How Good Are Your Communication Skills? Essay

In everyday life, communication skills need to be used to interact with people in many situations. Communication is the foundation for social interaction as it allows people to socialize and interact. Effective communication is extremely important in a health and social care context because it is essential to help you understand your clients’ feelings and emotions, as well as creating a positive relationship with your clients, relatives, colleagues and other healthcare professionals. Communication may come in many forms including speaking, writing or sometimes using pictures, sign language, and body language or gesturing. There are a number of reasons we communicate including socializing, to express our needs, informing others of information, to share ideas, to educate, to identify problems, to find solutions and many other reasons. Verbal Communication Verbal communication is when a person communicates verbally with someone. This could be one to one or in a group. Good verbal communication skills in health and social care is essential as it allow workers to effectively communicate and connect with patients and health care professionals by listening to them and talking to them to meet their needs. The ability to communicate and connect with patients and health care professionals helps to build relationships, prevent mistakes and helps to provide a high level of care. When communicating verbally, a person’s tone of voice interprets what they say and what influence it has on the receiver. If someone talks in a very slow and low voice, people may consider you are shy, embarrassed, unconfident or unsure. It may also indicate discomfort about the topic being spoken about. However, a calm and slow voice shows you are a confi friendly and caring. Talking quickly with a firm tone and in a loud voice may indicate anger or rudeness. When health and social care professionals speak with service users, it is very important to know when to change your tone of voice Non-Verbal Communication Non-Verbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages without using words, either spoken or written messages. This could be communicating through gestures, touch (Haptic communication), by body language, posture, facial expression, eye contact or written communication. There are several types of nonverbal communication including: Kinesics Kinesics involves body movements in communication, for example, hand gestures, nodding or shaking the head Proxemics Proxemics involves the physical distance between people when they communicate, territoriality and personal space, position, and poster, how you stand or sit, whether your arms are crossed, and so on. Haptic Haptic communication describes how we communicate with each other with the use of touch. Young children and the elderly may commonly use haptic communication. For example, a child may tap their mum on her shoulder to get her attention. Non- Verbal communication is the second most common type of communication used in health and social care settings. It can be used in emails, letters, written communication and sign language. Very many people communicate using facial expressions, gestures and body language. Facial expressions are responsible for a huge proportion of nonverbal communication. This is because the first thing we see when we look at a person is their facial expressions. Facial expression gives a huge clue on what type of mood a person is in. A person who Language Barriers Sometimes there are barriers that need to be overcome to be able to communicate. There are a number of different barriers, which people could face. For example a language barrier. If someone spoke a different language to you, you would struggle to understand what he or she is trying to say. In this case, an interpreter could be used to translate for them. This would mean that the barrier would be overcome. If someone has the same first language as someone, it allows them to communicate effectively with an individual. Additionally, there are other barriers, which people may face including physical barriers, barriers for people with special needs and psychological barriers. Physiological Barriers Psychological barriers are mind-associated problems that keep you from reaching a solution, obtaining a goal, establishing positive relationships or taking a step toward finding a new job or starting college etc. Therefore, understanding what these issues are will help you on your journey to overcome intangible fears and frustrations. People who are going through a difficult time may not want to communicate if they feel distressed or down. This may lead them to avoid communication with people for a number of reasons. A person’s self-esteem may discourage them from communicating with people and prevent them from taking part in-group activities. Some factors, which may contribute to a low self-esteem, may be fear and anxiety, low self- concept, depression or panic attacks. People who suffer from a low self- esteem may shut themselves out and avoid communicating with people altogether. Dealing with a disabled person who communicates in different ways People suffering from physical disabilities may face physical barriers, which may relate to hearing, eyesight, difficulty walking or movement of the limbs. These barriers may be overcome by using pictures to express words, Makaton, or braille for visually impaired individuals or people with impaired hearing. A person with a physical disability could become easily annoyed and agitated. It may be hard to communicate with them when they feel like this. To handle a situation when they feel like this it may help if they are spoken to in a calm manner, as they may get more irritated, it may also help to remove them from a situation to allow them to calm down. They may use different body language to express their feelings, for example, if they are feeling annoyed they may sigh or if they want to show you they need something they may tap your shoulder. A disabled person may also require special facilities to be provided for them such as braille. Braille is a form of written language for blind people, in which characters are represented by patterns of raised dots that are felt with the fingertips. British Sign language uses visual communication including gestures, facial expressions, and body language; to communicate mainly with people who are deaf or have hearing impairments. A person who is deaf or has hearing impairments may need a signer to communicate with them using sign language and pass on information. These alternatives allow disabled people to communicate effectively. Types of Interpersonal Communication Communicating with different people: There are times where you may use formal language and times where you may use informal language. For example, talking to a friend you will usually use slang terms and informal language. This may include personal topics, which you would only discuss with people you are close to. Talking to a colleague, you will need to take a more professional approach. You would not usually ask a colleague about their personal life or what they did for the weekend. You may use terminology or jargon words relating to your job and work when communicating with professionals. One to one groups: In many Health and Social Care settings such as nursing homes or schools, one to one communication is important. This could be to provide a service user with extra support or personal care. To meet the personal needs of a service user it could be beneficial to communicate one to one with them to maintain privacy and confidentiality. This may also help them to feel more comfortable when communicating with professionals about personal matters. Group Communication: Group communication is a more open type of communication as it allows people to express their views and opinions to a number of people. It also allows people discuss their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with people. An example of group communication is support groups. Support groups allow a group of people to share their negative past experiences with each other and offer support, encouragement, and advice. People with drinking problems, drug problems, and young offenders may join support groups to find ways to deal with their problems when other ways have failed. Facial expressions body language and posture: A person’ s facial expressions, body language and posture give people a good interpretation of how they are feeling or what they may be thinking. If a person is slouching, looks uninterested, unconcerned and is not participating at work it gives people the impression they do not care about their work, they are not physically prepared and that they want to be elsewhere. A person with this attitude may not want to communicate with others as their body language shows that they may want to be left undisturbed. When a person is speaking, you can usually tell what type of mood they are in by the tone of their voice. If they In almost any workplace including health and social care settings, a good level of verbal and written communication is needed. Workers will need to be able to communicate with service effectively to ensure that their needs are met to a high standard, with other colleagues which they work with and other organizations which the service is part of. Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organization. A General practitioner(GP) will need to have a good standard of both written and verbal communication skills to meet the needs of their patient. The role of their job of a general practitioner requires listening to a patient’s problems and decide on a suitable solution or treatment for them in a timely manner. Sometimes a general practitioner also known as a doctor will refer patients to other services which can provide for their specific needs. For example, a person who has suffered from a fall may be referred to a hospital to have an x-ray. In this case, a doctor may need to create a written medical report on the accident which would be passed on to other health care professionals such as radiographers. D1: Analyse how cultural variations can influence communication There are different ways religious beliefs, languages and personal views can have an impact on how we communicate. These factors may change the manner in which we communicate, the ways of communicating with different people and how we communicate. There are many cultural differences in communication and for this reason; it needs to be ensured that related barriers are overcome. People of different cultures may use different gestures, symbols, languages and different ways to greet people. Culture can affect how you think and act and, more importantly, the kind of criteria by which you judge others. The traditions of one culture may be the total opposite of another culture. For example, it is seen as polite and respectful to make eye contact when speaking to someone in Western culture but in other cultures, for example in East Asia, it can be seen as rude and defiant. Some cultures portray some behaviors as normal and right and others strange or wrong. In different cultures, there are diverse ways to greet people. some cultures shake hands, kiss on the cheek, bow, hug or simply say hi or hello. In England, The handshake is used as a gesture. as a form of a greeting between two people. If the information (signs, leaflets, posters) about health, social care, and early years services are in English only then those with a different first language will not be able to find out about the service. If the information uses specialist language, the individual may not understand it. They may become anxious or worried about the service.