Interpersonal skills are those skills that enable us to interact with another person, allowing us to communicate successfully with them.
Good communication skills are vital for those working in health and social care as they help them to:
develop positive relationships with people using services and their families and friends, so they can understand and meet their needs
develop positive relationships with work colleagues and other professionals
share information with people using the services, by providing and receiving information
report on the work they do with people.
Oral/verbal method of communication
Effective communication is essential in all care settings as part of building and maintaining good patient-colleague relationships. These skills help both patient and colleague to learn about each other and understand each other, so that they can therefore meet each other’s needs. Examples of verbal communication within care settings may include the following: * Providing support to others
* Dealing with problems and complaints
* Contributing to team meetings
* Responding to and answering questions
* Discussing and talking about the best treatment for patients
Speaking clearly is essential, particularly when working with service users who may have difficulties when receiving or giving messages. Speaking clearly allows instructions to be absorbed and understood and if hearing or learning difficulties are involved then some service users can lip-read or use body language to gain further understanding.
Oral/verbal method of communication
Effective communication is essential in all care settings as part of building and maintaining good patient-colleague