Every care worker and client is an individual, therefore each has there own individual style of communication and interpersonal skills. Each has to learn how communicate effectively as one, so they can understand each other better. A care worker needs to work on their communication skills and also consider their strengths and weaknesses, if they desire to work more effectively in social care.
Some ways of communicating better are described below:
Use humour or gentle teasing. Convincing someone to get out of bed or go to the bathroom is usually easier if you can make a game or joke of it. Use touch to show that you care, even when your words don’t show it or when they are not understood. Some people may shy away from contact, but most find a gentle touch reassuring. Be calm, gentle, matter-of-fact, and relaxed.
Start the communication socially. Trust is more easily established if you practice a balance of getting the task accomplished and chatting. Try spending a few minutes talking about things of interest to the client. Use good eye contact and try to be at eye level. Keep your energy focused upon the individual.
Keep rate, pitch, and volume of your speech steady and low. Lower pitch and conversational tone are easier to hear.
If you are both getting frustrated, it may be a good idea to drop it and try again later.
Sometimes a hug and a change of subject can make you both feel better. Other times you may need to leave the room and calm down. Never give up.
The Essay on Health Care and Communication
How does effective communication incorporate the basic elements of communication? Health communication means from the way we socialize about our health problems around the dinner table to the patient-caregiver reciprocal action, good leadership and great teamwork in health care organizations, and the health images in the media. Because our health is so dynamic, complex, and mutually dependent, ...
Even when communication is difficult, set up a signalling system to allow the client to communicate nonverbally. Make flashcards of specific objects to which they can point.
Listen actively. Don’t try to do two things at once make listening a priority. If you do not understand, apologize and ask the person to repeat it. Repeat back or rephrase what you hear.
By using sharp observational skills nurses can prevent potential problems. If the nurse notices that a patient is agitated or off form at an early stage, preventative action can be taken. Five minutes of TLC for someone feeling under the weather could well be sufficient to prevent an outburst which would otherwise take up to two hours to deal with and may require medication.
The key is dealing with the issue before it becomes a problem.
Respond to the emotional tone of the communication. You may not understand what is being said, but you may recognize that it is being said angrily or sadly. Saying,” You sound very angry”, at least acknowledges the feelings, even if you cannot decipher the words.
Poor articulation is a problem that you can come across frequently in a social care setting. The person is not doing this on purpose and is probably even more frustrated than you. Your calmness and patience will help create a caring atmosphere that will encourage the person to keep trying.
Explore the communication process and understand its key components
Analyse how their own behaviour impacts on others
Understand the influence of non-verbal communication
