B1: 2.3 - Explain factors that influence communication and interactions.
One of the factors that influence communication is medical conditions. There are many
conditions that affect communication such as aphasia. This is when a person has difficulty with
their language and speech because the left side of their brain has been damaged. This can be
caused by having a stroke. people with aphasia have difficulty in reading, listening, speaking
and writing. A person with this condition will use the wrong words and sounds or put together
the words incorrectly. It affects your ability to speak and understand what others say and will
need assistance in reading, writing, speaking etc. Speech and language therapy is used to treat
aphasia but at times it can improve by itself. Speech and language therapy will reduce
impairment as it will restore as much of your speech and language as possible, will find
alternative ways of communicating and help you communicate to the best of your ability.
Dementia also affects communication. (uk essays 2022).
However, a patient with dementia has a loss of memory and thinking abilities that interact with
their daily life. A person with dementia, their ability to present ideas and to reason will change.
As their dementia worsens, one will have to start a conversation with a dementia patient so
that they make conversation. When talking to a person who has dementia one should talk
slowly and clearly using short sentences, make eye contact when talking, give them time to
respond, give them simple choices, let them speak for themselves etc. A professional should
also use other ways of communicating with a dementia patient. For example, communicating
through body language and physical contact. A professional should talk to them in a friendly
tone, be at the same level as them, stay calm to help them communicate.
Within the mix of different ethnic groups people speak a range of languages. English may be a
second or even third language for some people and may not be spoken or understood at all by
others. If health and social care organisations only produce and display information in English
and professionals only speak English, some people will find it very difficult to find and use the
care services they need. Similarly, people from different cultural groups interpret non-verbal
behaviour in different ways and may have different senses of humour. This can lead to
‘messages’ being misunderstood by, or making no sense to, the person on the receiving end.
(collins 2022)
Some conditions, such as having a stroke, being depressed or having other mental health
problems may affect an individual’s ability to communicate, because they affect the person’s
ability to send and receive messages effectively. Similarly, when a person is angry, aggressive or
, upset, they may find it difficult to communicate and their own communication may be
misunderstood by others. (nhs 2022).
Another factor is environmental. The space between people is very important when
communicating because little space between two can make a person uncomfortable .For
example if wanted to talk to and the space between them was 1 finger away from each other
and its someone you aren’t close to then the person may feel very uncomfortable and may not
be listening probably or is not giving the right responses back or even too much of a distance
can lead to misunderstanding. Noise- If there is a lot of background noise it will be harder for
people to hear each other when communicating and mixed messages may be received.
Communication in health and social care can weaken when people assign different meanings to
the same word. For example, misunderstanding occurs when technical words or jargons are
used. Moreover, people may also misinterpret the inner meaning of words. This issue is very
common in the communication process but if left unchecked can lead to bigger problems for
organizations. Messages must be prepared properly, be specific, and have a feedback system.
Language can become a barrier as the person you may be trying to communicate with may not
be able to speak the same language so therefore the communication is received but not
understood. However, to overcome this barrier interpreters/translator are people who will
translate and forward your message to the person who you are trying to communicate with by
talking to them in their language. For example if the doctor only spoke English but his patient
would only be able to speak Turkish a Turkish interpreter would translate to her what the
doctor is saying to her or if the doctor does know how to speak Turkish he should use his
patients preferred language. (Open access government 2020).
Blindness is the loss of sight/vision. To overcome the barrier of blindness, braille and speech
can be used to communicate. Braille is a writing system used by blind people to be able to read,
“Braille characters are small rectangular blocks called cells that contain tiny palpable bumps
called raised dots”. For example in a care home, the lunch menu can be written in braille for a
person who can’t see the menu. Also another way to overcome this barrier is by either having a
big print menu or spectacles for the client so that it’s clearer. The advantages of using braille is
that braille allows the visually impaired to understand quicker and get things done easily and
faster as well as allowing them to be more independent . The disadvantages are the not all
visually impaired people know how to use braille also not all people’s fingers are sensitive
enough to use it. (nhs 2022).
