Strengths And Weaknesses Of Communication And Interpersonal Interactions Within Health And Social Care

Strengths and weaknesses of communication and interpersonal interactions within Health and Social Care

Communication can be defined as: The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior. Within communication there can be certain barriers or issues that can cause misunderstanding, offence to be taken and tension between those directly involved and those not directly involved with a certain conversation or other alternative method of communication.

Interpersonal communication can be defined as: the process in which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages: it is face-to-face communication. Interpersonal interactions can include: jargon, slang, gestures, facial expressions, voice tone, proximity etc.

In groups we watched 3 different scenarios showing the strengths and weaknesses of communication and interpersonal interactions within the Health and Social Care sector. The first of which was communication between a doctor and a patient. The second scenario was communication between colleagues that were teachers who worked with an autistic child and the head of special educational needs within that school. The third and final scenario; it depicted the communication between an auxiliary nurse and a lady who was a resident in a care home for the elderly.

Jargon could be defined as: a use of specific phrases and words by individuals in a particular situation, profession or trade.

Slang could be defined as: words that are not part of a standard vocabulary or language and are often used informally.

Use of Jargon/slang:

In the first scenario an example of jargon was when the doctor used the phrase “fasting blood test” an individual who does not work in a medical field or has had no previous exposure to such a procedure before is unlikely to understand what the phrase means/ what the procedure involves.

An example of slang in the first scenario would be when the sister of the patient called her a “doughnut” as she forgot to book her blood test. To an outsider this wouldn’t make sense as she could be referring to the sugary snack.

In the second scenario an example of jargon could be when one of the teachers used the term “P.A”. This term has different meanings to different people and could stand for either Performing Arts or Personal Assistant, which was actually the term, the teacher, was referring to.

I personally don’t feel that any slang was used in the second scenario.

In the third and final scenario jargon was not present as the conversation was very informal due to the close relationship between the nurse and the patient and the patient and her daughter. However there was a use of slang in the word “Hiya” as it is an informal way to greet an individual but as this word was exchanged it conversation between the patient and her daughter it was appropriate.

Posture is a particular positioning of the body.

Use of Posture:

In the first scenario the posture was informal and very much the same throughout which is unusual in a Doctors surgery. Different individuals could interpret this differently. One patient may prefer a relaxed posture and feel more at ease where as another patient may feel that the doctor is too relaxed and not taking their job seriously enough.

In the second scenario posture was used to show status. For example: the teacher who specializes in special educational needs was positioned very formally to show her confidence and leadership, where as the other two teachers who aren’t specialists in this field were more relaxed and less confident.

In the third scenario the posture was also very informal and relaxed throughout to convey the close relationship between the patient and the auxiliary nurse and the patient and her daughter.

Gesture can be defined as: a movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning.

Use of Gesture:

In the first scenario the use of gesture was quite significant. An example of a use of gesture in the first scenario could be when: the doctor made a hand gesture when telling the patient to take a seat.

In the second scenario there wasn’t a lot of gesture used, but an example of when gesture was used could be when smiles were exchanged between the three teachers to promote a warm and welcome atmosphere.

In the third and final scenario