Developing Effective Communication in Health & Social Care

P3 – Explain factors that may influence communication and interpersonal interactions in Health & Social Care environments. Factors that may influence communication and interpersonal interactions in a Health & Social Care environment are things such as; Setting- this is the place that you are in. To be able to communicate with someone correctly, you will need to make sure that it has all of the right things. Noise level is important because if it is too noisy then you will not be able to hear the person speak and both of you will need to shout when your speaking instead of just talking normally.

Lighting is also important in where you are, this is because if it too dark then the opposite person will not be able to see you and you will not be able to see them and good eye contact is needed (if possible) in order to communicate properly and if it is dark then this will be hard. Having enough space in a room is also important as you will not want it to be small as personal space is essential and being very close to someone you hardly know could be quite awkward and tense.

You shouldn’t be too close to each other, however you shouldn’t be too far from each other either as it’ll be hard to hear and speak properly. Time- time means that you should not be in the room with the service user for too long; also you should not be in there for a small period of time either. You should spend a decent amount in the room with the service user, making sure that you have covered everything and haven’t missed out anything and also making sure that the service user has told you everything you need to know; in order to help them to resolve their problem(s).

Also if you keep mentioning about the time that you have left to speak to the service user then they might get annoyed and feel that you are more worried about the time than about their problems. Also rushing the service user would mean that they’ll have to speak quicker and they will not be able to explain themselves properly. There are also barriers; these are things that occur while communicating with someone. The type of communication that you have with someone will be very different for example; a difficult communication may be something that is hard to solve/ something that will take long to solve.

A complex communication is when there is man parts to the story and it may be very confusing and hard to understand. The last example I will use is a sensitive communicationmay occur when someone close to that person has passed away or when someone is ill etc. P4 – Explain strategies used in Health and Social Care environments to overcome barriers to effective communication and interpersonal interactions. Language needs/preferences could be a barrier for example; if someone is trying to talk to you but you can’t understand them as they are speaking to you in a different language.

This would be a barrier because if you cannot communicate with this person effectively then they will not be able to explain their issue/problem or just to talk to you and you will not be able to communicate back and respond to them. Strategy - You could try and overcome this problem by getting another worker to come in and translate what they’re saying in your preferred language/method; in some cases the service user may bring a family member/friend who may be able to translate for you as well.

Sensory impairment is when you may not be able to view, smell, sense or say things. Therefore, coming across someone like this may affect your communication with each other. Strategy - So you should ask the person that they have come along with (if possible) to help you or you should look at their personal details and notes in order to see what their preferred language/method of communication is. Disability is also another barrier to communication, this may affect the way you talk to them as they may have difficulty moving their arms, speaking or doing anything.

Strategy - Someone with a disability will also mean that you will have to pay full attention to what they are doing and you should insure that you follow the rules and regulations so that nothing bad happens. For example; someone with dementia will need full support as they forget things and may wonder off on their own or with a stranger without realising. Personality may affect the way you communicate with each other as the person may be very aggressive and loud so you will not be able to talk to them without them shouting or suddenly becoming annoyed.

Strategy - When dealing with people, you should always check their notes beforehand; this is because you will then know what type of person you are dealing with and also you will then know how to deal with this person, how to approach him/her and how to speak to them. Self-esteem Is how confident someone is in themselves, this is an important thing when communicating with someone in Health and Social Care as the level of self-esteem can affect how quickly they recover.

Strategy - Raising their level of self-esteem by making them feel at ease will make it easier for them to recover. Anxiety is when you feel nervous or anxious about something, this is a barrier because if the service user gets nervous then they won’t speak and this will be a problem because there will be silence and the problems that the service user has will not be resolved as they will not be speaking; making it hard for the person trying to help them. Strategy - The way that you could overcome this could be to try and make the person feel at ease so that they are not nervous.

You could do this by saying 'I am here to help' or 'I know this is hard but I will try and help you get through it'. This may make the service user feel comfortable and make them feel that they are able to talk to you; as you are there to help them. Depression is something that people get when they are under stress. This can be a barrier to communication as the person with Depression may not want to speak or they might be too upset to explain how they feel; even though they are in need of help.

This can make their situation worse because they are not letting anyone help them; however this is not their fault. Strategy – Trying to help someone with depression can be very hard; depending how bad they are. Doing activities with someone who is suffering with depression may be one strategy as they will have their mind on something else, rather than their problems. Aggression can affect the communication between two people or a group etc. This is because the person trying to help the service user will/may likely find it hard to deal with and speak to someone who is very aggressive.

The aggressive person could be very angry at what is going on in their life so they will take it out on the person who is trying to help them; they may not necessarily mean what they say or do but shouting and showing aggressive behaviour could be the way that they deal with everything. Strategy - A way to try and deal with an aggressive person is to not fight back. If you argue back with them thenthey will argue back and it will not make anything better and the reason they are there is to get help.

The reason they could be aggressive is because of something that has happened so asking them questions could get it all out of them so that you are aware of their situation. Submissiveness is someone who will just agree and go along with whatever someone is saying to them. This is a barrier because they will not actually say what they feel and they will not disagree with anything that is being said so they may be agreeing to something that they might not even want.

Strategy- A way to get past an aggressive person is to not take anything they say personally as they are just saying horrible things because of the bad situation that they are in. You should also TALK back to them instead of arguing. Assumptions are bad in Health and Social Care; this is because if you just assume what the person is saying then you aren’t exactly listening to them because you are already thinking of a way to respond to them; without knowing if it is what they are actually saying. This is bad because the service user will obviously not get the help and support that they need.

Strategy - You can get past this by actually listening to the person you are talking to properly so that you don't just assume what they're going to say. By listening, you will hear what the person is saying and you will also be able to come up with a way to solve their problem/issue etc. Value & belief systems can affect the level of communication that you have with someone. The values and beliefs that someone has can have a huge effect on the relationship you have with the service user.

For example; if a Christian councillor came across a gay service user who needed help with him and his husbands marriage, and the councillor didn’t want to speak or associate themselves with this person as it doesn’t say anything about gay marriage in the bible then this would cause big problems as the service user will not get any help and the person in need of help may feel very angry and he might even feel quite upset as the councillor is discriminating against him & gay, lesbian and bisexual people and also being homophobic.

Strategy - The easiest way to get over something like this is to get a new job because if you don't agree with gay marriage then this will defiantly affect you as you will may come across 2 gay people that want to get married and discriminating against them because you don't agree with gay marriage will cause problems. Jargon is a type of slang, if the service user speaks like this when seizing help then they may not be able to get the help that they require as the person trying to help then will not understand them; meaning that they will not know what the problem is.

However, overcoming this issue could be to ask someone to translate if possible or to use a method of communication that you both understand. Strategy - Ways to get past this issue would be things such as; translators, other workers to help you out, their family/friend could help you etc. Cultural variations are differences between you and someone else, for example if someone comes to you who are from Poland and you are from the UK then there will be many differences between the two of you.

These differences should not affect you in a huge way as you should be able to use many methods of communication; preferably the one that they prefer. One difference between the both of you may be the language or preferred method of communication, this will cause problems when communicating as you may not be able to understand them and they may not understand you. Strategy - A few ways to overcome this may be things like translators, sign language, written, body language, oral etc.

Use & abuse of power is a barrier is because when you are trying to solve or help a situation that someone is going through then you will both need to give ideas, not just one of you. If only one of you is talking then the other person may have ideas that they cannot share and this would be a barrier as both people need to speak in order to share ideas and solve problems that you both agree with. Strategy - You should make sure that you are both speaking; not just one of you.

Making sure that you are both talking is important, to do this you will need to make sure that you are asking questions and not just constantly talking to them because they might switch off and look like they're listening when in fact they are just bored. Effects of alcohol/drugs can mean that someone is not in their right state of mind; this means that they will not necessarily be making sense and they might also not know what they are saying. The problem with this is that the service user will not be getting any help because they will not be in the right state to be serious and to be willing to sort out their problems.

Strategy - Someone who comes in to speak to you about their issues could have a drink problem or a drug addiction. Ways to deal with this is to send them to Rehab so that they can try and get back on track; instead of getting worse. Whether it is an alcoholic or adrug addict, you should always take their needs into action as they could be desperate to turn their lives around before its to late. Regular check ups and phone calls will be a good idea as you can then see how the person is getting on and if they are getting the help that they require.

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Developing Effective Communication in Health & Social Care. (2016, Aug 21). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/developing-effective-communication-in-health-social-care-2/

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