Introduction To Communication In Health And Social Care

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Introduction to communication in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings Working in the health and social care sector is not just about providing support and care but is also about developing relationships with those one supports and good communication is an essential part of relationship building. In general, humans like to interact with other humans. Very few people lead completely solitary lives. People communicate for a variety of reasons. Some communicate to express emotions such as fear, anger, pain, joy and love. Others communicate to get views, wishes and information across to others for a variety of reasons. Sometimes this can be essential and even lifesaving in the case of a warning. For others it can improve…show more content…
Communication needs, wishes and preferences can be ascertained simply observing someone or by talking with colleagues who have worked with the person previously and often by talking to friends and family. They are likely to have a great deal of information about the communication needs for the individual, they will have developed ways of dealing with communication over a long period of time and are likely to be a very useful source of advice and help There would be little point in finding out about effective means of communication with someone and then not making an accurate record so that other people can also communicate with that person. Find out where the information is to be recorded and then record it. Supporting someone who speaks a different language to you can be an isolating and frustrating experience. Not being able to express their feelings, needs and not being understood can make the service user frightened and distressed as well as a strong possibility of confusion and misunderstanding. In such cases a professional interpreter is needed. It is tempting to use a family member but the service user may not want family members involved in personal discussions about health or care issues.in addition their ability to interpret may not be as good as a professional interpreter’s and misunderstandings can easily…show more content…
The professional duty of a support worker is to find whatever expert advice is needed in order to provide the best possible service. Communication is not always straightforward and on occasions barriers have to be overcome before any effective interaction can take place. The first barrier to check out is the one that you may be creating. You may think that you are doing everything possible to aid communication but may be making it difficult for the person to understand. Barriers can also be caused by failing to follow the steps to good communication. One needs to understand and recognise factors that get in the way of communication and how to overcome them. Until this is done communication will always be less effective than it could be. Give communication the best possible chance of success by dealing with as many barriers as possible and how to deal with the barriers for a better outcome. The best way to ensure that communication occurs in the best possible way is to make the person as comfortable and as relaxed as possible. Ways to make people confident enough to communicate have been discussed

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