Nonverbal Communication In Health Care

In relation to the video, another key issue raised is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communications are messages that are conveyed through body movements, facial expressions, and the physical distance between the sender and receiver. Non-verbal communication plays an essential role when people are exchanging information (Newman J, 1998). Non-verbal communication can be portrayed by gestures, eye contact, facial expressions, politeness, posture, touch and physical distance. There are many advantages using non-verbal communication, such as; the health care professional can save on time and use it as a tool to communicate with people who don't understand the English language. The health care professional can communicate with a patient who
Non-verbal communication is a quick and effective way of transcending other forms of communication, although it is mostly used in combination with verbal communication (Chambers, 2003). Cultures may be either low context or high context: Low context cultures rely more on content rather than on context. They give value to the written word rather than oral statements. High context cultures infer information from message context, rather than from content. They rely heavily on non-verbal signs and prefer indirectness, politeness and ambiguity. In order to achieve effective communication, the health care professional should build up a respectful and trusting relationship before he/she starts asking questions about things that may be sensitive. Health care professionals should reflect that routine questions are often intrusive and embarrassing especially to people for whom modesty is a cultural or religious requirement. Some people are cautious or defensive about discussing with outsiders their culture, religion and other things that matter to them in case they may be misunderstood, distorted or