care process (Corrigan, Druss, and Perlick, 2014, 40). When the carers were offering their diverse care to Maggie and her family, they would take notes of what they did. Besides, when assessing their work, I recorded my observations for the provision of feedback to the carers concerning the visit. From the introduction of the patient, and provision of care, all the collected data has to be documented (Moss, 2015, 23). There is a specific criterion that the carers should follow when documenting patient’s assessment data and filling in treatment forms. I ensured recording of every action done in the instance. All activities conducted and their results should be documented. I was able to user non-verbal communication skills such as nodding, facial expression and using hand signs for pointing at a person or showing direction. Non-verbal communication is also efficient in health and social care, and it includes sign language, which is applied to explain the verbally communicated words to enhance understanding of some subtle terms. One should also apply facial expression and eye contact to deliver true meaning of the verbally delivered message (Corrigan, Druss, and Perlick, 2014, 42). The care providers are required to understand their linguistic and cultural differences to prevent misunderstanding of the non-verbal and verbal communication. My facial look at Maggie sometimes demonstrated empathy, but in most cases, I would talk in a way leading to laughter to motivate Maggie and the family to be positive regarding her health condition. The significance of effective communication in health and social care in the case of looking after someone with Alzheimer’s disease Effective communication in health and social care enables there to be the development of a therapeutic relationship for the promotion of health to the patient. The effective communication skills also help in the preservation and understanding of each partner’s beliefs and values, and the establishment of trust (Weller, Boyd, and Cumin, 2014, 150). It was possible for use to communicate out intention to Maggie and her husband, something that led to our efficient relationship during the entire visit. In the provision of person-centered care, one expresses respect, trust, and recognition to the patient through actions and word of care. Because of involving Maggie and her husband in the decision-making process, we managed to gain their trust. The methods of communication that were applied during the visit and training helped in meeting the needs of Maggie and realizing the expected outcomes in the training process. Besides, effective communication through verbal, non-verbal, and sign language methods of communication prevented the issue of misinterpretation of critical information, errors associated with care provision, and the poor relationship among the particular carers, the patient, and their family members (Morgan, et al. 2017, 249). Talking in a friendly way with Maggie, her husband and my colleagues and peers enabled the creation of therapeutic relationship, which helped in meeting the needs of the patient and enhance recognition of the person’s humanity, as well as offering the required training to the carers. The usage of the language that all would understand, led to the involvement of the patient, family members, and the carers in the decision-making process. The application of the particular communication skills assisted in the interaction between the carers, patients, and families (Liaw, Zhou, Lau, Siau, and Chan, 2014, 270). The application of non-verbal communication also enabled us to understand each other where the communication involved hidden meaning. Also, the documentation of assessment data in a home care setting allowed the team to have a database that would be used in the future on the basis of the patient’s care. The written information as well enhanced in proper planning, and continued care interventions (Weller, Boyd, and Cumin, 2014, 150). By speaking slowly this demonstrated the ability to consider my audience. In addition, listening enabled me to show interest in others’ message and enabled me to understand what I am told. This is because I would stop what I was doing and listen to the carers and Maggie raises some concern. Listening enables one to respond as per the need or the requirement of the speaker. Because of listening to me, it was possible for the carers to gain from the training and improve their professional skills. I was encouraged to train them and explain into details about what should be done when offering care to patients like Maggie and their families (Moss, 2015, 23). When people listen to what a speaker is saying, the speaker feels encouraged to talk more and to pass the intended message to the listeners. The training was effective because carers listened passionately and keenly, as I talked. Listening is identified through the eye contact of the listener and the body language used by the listener (Eggenberger, Heimerl, and Bennett, 2013, 348). When speaking about Maggie’s condition and making introduction the listening practice demonstrated the willingness and readiness of the carers to be trained and Maggie showed her interest to receive assistance. The application of effective communication skills among us enabled the conduct of teamwork and the carers would consult me accordingly. This helped in achieving positive relationship building between me and the health and social carers (Liaw, et al. 2014, 270). Therefore, I communicated with the patient, relatives and caregivers to ensure that they will offer care as required in the visit and training session. The usage of written communication method also helped the carers to refer to the information for the effectiveness of the training practice (Morgan, et al. 2017, 251). Caring for patients entails getting aware of the needs, and feelings of the patient, and listening to them empathetically and being aware of one’s feeling. A health care provider should view the patient in a way of the illness or the problem suffered by the patient having great possibility of ending (Eggenberger, Heimerl, and Bennett, 2013, 349). In the process of offering care to Maggie, we expressed some positive beliefs concerning her recovery. This helped us to develop laughter just to encourage her and the family. Sometimes, Maggie would use a language that was hard for some of us to understand. A health and social care provider should develop positive attitude towards the language used by the patient and try to understand him or her, but not reacting negatively in front of the patient. This helped in understanding Maggie more whereby I would interrupt and ask her questions that would make her language clear to the carers. Maggie and the husband were free with us and this assisted us to confidently handle their needs and expectations. For effective communication between us, we developed the sense of confidence and self-esteem and handled the patient as if we clearly understood her feelings. This helped in gaining trust from the patient and the family as he or she talks about himself with an aim of encouraging the patient. Our body language expressed the feelings and thoughts in the mind about the Maggie’s health condition. One should react positively to the condition of the patient and express his or her experience in a manner that positively reflects what other people think or see him or her. I was very keen when talking to Maggie to ensure that she was able to interpret my message positively. The reaction and action conducted by the caregiver matters a lot on the response of the patient to the care provided by the carer. It is the responsibility of the caregiver to have confidence and show positive feelings to the patient during their interactions. Through effective communication with Maggie, it was possible for the carers to interact freely with her and her husband. It led to the demonstration of empathy to Maggie because the Alzheimer disease was very critical such that she could not do things on her own including the house chores. A health care provider should assume to be in the same world with the patient when providing care in order for the patient to develop positive response to the care provided (Weller, Boyd, and Cumin, 2014, 152). Empathy was practiced by the carers who offered all the possible support to Maggie during the visit, therefore, being able to improve their skills. Conclusion Health and social care providers should have a sense of self-awareness in order to have an effective communication in a health setting. Effective communication in a care setting reduces negativities, as well as inadvertent patient harm. Through effective, verbal, non-verbal, and written methods of communication between the patient and the health and social care providers this aids in the provision of quality patient care. Besides, effective communication helps the health and social care provider to react positively in any condition of the patient. It was possible for us to meet Maggie’s interests despite her mental condition. Proper interaction also enables in the creation of therapeutic interventions and empathic understanding of the care users. In order to show some understanding and sensitivity when interacting with the patient, the carers need to respect the needs and wishes of the patient for successful result of care. This was the behavior adopted by the carers as we interacted with them and Maggie and her husband. Therefore, effective communication skills enabled the provision of efficient care to the patient in the scenario. References Moss, B., 2015. Communication skills in health and social care. Sage. Eggenberger, E., Heimerl, K. and Bennett, M.I., 2013. Communication skills training in dementia care: a systematic review of effectiveness, training content, and didactic methods in different care settings. International Psychogeriatrics, 25(03), pp.345-358. Weller, J., Boyd, M. and Cumin, D., 2014. Teams, tribes and patient safety: overcoming barriers to effective teamwork in healthcare. Postgraduate medical journal, 90(1061), pp.149-154. Liaw, S.Y., Zhou, W.T., Lau, T.C., Siau, C. and Chan, S.W.C., 2014. An interprofessional communication training using simulation to enhance safe care for a deteriorating patient. Nurse education today, 34(2), pp.259-264. Corrigan, P.W., Druss, B.G. and Perlick, D.A., 2014. The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 15(2), pp.37-70. Morgan, H.M., Entwistle, V.A., Cribb, A., Christmas, S., Owens, J., Skea, Z.C. and Watt, I.S., 2017. We need to talk about purpose: a critical interpretive synthesis of health and social care professionals’ approaches to self‐management support for people with long‐term conditions. Health Expectations, 20(2), pp.243-259. Read More

Writing involved proper documentation of the data and making it available to the intended recipient. I used writing through preparing some care plans for the peers, which was to direct them towards their roles during the visit to Maggie and her husband. I was verbally speaking to the patient, colleagues and the families. In the care system, the assessment data has to be documented, and this should be the initial step during care process (Corrigan, Druss, and Perlick, 2014, 40). When the carers were offering their diverse care to Maggie and her family, they would take notes of what they did.

Besides, when assessing their work, I recorded my observations for the provision of feedback to the carers concerning the visit. From the introduction of the patient, and provision of care, all the collected data has to be documented (Moss, 2015, 23). There is a specific criterion that the carers should follow when documenting patient’s assessment data and filling in treatment forms. I ensured recording of every action done in the instance. All activities conducted and their results should be documented.

I was able to user non-verbal communication skills such as nodding, facial expression and using hand signs for pointing at a person or showing direction. Non-verbal communication is also efficient in health and social care, and it includes sign language, which is applied to explain the verbally communicated words to enhance understanding of some subtle terms. One should also apply facial expression and eye contact to deliver true meaning of the verbally delivered message (Corrigan, Druss, and Perlick, 2014, 42).

The care providers are required to understand their linguistic and cultural differences to prevent misunderstanding of the non-verbal and verbal communication. My facial look at Maggie sometimes demonstrated empathy, but in most cases, I would talk in a way leading to laughter to motivate Maggie and the family to be positive regarding her health condition. The significance of effective communication in health and social care in the case of looking after someone with Alzheimer’s disease Effective communication in health and social care enables there to be the development of a therapeutic relationship for the promotion of health to the patient.

The effective communication skills also help in the preservation and understanding of each partner’s beliefs and values, and the establishment of trust (Weller, Boyd, and Cumin, 2014, 150). It was possible for use to communicate out intention to Maggie and her husband, something that led to our efficient relationship during the entire visit. In the provision of person-centered care, one expresses respect, trust, and recognition to the patient through actions and word of care. Because of involving Maggie and her husband in the decision-making process, we managed to gain their trust.

The methods of communication that were applied during the visit and training helped in meeting the needs of Maggie and realizing the expected outcomes in the training process. Besides, effective communication through verbal, non-verbal, and sign language methods of communication prevented the issue of misinterpretation of critical information, errors associated with care provision, and the poor relationship among the particular carers, the patient, and their family members (Morgan, et al. 2017, 249).

Talking in a friendly way with Maggie, her husband and my colleagues and peers enabled the creation of therapeutic relationship, which helped in meeting the needs of the patient and enhance recognition of the person’s humanity, as well as offering the required training to the carers. The usage of the language that all would understand, led to the involvement of the patient, family members, and the carers in the decision-making process. The application of the particular communication skills assisted in the interaction between the carers, patients, and families (Liaw, Zhou, Lau, Siau, and Chan, 2014, 270).

The application of non-verbal communication also enabled us to understand each other where the communication involved hidden meaning.

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