The Role of Communication in Health and Social Care
The role of communication is vital in health and social care and effective communication permits improving interpersonal relationships. The workers of health and care services should develop the proper communication skills with service users (Sinuff et. al., 2015). This assignment is focused on the communication which involves the double process. The theories and communication skills in health and social care will be mentioned in this assignment. Inappropriate interpersonal communication increases the conflicts between individuals in health and social care. The strategies will be used to support service user and define how the communication process in impacted by values and cultural factors. It will be reflected in the assignment that how communication process get influenced by legislation in health and social care and analyze the effectiveness of the organizational system policies in developing the good practices in communication. The way will be suggested in this report to improve the process of communication and discussion will be made on ICT software packages. There are various benefits of ICT software which increase the productivity of the employee.
1.1 Communication theories
There are number of theories of communication which can be used to reduce the impact of unnecessary conflicts. These theories can be behaviourist theory, humanistic, psychoanalytical, cognitive theory and social learning theory. Behaviourist theory can be applied in the case of Joanna because this theory is a process whereby entire learning is dependent on the ideas where the behaviour of someone is acquired by conditioning. It can be seen that the response to the environmental are the major cause of behaviour or response. In term to case study of Joanna H, this theory can be applied because Joanna got the negative response from the nurse as well as doctor while appointments which make her feel bad and insecure. It has been analyzed that this theory has two reinforcement such as positive and negative. Positive occurs when the result pursue a certain behaviour is experienced as want. On the other hand negative reinforcement occurs when a behaviour of someone being the cause of something unpleasant. In the context of case study, negative reinforcement occurs because Joanna felt bad experience at health and social care.
Social theory can be applied in this case because it facilitates to develop the bonding between Joanna, nurse and doctor. The nurse should have be a good role model because the behaviour of nurse can impact the image of the hospital. It has been analyzed that she has realized that the staff of the hospital should be more adequate while communicating with new patients. This theory can be helpful to improve the communication gap between the doctor and patient because it teaches that how to behave with needy person and how to respond on their needs (Healy, K., 2014).
Theories of Communication for Reducing Conflicts
Furthermore, Shannon Weavers’s model of communication process defines the way of message deformed by noise. It has been assumed in the scenario of hospital that the level of noise from the accident and emergency section might impact the verbal as well as non-verbal communication of the doctors. The model of Shannon defines that due to noise thee relevant information cannot be reached to the listener in correct form which may develop the issues.
Communication is considered as the two ways process between sender and recipient and it permits people to get interacted with other people and make relationship with them. The communication skills included are questioning, explanation, paraphrasing, resulting, consulting and summarizing. It has been evaluated that good listening skills included hearing what the response come from other person. In the term of case study of Joanna, the doctor was unable to understand the gesture and posture of the services user which pushed her into pressure. The contribution of good listening is huge at my work place which helps me to understand what the service user is trying to saying and provide me information so that I can pursue myself in better manner. It is able to diminish the stress and time. The behaviour of doctor was not appropriate and professional towards Joanna. Open questions are allowed to patient to express their feelings and opinion. It has been evaluated that the behaviour of the nurse should have been polite and helps Joanna to fill the form. Good doctor interpersonal communication at my workplace facilitates to understand the way of care in better way. I always make an organizational chart to monitor the blood pressure and heart rate which can be read by anyone clearly and accurately. I have observed that the pitch of my voice is gone high while communicating with patient so I endeavour to slow my voice because high voice can be the cause of communication barrier. Due to my behaviour, my patients can misjudge me.
The communication of interpersonal is occurred when different professional meet with each other for developing the ideas for the wellbeing of the individual. It helps them to deal with different tasks and communicate with others. The interpersonal theory can be applied in this case study which is social exchange theory which shows that the nurse and doctor of the hospital should have provided pleasure but they had words with her negatively which bring pain to the service user. Uncertainty reduction theory can be taken for this case study, this theory is applicable when people has better understanding about other people it increase more interpersonal relationships (Spitzer, Silverman and Allen,2015). The doctor and the nurse would have used this theory to appreciate more about the situation of Joanna in depth details and indicate using signs and body language. It has been evaluated from the YouTube video that the elderly patient was not being observed and cared by the healthcare workers. It is necessary for the healthcare workers to listen and care them. Interpersonal communication improves the relations between doctor and nurse. Training should be given to the healthcare workers for making better communication with staff as well as patients. In the term of Joanna H the doctor of the hospital uses his power to make her feel low and behave with her inadequate manner. In such case it is required for the hospital to address their policies and procedures so that professionalism can maintain within the environment. The receptionist, nurse and the doctor have breached her trust which develop bad image in the mind of Joanna.
Communication Skills and Good Listening
The requirement of communication’s method is required to accomplish the needs of the people. The barriers of communication can be removed by understanding the need of others especially for those with disabilities utilized certain way of communication like slang expression, non verbal communication and lip reading. The latest technology can be used within the organization such as expansion of visual images. There are number of people who are facing hearing issues in such case signed language can be used to understand them (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta, 2016). It would be the best way to interact with people to interpret a language instead of saying it out. In the term of Joanna, there could have been a better translator which could help to understand the language of Joanna and make her comfortable in her own way. It is vital for the doctors and the nurses to get more polite while communicating with patients. There is various social setting and they should have to be sensitive regarding this.
Cultural is made up of social behaviour, customs and ideas of the society. It is built and impacted through transmitted of human from generations by teachers, friends, parents and leaders in the community. As a health care worker it is essential to give priority and respect to the background, culture and beliefs of others (Betancourt, Green, Carrillo and Owusu Ananeh-Firempong, 2016). In relation to the case study it has been analyzed that Joanna’s culture and background are being avoided by the nurse and she dishonoured the trust of Joanna had in her. Joanna is belonged to Vietnam where people are polite and greet each other by joining hands. She comes from different culture and it is very important for the nurse as well as doctor to understand the culture of her and support her to fulfil the formalities of hospital. It has been analyzed that Joanna could be more comfortable if doctor use polite language and try to understand her issue (Borkowski, 2015). People can come from different culture at hospital and it is integral for the nurse and the doctor to give respect their culture and make her feel that he or she would get better treatment from here. The doctor could have used the interpreter to understand the language of Joanna which could make her feel comfortable while describing her concerns regarding health.
The set of laws are considered as the legislation that is made by government, it governs that how policies and procedures can improve the lives of people. Data protection act 1988 is having control on shared information about the organization, departments and employees. The personal information about the employees and patients should not be exposed to the other person. It has been stated by confidentiality law that the relevant information, paper and audio recorded should not be shared to anyone. In the case of Joanna the nurse would have provided her proper guidance about the way of filing the form. It is the responsibility of the nurse or doctor to provide service users the right to know about the information which is stored by government or other organization. The organization need to follow the principles of data protection act. For instance if Joanna’s husband come to the hospital for getting information about her, in such case the staff of the hospital have to be seek Joanna consent first before getting any information to him. The confidentiality of her should be respected.
Interpersonal Communication between Healthcare Professionals
Lack of understanding about the laws and the policies and procedures of the organization may bring the bad influence in the mind of the patients (Hafner, 2014). The proper knowledge about codes of practice and laws will affect the services of the organization is being delivered to the public. It is the duty of the healthcare workers to maintain the safety environment and co-operate each other.
The systems must have included in the health and social care organization to make sure the principles and requirements of governance which are constantly and appropriately applied to encourage policies of communication. The governance system is able to prevent the interest of patients and service users. The laws and services of the organization should be followed by the healthcare professional and it can be done by training and monitoring. The importance should be given to the information strategy to get the adequate information at the right time.
It has been analyzed with the case study of Joanna that the doctor, nurse and the receptionist have not enough information about the patient which being the cause of communication barriers. The confidential policy of the organization should make sure that information should only share with appropriate people. It can be seen that the importance of governance is not effective and the way of taking of doctor and nurse was not appropriate towards patients (Wager, Lee and Glaser, 2017). The doctor should have talked in polite manner with Joanna and use suitable verbal and non verbal communication. The nurse should have helped to Joanna to fill the form. Language difficulties can be removed by adapting the interpreter. The record management system should be effective within the organization because it impacts the tendency of again getting services from the same organization.
There are number of ways are available to get better the process of communication in health and social care. Training and workshop are the major contributor in providing the guidance that how to communicate with patients with different situations. Effective non verbal communication should be there while communicating with patients. Confidentiality of the organization as well as the information of service user should not be revealed out because when the information is being used in wrong manner it may lead the service user in danger situation. In the term of Joanna’s case it has not been found the relationship between doctor and patient because when she met with him, the behaviour of doctor was impatient and he threw his arm in the air and said inappropriate words which put Joanna in lacking of self esteem. The communication process can be improved within an organization by implementing the translator or interpreter within the organization for understanding the language of those people who belong from different cultures (Sargent, 2015). Along with that the organization can employed those people who are bilingual and provide the leaflet on different kind of languages. Cultural awareness should be increased within the organization so that the staffs get the knowledge about how to treat those people who are from another country or region. Information should be taken from patient in an adequate manner by keeping the dignity of their background (Gallois and Giles, 2015).
3.1 use and access of ICT software
Strategies for Effective Communication in Healthcare
Information and communication technologies (ICT) are utilized in the health and social care to upgrade the technology so that the service users get the advanced services and satisfied from the hospital. It enhances the opportunity for the staff of the hospital by providing facility to get learn about medical facilities through online websites (Lee, Bassellier and Faraj, 2014). ICT defines to technologies that provide the access to information by telecommunications. It is likely to the Information Technology but provide major attention to the communication technologies. It involves the wireless network, internet and other mediums of communication. There are various ICT software packages in health and social care sector which is helpful to analyze the spreadsheet, monitoring, PowerPoint presentation and data base and word processor.
At my workplace every team member has the password to log into the system. I use MS office software to keep update about the list of the activities of the health care. For security purpose I put password and to get access, I put login id and password. I use it to keep record of client, make report and maintain the list of patients’ blood pressure. To find the information about the specific topic, I use browser to get detail of specific concern or information, I usually sign out the system for avoiding the unauthorised access. I use the internet services to find out the places such as restaurants or journey planner for meeting with the clients.
I also use the MS Excel to make the spreadsheet for storing and retrieving the information of services user. The confidential information about the patients is managed by me that ensures the patients’ information are secured.
3.2 Benefits of ICT
There are number of aspects on the healthcare organization which may get influenced by information and communication technology. It enables the process of the organization to increase the effectiveness, efficiency, standard of cares and flexibility. It is helpful to develop the relationship between employees and individualized care. The management of resources is being supported with the help of ICT software. There is an example of Electronic Health Record which is electronic device of medical history of patient. The medical errors can be reduced and accuracy can be maintained by taking help of ICT. It has large number of benefits as the entire detail about the patient’s history can be integrated or consolidated. I use this software at my workplace to reduce the error in my work and to keep the data secure of patients of hospital.
Importance of Cultural Factors in Communication
Benefits of users
ICT is helpful for the users because it makes the process easy. The administration can keep the information of an individual regarding their treatment which facilitates users to do not carry all medical prescriptions with him. Along with that it maintains the independency of the individual (Samsuddin, Omar, Samah and Bolong, 2016).
Benefits to care workers and organization
It is also benefitted for the care workers and the organization because ICT facilitates to maintain the service quality which increase the fame of the organization (Hashim, 2015). It has been evaluated that there are number of health and social care unit which use digital technology instead of films to take store of the patient’s details. ICT can increase the awareness of the organization towards the advanced technology. Electronic speech aids is the advanced technology which aids to the patient of head and neck cancers (Samsuddin, Omar, Samah and Bolong, 2016).
3.3 legal deliberation in the use of ICT
There are numerous legislations which should be considered while using ICT in health and social care. The applications of ICT contribute to the service user as well as the health and social care. It is necessary for the health and social care to keep the personal data of the patient confidential. Due to advanced technology and using of ICT application, number of employees can be the victim of eye strain or backache. It is the duty of the health and social care under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure that the employees of the organization should be safe. Personal information of the employees as well as the patient should be saved in the computer that is why it is vital for the organization to follow the data protection act 1998 which ensures that the data would be confidential. The information of the employees is secured due to this data protection act which says that the data of the health and social should be kept confidential with keeping strong password. There is a Computer Misuse Act 1990 which aims to protect data from those users who use other’s data with wrong intentions. It makes ensure that there is a criterion of penalties for them who use personal data of others for harming them. ICT helps to prevent the risk of safety which may lead to breaches of the confidentiality at workplace (West and Heath, 2011). The act of Display Screen Equipment Regulations 1992 assists to protect those people or employee of the organization who work with DSA like computer. It has been found that the lack of communication can lead the organization to non-compliance to dissatisfaction and lack of trust. Various strategies of communication can be used to remove the barriers of communication within the organization. There is a lot of importance of legislation and code of practice in place which assist to prevent the needs and rights of individuals and guide them to communicate with each other. It also shows that the utilization of information communication technology which is helpful to provide great effectiveness in delivery the services of healthcare. These acts are helpful to my organization because it facilitates to maintain the decorum within the healthcare organization. It is the responsibility of the professional and non-professional to apply the effective communication for delivering the quality care services (Baker, Warburton, Hodgkin and Pascal, 2017).
Organizational Systems for Effective Communication
Conclusion
In the limelight of above discussion, it can be concluded that the communication plays an integral role in the health and care sector. There are many people come at the hospital from different location so it is the responsibility of the staff and the doctors of the hospital to make them feel comfortable. This assignment has been made by taking case study of Joanna who came from Vietnam and got disappointed with the response of doctor and nurse due to harsh communication. The use of communication and its theories within an organization has been discussed for which the approaches have been chosen. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are utilized in the health and social care to upgrade the technology so that the service users get the advanced services and satisfied from the hospital. There have been discussed about the advantages of ICT at healthcare centre. The process of ICT is easy which can be operated by the staff and the services users. It enables organization to provide better quality services so that the information of the employee as well as the service user remains confidential. The discussion has been made on numerous legislations in the use of ICT.
References
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