The Interaction in the DVD Clip
Communication is a central factor that determines the effectiveness of therapeutic relationship between client and health care professionals. A health care professional always have certain intended goal while interacting with patient (Berry 2007). Their communication and interpersonal skills determines their ability to gather critical patient information, make accurate diagnosis, counsel patients and provide them effective therapeutic instruction for the health and well-being of client. The communication strategies and styles used by them determine the effectiveness of the communication process with client (Ha and Longnecker 2010). With this concept, this essay further builds on the discussion by reviewing a DVD clip demonstrating interaction between a nutritionist and client and explaining about the communication skills used by the nutritionist to interact with patient. The essay also gives an insight into the different models of communication and other alternative skills that could be adapted by the health care professional. It also critically discusses the effectiveness of the communication approach used by health care professional for promoting positive change in patient.
The DVD video clip by McKeith (2010) shows an episode where holistic nutritionist, Gillian Mckeith visits a mother Jane and her daughter Holly. The main health issue that has been found both in Jane and Holly is that both are obese and they tend to overeat. As diet is a major factor behind uncontrolled weight and obesity Milagro et al. (2013), the main goal of interaction for Gillian was to find out daily dietary pattern and types of food both mother and daughter has been eating till now. From Gillian’s point of view, the interaction was important to gather information regarding daily and weekly dietary intake of client and tell them whether they are eating healthy food or not. In accordance with the goal of interaction, Gillian looked through the food stored in fridge of Jane and also inquired Jane regarding how frequently does she cook food and eat instead of relying on pre-packed food. To gather more information regarding calorie intake and vegetable and fruits consumed, she also asked Jane to give idea about all food items that Holly eats throughout the week. Through this form of interaction, Gillian made Jane and Holly aware about the horrific food they are taking and their high risk of developing chronic disease in the future. Abete et al. (2010) also shows that obesity and high body fat minimizes quality of life of people and increases the risk of metabolic disorders and deaths in people. For this reason, health care professionals treating obese patient often monitor dietary habits of patient to see how far they adhere to healthy food and physical activity in their life.
Communication Strategies Used by the Nutritionist
From the above discussion, the purpose of interaction between Gillian and the client is understood. To further explore the communication process between Gillian and client, it is necessary to identify the communication strategies that Gillian used to gather relevant data from patient and provide appropriate therapeutic advice to them. In clinical setting, health care professionals use communication skill to seek informed consent from patient, explain diagnosis, engage patients in decision making and give discharge instruction (Corcoran 2013). In the case of Gillian and her clients, Gillian used her communication skill to identify dietary pattern and give advice on lifestyle and dietary habits to Jane. Gillian was mostly found to use verbal communication skill throughout the interaction with Jane and Gillian. Verbal communication skill is the ability of health care professional to use appropriate style and approach to build relationship with client and express idea in a clear manner (Silverman, Kurtz and Draper 2016). The presenting skill, listening skills and verbal skill of Gillian is further explored in the next section.
The interaction between health care professional and patient starts by the process of introducing oneself to patient. Effective communication skill in this area is needed to build mutual trust with patient and ensure that they disclose all necessary information without any inhibition or discomfort (Thompson 2011). The video clip however showed no moments regarding the manner in which Gillian introduced herself to client and the way she explained the purpose of this interaction. Hence, rapport building skills of Gillian has not been demonstrated in the video. Obese patients are often vulnerable to poor patient-physician communication and this mainly occurs because of physician’s negative attitude towards patients with obesity (Gudzune et al. 2013). This might also be the reason for Gillian not to engage in positive rapport building with client. However, Gillian also engaged in questioning to clarify certain points. Questioning skill is vital for gathering relevant information from patient as well to explore the personality or attitude of clients (Silverman, Kurtz and Draper 2016). Although Gillian has not been found to directly question Jane during her visit, however she starts questioning after seeing the food Jane stored in her Fridge.
Secondly, moving through the next stage of interaction, the manner in which Gillian communicates with Jane and Holly is reflective of her verbal communication skills. The basic rules for etiquette in the verbal communication process include being focused, demonstrating clarity of speech and showing good listening and clarification skills (Seiler et al. 2017). All these aspects in Gillian’s communication process is described here one by one. Firstly, Gillian was found to very focus in her interaction. This can be said because instead of wasting time in irrational conversation or fulfilling certain formalities like introducing herself and starting with a neutral conversation, she directly approached Jane regarding diet and food items she consumes on a daily basis. She was very clear regarding what information she exactly needed from Jane. Hence, she directly asked client to show the foods that she stores in her fridge. This made her clear regarding the type of nutrients and calories Jane and her daughter are taking.
Evaluation of the Communication Skills
Secondly, reinforcement is also an important part of communication process where the main purpose is to involve client in conversation and showing openness in others. The therapeutic approach is to use positive enforcement by means of encouraging words and using non-verbal gestures like eye contact, facial expression and head nods (Lunenburg, 2010). Gillian used non-verbal gestures but not to encourage client but to express shock. Although she involved client in discussion, however she did this to know more about what she learnt from the food stored in Jane’s fridge. Normally, during such interaction with client, health care professionals should not be judgmental. However, in the process of gathering information about diet and food intake of Jane and Holly, she was becoming judgmental. This is understood from comments like ‘someone lives on ready meals’, ‘someone does not like the kitchen’, ‘there is nothing living, everything is dead’, ‘I am getting headache looking at this’, ‘mum made disaster’ and many other comments. All this comments reflect that Gillian strongly expressed shock to her clients and through non-verbal gestures like raised eye-brows; she demonstrated the client that she was not happy with what she saw and learnt from Jane.
Active listening is also an important communication skill where health care professionals can learn a lot about patient. For active listening, it is essential that health care professionals handle clients patiently and do not rush the conversation (Weger, Castle and Emmett 2010). Gillian was found to ask more questions instead of listening to Jane. Although she asked questions from Jane, however she was found to be an active listener. Her rushed conversation and strong comment was making the mother and daughter very nervous and apprehensive. Hence Gillian’s communication style clearly reflects that she does not want to emotionally build rapport with client, instead her focus is just getting the information she wants and interventions for client. However, despite poor listening and rapport building skills, Gillian was found to be very informative in her interaction. For example, she made Jane aware that drinking lot of fizzy drink is the reason why Holly always had headache. She explained that fizzy drinks contain caffeine which results in dehydration and eventually headache. After reviewing the list of food Holly consumes throughout the week, she also informed Jane that fruits and vegetables are missing in her diet. Hence, through her informative way of communication, Gillian was making Jane and Holly aware that she has gone completely out of track in terms of healthy diet choices for Holly.
Models and Methods of Communication in Health Care
The above methods of communication style adopted by Gillian or other forms of communication style adapted by other health care professionals have links with diverse models and methods of communication. Firstly, method of communication differs on the way it is delivered. It may be oral, written and non-verbal. Non-verbal gestures are mainly incorporated during verbal interaction to collect additional cues from client (Marcinowicz, Konstantynowicz and Godlewski 2010). The most common model of communication is the Aristotle model which is a speaker-centered model where the speaker plays an active role in communication with client. This type of communication is mainly one way motive is just to send message to receiver so that they get influenced. This can be said a linear model of communication. Another communication model is the interactive communication model where information is relayed between sender and receiver however evaluation occurs in such interaction. Another approach is the transactional communication model where simultaneous message is shared between two people as well as feedback is given (Coble and Schulz 2013). In additions, health care professionals may incorporate several interpersonal communication theory to interact with patient. The interpersonal theories like Goals-Plan-Action (GPA) theory, uncertainty theories, action assembly theory are individually centered theories used by health care professional to plan goal and thought process of patient (Bylund, Peterson and Cameron 2012). Gillian’s communication style also seems to be inspired by GPA theory.
After detailed discussion on communication strategies used by Gillian, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the skills in achieving the main goal of interaction. While reviewing Gillian’s communication style, several limitation as well as strength has been identified in her approach. Firstly, in case of limitation, one major weakness identified in Gillian’s communication style is that she has ignored the component of rapport building with clients by asking formal questions and starting with general talk. This creates a gap between communication and client may not develop good therapeutic relationship with Gillian (Gudzune et al. 2013). Jane and Holly were mostly found to be nervous and scared throughout the interaction because of Gillian’s communication style and lack of empathy. Hence, instead of taking the approach of directly asking questions about diet and food consumptions, Gillian could have taken the alternative action of starting on a bright note by good formal introduction and explaining the purpose of meeting to Jane. This could have made them more comfortable (Dinç and Gastmans 2013). Another limitation found in communication was that Gillian was not an active listener and focused more on listening to client’s perspective instead of giving her own negative judgment about Jane as a mother.
Conclusion
The key strength found in Gillian’s communication style is that she was clear about the goal of interactions and used her questions accordingly to gather all necessary information from Jane. She was very focused throughout her interaction and this is evident by the manner in which she moved from reviewing food stored in fridge to what Holly eats throughout the week. Secondly, through her interaction with Jane and Holly, it was evident that Gillian was giving many information to her clients. She was very informative throughout her interaction. By information on reasons for headache, thing’s missing in Holly’s daily diet and amount of sugar she consumes every weeks just from drinks. This message had great impact on client and it is evident they are most likely to follow what Gillian will suggest in the future to reduce her weight and other problems (Verlinde et al. 2012). However, Gillian should have been more empathetic during interaction with client because sometimes she was becoming too harsh and giving judgments without providing emotional support to them. Taking an empathetic approach in her communication would have made her therapeutic relationship more successful.
The essay gave an insight into the communication skills demonstrated by a health care professionals and client through the review of a video of interaction with nutritionist and client. The essay gave detailed discussion on the core goal of interaction and the communication skills demonstrated by Gillian while gathering information from Jane. She was found to be focused, using verbal skills to ask question, collect information and inform patient. She used non-verbal gesture to express shock and give judgment to patient. Despite strength of focused and reflective communication, her communication style was judgmental and its lacked empathy. Addressing this weakness would have made her session with client more interactive and lively.
Reference
Abete, I., Astrup, A., Martínez, J.A., Thorsdottir, I. and Zulet, M.A., 2010. Obesity and the metabolic syndrome: role of different dietary macronutrient distribution patterns and specific nutritional components on weight loss and maintenance. Nutrition reviews, 68(4), pp.214-231.
Berry,D. 2007. Health Communication: Theory and Practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
Bylund, C.L., Peterson, E.B. and Cameron, K.A., 2012. A practitioner’s guide to interpersonal communication theory: An overview and exploration of selected theories. Patient Education and Counseling, 87(3), pp.261-267.
Cobley, P. and Schulz, P.J. eds., 2013. Theories and models of communication (Vol. 1). Walter de Gruyter.
Corcoran, N. ed., 2013. Communicating health: strategies for health promotion. 2nd edn. thousand oaks, CA; Sage publications
Dinç, L. and Gastmans, C., 2013. Trust in nurse–patient relationships: A literature review. Nursing Ethics, 20(5), pp.501-516.
Gudzune, K.A., Beach, M.C., Roter, D.L. and Cooper, L.A., 2013. Physicians build less rapport with obese patients. Obesity, 21(10), pp.2146-2152.
Ha, J.F. and Longnecker, N., 2010. Doctor-patient communication: a review. The Ochsner Journal, 10(1), pp.38-43.
Lunenburg, F.C., 2010. Communication: The process, barriers, and improving effectiveness. Schooling, 1(1), pp.1-11.
Marcinowicz, L., Konstantynowicz, J. and Godlewski, C., 2010. Patients’ perceptions of GP non-verbal communication: a qualitative study. Br J Gen Pract, 60(571), pp.83-87.
McKeith, G. 2010. GILLIAN MCKEITH: You are what you eat episode 4 (series 2). YouTube. Retrieved 22 December 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvKBv5c1St4&feature=youtu.be
Milagro, F.I., Mansego, M.L., De Miguel, C. and Martinez, J.A., 2013. Dietary factors, epigenetic modifications and obesity outcomes: progresses and perspectives. Molecular aspects of medicine, 34(4), pp.782-812.
Seiler, A., Knee, A., Shaaban, R., Bryson, C., Paadam, J., Harvey, R., Igarashi, S., LaChance, C., Benjamin, E. and Lagu, T., 2017. Physician communication coaching effects on patient experience. PloS one, 12(7), p.e0180294.
Silverman, J., Kurtz, S. and Draper, J., 2016. Skills for communicating with patients. CRC Press.
Thompson, N., 2011. Effective Communication: A guide for the people professions. Palgrave Macmillan.
Verlinde, E., De Laender, N., De Maesschalck, S., Deveugele, M. and Willems, S., 2012. The social gradient in doctor-patient communication. International journal for equity in health, 11(1), p.12.
Weger Jr, H., Castle, G.R. and Emmett, M.C., 2010. Active listening in peer interviews: The influence of message paraphrasing on perceptions of listening skill. The Intl. Journal of Listening, 24(1), pp.34-49.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
