In this essay, it will first explain the various different factors that have the potential to influence
communication interactions and interpersonal interactions in health and social care
environments, either positively or negatively. It will then go on to suggest and explain the
different possible strategies that could be used in health and social care environments to
overcome barriers to effective communication and interpersonal interactions. Following the
explanation of the strategies, I will then review these strategies and strategies and identify
how and why these may not work in different scenarios, and for different individual’. Lastly, in
the essay will come an evaluation of these strategies as previously explained and reviewed.
What could then be changed to the original strategies to then possibly make them work
successfully, will be suggested.
P3
One factor that may influence communications in health and social care environments is the
context in which the communication is being carried out in. The different communication
contexts in health and social care are group, one-to-one, informal and formal. The context in
which we are communicating in will affect how we respond and act. For example, in a one-to-
one context between a service user and a health care professional, and the service user is
having the process of their near-future surgery explained to them, the service user will be
speaking directly with the healthcare professional. This will allow the health care professional
(e.g. surgeon who is going to be carrying out the surgery) to explain clearly and directly what
the entire procedure will be; from start to finish. There will be an incredibly small chance of
interruption from outside individuals (e.g. another member of staff could knock on the door, in
which the surgeon could request them to come back later) which allows the service user to
take in all relevant information without interruption, as well as the surgeon being asked
questions regarding the surgery without being interrupted unnecessarily. However, one-to-one
contexts are not always influencing communications positively – for some people, the one-to-
one context may feel too formal or serious, causing them to feel overwhelmed or nervous.
This feeling of nervousness can cause the service user to not take in the information they are
being presented with, so they are left in a state of confusion and uncertainty.
Another factor that can influence communications in health and social care environments is
an age difference. A big age difference can make it hard to talk about certain things as you
may feel embarrassed or perhaps that they wouldn’t understand. If there is a big age difference
you will tend to disagree on a lot of things which may become obvious through facial
expressions, for example, making the situation awkward and uncomfortable for all people. For
example, if there is a young doctor trying to give an elderly patient advice in hospital as to how
to deal with a health condition the patient has, the service user may be very prejudice and
judgmental in regards to the doctor’s age, and not want to pay attention or even listen to what
they are saying, as they could believe that they don’t really know what they are talking about
because they are so young still. Another example of how an age difference can affect
interpersonal interactions in health and social care environments is if a nurse is trying to
perform a health check on an infant, it may be hard for the infant to calm down and relax while
the nurse does the health check. Even though the nurse may could explain why he/she must
do the examination, due to the child’s age they will not be able to comprehend what he/she is
being told, and also will not even care. If however there was not such a big age gap between
the nurse and the service user, it may possibly be easier for the service user to understand
and the nurse to explain with success.
A noisy environment is another factor that will influence interpersonal interactions in a health
and social care environment. Interpersonal interactions is all about talking to people, and
listening to them. If there is a noisy environment in which you are trying to have interpersonal
