Theories of Communication

Communication is a transactional process and in a health context it is an important part of health and social care. Communication is an essential, instrumental and purposeful process. The communication transaction is one of sharing information using a set of common rules. In health and social care communication is a planned process the effectiveness of this planned process comes to fruition when the audience has achieved, acted on or responded to a message. The basic representative model of communication is usually conceptualised as a one-way flow process of sender, message and receiver.

In addition to this fourth and fifth variables must be added: complete understanding by the receiver and feedback to the communicator. The last two variables are important because they imply two-way communication, thus moving away from the traditional concept of one-way communication and towards multi-way communication. It is also important to remember that communication is a cyclic process involving a series of actions thus a model can be represented as circular.

The Argyle Theory is based on one-to-one communication. It follows the communication cycle and it is a way of ensuring communication is effective. The Argyle theory when followed helps us to overcome communication barriers, for example: jargon, misunderstood signals and issues relating to the setting such as noise and lighting. Argyle’s claim was that human communication is essentially a two-way process that involves people sending, receiving and responding to each other’s verbal and non-verbal messages.

In the case of communicating with a dementia patient, Argyle’s theory can be helpful as an aid to the communication between the staff member and the service user. Speaking clearly and calmly and making sentences short and simple make it easier for the service user to understand the message delivered to them and to respond to it. A person with dementia will read your body language and your tone of voice. Agitated