Communication
B1 2.3 Explain factors that influence communication and interaction.
Each person is different which means they all have different preferences and needs. Therefore, it’s
important for a care worker/ professional to establish a communication that reflects on the
individual needs and preferences as well as also not assume their condition or needs because the
individual might have a special need or condition that the care worker might not know. They might
be trying to show it in their own specific way. Some factors can be medical conditions, personal
factors, disability and language.
According to Access (2023), “Conditions common in the elderly, such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, or
the impact of a stroke, can all affect a person’s ability to communicate their needs and feelings, as
well as impacting the thought process. If a person is having trouble communicating, it makes it
harder for us to interpret their needs and wants”. Having conditions such as dementia makes it hard
for patients to communicate to their carer or other people about their needs which makes the
individual feel vulnerable and frustrated. It might also make them isolated and not wanting to talk to
others because they might feel like they are wasting the care workers time by not speaking clearly
and faster like others who might.
Some conditions such as aphasia or dysphasia are known to make errors in words which could be
wrong or putting the words together in a wrong way. Aphasia might also affect the written
communication or the understanding of the language. Some causes of this might be a stroke or brain
injury. Some other conditions such as dysarthria makes it difficult for a patient to speak as it is
caused by muscle of speech. The speech might be slow or uncoordinated therefore the individual
might use short phrases or even single words to express their needs or communicate. This might
have developed brain changes before or after birth. Dementia affects some parts of the brain that
control the language which makes it hard for a patient to communicate. Some symptoms might not
be finding the right words or related words therefore the sentence might not make sense, or the
response might be inaccurate or inappropriate. Pain is also another condition that will distract a
person from the communication or the priorities and not even concentrate. Some people might feel
shy or uncomfortable telling the doctor that they are experiencing unbearable pain but will tell the
doctor they feel fine. E.g. the patient might feel embarrassed about telling a doctor that they have a
sexual transmitted disease Wyatt et al (2017, page 71).
According to UKessays.com (2003-2023), “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”. people use Interpreters to overcome this barrier so
they can forward their message to the person who is receiving it. For example, a person whose first
language isn’t English would use an interpreter to communicate with doctor. Sometimes this can be
hard because some hospitals or practices might not have one therefore some people learn it even
though it might be hard for them.
Dialect is a form of language that depends on the area or a social group. The use of this might also
cause some language problems even though some people might speak the same language the way
they communicate might make it hard for them to understand each other. for example, if a bread roll
has a different type, the service user might find it hard to communicate their needs or preference.
Terminology is also used in a communication which can also be a barrier which some people might
find it hard to understand by the recipient. Therefore, e.g. a doctor should use a language which is
clear and easy for the patients to understand as different patients are from different cultures and
their first language might not be English. If a doctor said that “they have positive diagnosis for
cancer”, the patient might think that what the doctor has said is positive whereas what the doctor
was trying to say is that they have cancer which is not a good thing for the patient. These scenarios
might happen to someone who is new to English or might understand it but not understand the use
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