Developing Effective Communication In Health And Social Care

Developing Effective Communication In Health And Social Care
NQF Level 3:                      BTEC National
Guided learning hours: 60
Unit abstract
Health and social care professionals require good communication skills in order to carry out their roles effectively. It is therefore important for those embarking on a career in these sectors to gain knowledge and understanding of the skills involved in communication, so they are able to develop and enhance effective interpersonal skills.
This unit offers learners opportunities to explore and develop the skills of effective interpersonal interaction and communication essential to the operation of health and social care services. The unit will enable learners to analyse factors that enhance and inhibit communication and to examine effective interpersonal skills. The value of effective and varied types and styles of communication in the support of patients/service users will be explored.
The unit encourages learners to reflect on their own performance and that of others.
The knowledge and skills gained from this unit will underpin many of the other units in the qualification. It is an essential unit for the preparation of learners for their period of work experience, which should provide opportunities for some of the assessment of the unit. The unit also provides a useful preparation for work in the health and social care sectors and for learners intending to progress on to, for example, degrees in social work, nursing or other related disciplines.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit a learner should:

• Understand effective communication and interpersonal interaction

• Understand factors that influence communication and interpersonal interactions in health and social care settings

• Know how patients/service users may be assisted by effective communication

• Be able to demonstrate own communication skills in a caring role

Unit content
Understanding effective communication and interpersonal interaction
Types of communication: eg one-to-one, groups, formal, informal, text, oral, visual, touch, music and drama, arts and crafts, communication using technology
Types of interpersonal interaction: eg speech, language (eg first language, dialect, slang, jargon), non-verbal (eg posture, facial expression, touch, silence, proximity, reflective listening), variation between cultures, listening and reflecting back
Communication cycle: ideas occur; message coded; message sent; message received; message decoded; message understood
Understand factors that influence communication and interpersonal interactions in health and social care settings
Communication and language needs and preferences: the individual’s preferred spoken language; the use of signs, symbols, pictures and writing; objects of reference; communication passports; human and technological aids to communication
Environment: eg setting, noise, seating, lighting
Behaviour: eg attitude, assertiveness, aggressiveness, submissiveness; responses to behaviour; effects on identity, self-esteem and self-image of others
Barriers: eg type of communication (eg difficult, complex, sensitive), language needs/preferences, disability, personality, environment, time, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, assumptions, cultural differences, value and belief systems, stereotypes, use and abuse of power
In relation to the integrated workforce agenda: communication with professionals, multi-agency working, multi-professional working
Know how patients/service users may be assisted by effective communication
Support services: advocates; interpreters; translators; signers; others eg speech therapists, counsellors, mentors, befrienders, psychologists
Technology: aids and adaptations; text facility on mobile phones Preferred language: eg Makaton, signing, Braille, first language
Supporting: empowerment; promotion of rights; maintaining confidentiality
Be able to demonstrate own communication skills in a caring role
Communication skills: verbal; non-verbal
Effectiveness: in supporting patients/service users
Key people: eg relatives, friends, health and social care workers
Grading grid
In order to pass this unit, the evidence that the learner presents for assessment needs to demonstrate that they can meet all of the learning outcomes for the unit. The criteria for a pass grade describe the level of achievement required to pass this unit.
Grading criteria

To achieve a pass grade the evidence must		To achieve a merit grade the evidence must	To achieve a distinction grade the evidence
show that the learner is able to:		show that, in addition to the pass criteria,	must show that, in addition to the pass and
		the learner is able to:	merit criteria, the learner is able to:
P1	describe different types of
	communication and interpersonal
	interaction, using examples relevant to
	health and social care settings
P2	describe the stages of the	M1   explain how the communication cycle
	communication cycle	may be used to communicate difficult,
		complex and sensitive issues
P3	describe factors that may influence
	communication and interpersonal
	interactions with particular reference to
	health and social care settings
P4	identify how the communication needs of	M2   explain the specific communication	D1   analyse how communication in health
	patients/service users may be assisted,	needs patients/service users may have	and social care settings assists
	including non-verbal communication	that require support, including the use of	patients/service users and other key
		technology	people

Grading criteria
To achieve a pass grade the evidence must	To achieve a merit grade the evidence must		To achieve a distinction grade the evidence
show that the learner is able to:	show that, in addition to the pass criteria,		must show that, in addition to the pass and
	the learner is able to:		merit criteria, the learner is able to:
P5   describe two interactions that they have
participated in, in the role of a carer,
using communication skills to assist
patients/service users
P6   review the effectiveness of own	M3   explain how own communication skills		D2   analyse the factors that influenced the
communication skills in the two	could have been used to make the		interactions undertaken.
interactions undertaken.	interactions more effective.

Essential guidance for tutor
balance in power inherent in the helping relationship, empowerment and learned helplessness. There are strong links with Unit 6: Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social Care, and Unit 2: Equality, Diversity and Rights in Health and Social Care. It would be good practice if the same tutor could be responsible for delivering all three units.
learners should be encouraged to investigate methods of communication and interpret interactions that are also relevant in health and social care settings. Peer observations, class discussions and vocational experience will help to broaden learners’ understanding. Learners should explore the processes of teamwork and decision-making relevant to health and social care settings in order to enhance the delivery of this unit. They should also be encouraged to review, evaluate and improve their own skills in communication and interpersonal interaction skills.
Learners should demonstrate an awareness of the equality and diversity of people and their rights and responsibilities. Examples could be taken from personal experience, television programmes and current newspapers. Video and multimedia presentations can be useful in demonstrating social and cultural differences in communication. A guest speaker would be particularly appropriate to provide insights into cultural differences in communication.
When looking at factors that enhance communication, learners find it relatively easy to identify certain factors such as body language and trust. However, they also need to recognise why empathy, responsiveness, attentiveness and respect are so important. Many of the skills in this unit — prompts, reflection, empathy, open-ended questions — can be developed in a counselling skills training format. Others, such as assertiveness, can be developed through role play. When developing their assertiveness skills, learners will need to distinguish between being assertive and being aggressive.
Learners need to grasp that good communication is as much a question of values as effective skills. Sometimes the easiest way to get this across is to talk about what makes communication ineffective. Can learners identify times when someone did not listen to them, looked through them or patronised them? How did they feel when they were treated this way? How did they feel when they told a friend about a problem, only for the friend to off-load their own experiences back?
Considering their own experiences gives learners an insight into being on the receiving end of poor practice. It also helps them to see how self-esteem is inextricably linked with good communication practices.
It is not necessary to study counselling or psychological models for this unit, but it may be useful to utilise some of the more commonly used concepts. For example, the person-centred model outlines important personal attributes such as genuineness and respect as well as appropriate empathy.
Learners need to be aware of disabilities and differences so they will be able to accommodate them when interacting. It is not necessary to teach sign language, but learners should be familiar with the range of technological aids currently available. This includes the immense benefit of the text facility on mobile phones for people with hearing or speech difficulties. One of the most important aspects of this section is impressing on learners that attending to individuals does not mean singling out someone for special treatment in an unreal or patronising way.
Learners are not expected to be able to participate in therapeutic groups, for instance, but they will need to become familiar with concepts concerning group life. Fish-bowl exercises, decision-making forums and team-building activities all provide interesting and valid material for investigating group stages (forming, storming, norming) and helpful/unhelpful behaviours. Role playing effective and ineffective communication skills provides a good basis for learning. Writing scripts, watching television interviewers, using audiotapes and videos are all valid and interesting ways to evaluate skills.
An interaction does not need to have gone well to be analysed. Learners will often find more to discuss if things did not go as they might have wished. If peer review is used, learners must provide feedback in a sensitive manner.
Learners should try to turn a negative into a positive. For example, ‘it would be better if you used more eye contact’, rather than ‘you did not use enough eye contact’ and sandwich a negative between two positives. Learners should also appreciate the ethical issues surrounding client confidentiality.