LO: understand effective communication and interpersonal interaction in
health and social care
P1: Explain the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in
health and social care context.
For health and social care settings to run effectively, there needs to be a good
process of communication. The three main ways of communicating are orally,
computerised and written. If the communication process is not effective then it can
affect the way the settings run. I have explained how each form of communication is
used in a health care setting (hospitals), social care setting (care homes) and early
years setting (nursery) below.
Oral communication:
Oral communication is the process of using words and sentences to share and
exchange information. It is important for understanding people completely and
building professional relationships within the settings. This form of communication is
more common than computerised or written as most people have the ability to
communicate orally; it is the easiest and simplest way of communicating for people
who are able to.
In a hospital, oral communication is frequently used. This is because hospitals keep
a lot of information about patients and their medical history and prescriptions, the
easiest way to communicate with the patient is orally. This can be between doctors
or doctors and patients. For example when a patient has an appointment they will
explain to the doctor the issue and then the doctor will sometimes leave and orally
communicate with another doctor to get a diagnosis, then the doctor will go back to
the patient and orally communicate what their diagnosis is and what treatment they
will be receiving. This allows the patient to stay informed and understand their new
diagnosis and treatment as they can see that the communication process is efficient
and all the right people are informed. Without oral communication, the patient would
not have any information about what was wrong; this could mean they would not feel
relaxed in an often stressful situation, as they aren’t being informed about what is
going on. In conclusion, with no oral communication the patients would not be cared
for in the way they should be, creating a stressful environment.
In a care home, oral communication is just as important as in a hospital or nursery.
This is because it ensures that the residents feel safe and know what is going on.
Often the carers will speak slower and slightly louder than they would normally to be
sure the residents can hear and understand them, this is important as elderly people
especially can sometimes get confused about what is being said to them which could
lead to them feeling disorientated. Oral communication does not just happen
between carers and residents; it is also used between carers. For example, when
,one carers shift ends they will update the next carer on the residents notes from the
day and anything that might have happened during the day. This allows the carers to
keep the residents safe and monitor any possible changes that may have occurred,
resulting in the residents receiving the best possible care. As the residents spend
majority of their days with the carers, effective communication is vital so they can be
kept comfortable within the care home.
In an early years setting (children in a nursery type setting ages four and below) oral
communication is just as important even though it is often made easier for the
children. It is simplified, as the practitioners need to keep it simple and clear as the
children are still developing their speech and language. This means the practitioners
need to have a loud and clear voice so the children are able to understand easier
and there is little confusion. Oral communication is also important in an early years
setting because the children are still developing their language skills so they are
noticing words and phrases that are being said by the practitioners. As children
spend a lot of time at nursery if the practitioners didn’t use oral communication then
their speech and language could be underdeveloped compared to children at a
different nursery. Practitioners will also use oral communication to communicate with
the child’s parents to inform them of any injuries or key information from the child’s
day. If oral communication is used effectively it helps to support children through
their time at nursery as it allows the practitioners to provide the support each
individual child needs. By children developing their skill of language it means they
are able to communicate with the practitioners so they can be assisted with what
they need quicker than if they couldn’t talk.
As oral communication is the most common form of communication, it is extremely
important in all care service settings. It allows the quality of care given by
professionals to be received to a high standard.
Written communication:
Written communication is the most important communication in workplaces and is
used often in health care settings. Written communication is information that is wrote
down, it is mostly used for note taking or letter writing, it is then usually transferred
into computerised communication.
In a health care setting such as a hospital, written
communication is used mostly by doctors and nurses.
This is because doctors use it to make notes on why a
patient needs help before computerising it to be on
their medical record. Both doctors and nurses also
use written communication for things like carrying out
tests, prescribing medicines and making note of
new/potential diagnoses. This is the most effective
way of communicating because the notes are computerised making them accessible
to other doctors too. Although written communication is used mostly by doctors and
, nurses sometimes patients will use it for things such as signing consent forms and
signing discharge forms. A disadvantage of written communication is it can be easily
lost. Another way written communication is used in a health care setting is signs and
notices. For example the signs in a hospital to tell patients which direction to go in.
Sometimes in smaller minor injury units and doctors surgeries there are signs to say
how long the waiting time is, this is also a form of written communication. All forms of
written communications allow people to receive good health care and that their
personal information is noted down correctly not missing any diagnoses or
medication the patient is currently on. Written communication values and supports
patient as it keeps their medical histories safe and secure following the rules of
patient confidentiality, which is a care value that must be abided by.
In a social care setting such as an elderly care home, written communication is used
a lot, for example in resident care plans and visitor books. A resident care plan is
information that is written down about the resident’s condition and how they react to
what type of care. This information is essential so all the carers can see whether the
resident is improving or deteriorating, and the correct next steps can be taken. If the
resident didn’t have a care plan, then there is a high chance that their needs would
not be met, and they would not be receiving high quality care. As it is written
communication it means it is written down for all the carers to see and there is less
chance of confusion. If oral communication was used for this it would increase the
likeliness of information being forgotten or misunderstood, so written communication
is best for this type of setting. Visitor books are used for anyone who comes into the
care home whether its family, friends, health visitors or inspectors. They use a book
to sign in and out of the building along with the time of arrival or exit, it enables the
staff to see who is in the building and what time, this is particularly useful in case of a
fire or other emergency. Written communication supports the residents in the care
home as it allows the carers to have all of their information and history in one place
making it accessible to however many carers, they have in their time of receiving
care.
In an early years setting such as a nursery, written communication is important. One
type of written communication within a nursery is a child’s progress book, this is
where the practitioner writes down the child’s progress throughout the year, it helps
them to notice any development gaps. Without written communication a child’s
progress would be monitored by memory, this would likely mean that all children
would be working on the same things in the nursery instead of working on what the
child is underdeveloped in. Another type of written communication is registers. This
allows the nursery to keep track of which children are absent, anyone who leaves the
nursery early or comes in late. Another type of written communication is incident
forms, these are usually signed by both the nursery practitioner and the child parent.
This keeps both the child’s parents informed of what happened during their child’s
day and it means they can also inquire any worries about the injuries. Nurseries can
also ask for incident forms to be filled out if a child comes into school injured, this
