Communication and Care Professionals

Unit 501 – Use and develop systems that promote communication Learning Outcome 1. Be able to address the range of communication requirements in own role. 1. 2. Explain how to support effective communication within own job role. There are a number of reasons for communicating as a manager and leader such as delegation of work, supervision, building a team, interviewing, etc. As well as the need to communicate in many different levels of communicators such as clients, family members, staff, senior staff, other managers, other professional.Different mix of people require a different type of communication. Throughout the duty manager might be undertaking the variety of roles when advising, instructing, welcoming, assessing, observing, informing and counseling. Whatever the communication need or type, a good working relationship, trust and ability to talk openly are essential and therefore the need to adjust the communication to each circumstance. in supporting others to became eff ective communicator, it is necessary for leader to be an effective role model and where able to reflect effectively on how you communicating your messages.If we support all our communication by accepting and valuing the people with whom we interact in the expression of warmth and a non- judgemental attitude, we will improve our communication skills no end. So effective communication can be supported by ensuring that staff are all well aware of the need to be flexible in the way in which they communicate within varied contexts and to engage in communication which is empathic and values people with whom they interact. 1. 3.Analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within own job role. There are a range of barriers and blocks in communication like: * Difference in culture and values. Living in multi-cultural society it is important to be culturally aware in our interpersonal interactions. It is includes not only cultural differences but also the differences in values that pe ople hold. By developing a respectful curiosity about beliefs and practices within all service user's lives, we are able to communicate in more meaningful ways. Negative feelings about the person you are speaking to or taking personally what the person are saying. We may not share the views of people we communicate or particularly like the stance the person takes, but as the manager and leader in a setting we do have to show tolerance of these views and to be fully aware of how we come across to those we are communicating with. One of the things we often do not pay enough attention to is our body language.The way in which we present ourselves can have as much if not more impact on whether our message is listened to and understood. It is vital that our bodily actions match our speech. * Difficulties in own life, tiredness, feeling unwell. Self management highlights the need to manage those emotions we feel and manage them appropriately. So we may feel angry at somebody, but as a mana ger and leader, showing that anger inappropriately will have negative effect on relationships. Feeling unsafe due to person's behavior. We can overcome the problems associated with aggression by using our own verbal and non-verbal communication skills in a calm, non-threatening way, being clear and assertive in the way that they communicate with people who are aggressive, ensuring that the environment is used to defuse or de-escalate an aggressive situation and empowering people to take control of situations that they find stressful. * Not listening effectively.Active listening shows that staff and clients have been heard and the way in which we do this is with the following skills: acknowledging and reflecting feelings, body language, restating, paraphrasing, summarising, questioning. * Noise, inappropriate environment. Another area where communication could break down is an inappropriate environment. Manager must be aware of need for privacy when carrying out sensitive types of co mmunication. The initial impact of a room or building, for instance, is it welcoming, tidy, level of noise, can have huge effect on how people feel and can influence the success of an interaction.Learning Outcome 2. Be able to improve communication systems and practices that support positive outcomes for individuals. 2. 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of existing communication systems and practices. The initial assessment must be done from the first meeting with person to establish a baseline of the person’s ability and communication method. Everyone involved with care of the person should be made aware of this baseline so they can evaluate the effectiveness of any agreed ways of communication.Comparing the baseline with current findings helps us to identify the effectiveness of agreed ways of communication. Positive changes may indicate that agreed method of communication is effective and should be encouraged to continue or possibly adapted to make even more improvement. Findi ngs which show a decrease in the person’s ability need to be investigated further. Whatever the cause, the person should be supported to manage their communication ability, to prevent further decrease, and identify alternative methods of communication where possible.Once we have identified and supported the person to use agreed method of communication, we will need to work with others to identify ways of supporting the person to develop their communication continually. Others may include family, speech and language therapists, behavioural support workers, occupational therapists, psychiatrists, psychologist. When somebody masters their agreed method of communication to support their specific communication need, it may be time to introduce alternative methods to aid them to develop their communication further.Care professionals communicate with people using services very frequently and in a variety of ways. These can include formal meetings and appointments to assess a personà ¢â‚¬â„¢s health or wellbeing problems, to review a person’s progress or recovery, in informal conversations during activity sessions and in brief interactions in the corridor, for example. To ensure that they communicate effectively, care professionals need to use language that isn’t too technical, scientific or based on professional jargon.This can frustrate and intimidate people who use services, particularly if they feel that their concerns aren’t being responded to in an appropriate manner. Effective communication and interaction enable people who use care services to feel more supported, are essential for identifying and responding to their individual care needs and form the basis of a trusting, respectful care relationship. 2. 3. Propose improvements to communication systems and practices to address shortcomings.Health and social care professionals need to be able to communicate effectively with people who use care services. Once they become aware that an individual needs assistance to communicate effectively, a care practitioner should ensure that suitable human or technological aids to communication are made available. Care professionals communicate effectively when they are able to ‘connect’ directly with other individuals. To be able to do this well, a care professional must adapt to the communication and language needs and preferences of others.This includes people who are unable to use spoken language and people who have sensory impairments that limit their communication and interaction abilities. Some people may develop their own way of communication because they do not have the ability to communicate in more formal manner. A sensory disable people usually use aid techniques and specific forms for communication. Effective communication and interaction play an important role in the work of all health and social care professionals.For example, care professionals need to be able to use a range of communication and in teraction skills in order to: †¢ work inclusively with people of different ages and diverse backgrounds †¢ respond appropriately to the variety of care-related problems and individual needs of people who use care services †¢ enable people to feel relaxed and secure enough to talk openly †¢ establish trusting relationships with colleagues and people who use care services †¢ ask sensitive and difficult questions, and obtain information about matters that might be very personal and sensitive †¢ obtain clear, accurate information about a person’s problems, symptoms or concerns †¢ give others information about care-related issues in a clear, confident and professionally competent way.Collating or collecting information about somebody’s communication and support provided is essential in monitoring the effectiveness of the person’s communication. We can collect the information observing the person, getting feedback from others and rec ording information. Learning Outcome 3. Be able to improve communication systems to support partnership working. 3. 2. Compare effectiveness of different communication systems for partnership working. Health and social care work is now based on multi-professional and multi-agency working. This means that care professionals need to be able to communicate effectively with colleagues from a variety of different care disciplines.A multi-professional team might include nurses, care workers, social workers, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, for example. Each of these care professionals has a particular disciplinary training and a range of specialist skills. They also share some core skills in working with people who are mentally distressed. Members of this team will need to be able to use their one-to-one and group communication skills flexibly so that they can talk to, share ideas and collaborate with their team colleagues in ways that benefit the people in their care. Care professionals involved in multi-professional teams may communicate in both formal and informal contexts. When team members get to know each other very well, they may use more informal language at times.However, multi-agency working often requires care professionals to communicate more formally, using agreed plans and agendas to achieve specific goals. Formal communication may be used to ensure that the professionals and agencies involved in this kind of collaborative working are clear about each other’s responsibilities and don’t drift into miscommunication, compounding problems. 3. 3. Propose improvements to communication systems to support partnership working. Collating or collecting information is essential in monitoring the effectiveness of the communication systems. We can collect the information observing, getting feedback from others and recording information. So we need to work with others to identify ways to support the continued developmen t of communication.Care professionals communicate with colleagues and other professionals in many contexts every day. Effective communication requires personal and professional respect for others, trust in the judgement and values of colleagues, good verbal and listening skills. Care professionals may communicate formally and informally with colleagues and others working in partnership. Effective communication and interactions enable people to work more efficiently and to collaborate with and support each other in teams. In formal communication the specific writing skills needed by care professionals are generally learnt in practice and quickly become part of a care professional’s skill set.However, it is important for care professionals to regularly review and reflect on their written communication skills to ensure they are using them as effectively as possible. Learning Outcome 4. Be able to use systems for effective information management. 4. 1. Explain legal and ethical t ensions between maintaining confidentiality and sharing information. Tensions caused by confidentiality: the need for consent to share information; understanding when information may be shared without consent; concept of ‘need to know’; need for transparent policy and protocols for information sharing. In many cases, the passing information is routine and related to the care of the person concerned. However, this is only with the agreement of the person.But it is essential that only that is required for the purpose is passed on. Sometimes there are situations when we need to break confidentiality and pass information without consent but we must do this when we have good reason to believe that there is a risk of serious harm to someone. Good practice involves asking people if you can let other people know things, if not we can't give any information even to close relatives only because they want to know. Exception to this rule is when others have a need to know. For exam ple, managers, colleagues or other professional because they may need to help to make decisions or will be working with the same person. 4. 2.Analyse the essential features of information sharing agreements within and between organisations. Every organization have a policy on confidentiality and the disclosure of information. In my organisation Policy on Confidentiality and Policy on Record Keeping relate to it. The main point of these policies are: * All information we receive about or from service users is confidential and that only those people who need to know the information will have access to it * Individual and home records are kept in a secure fashion, are up to date and in good order * Service users have access to their record and information, as well an opportunities to help maintain their personal records.Staff working in health and care sector have a duty to respect individuals personal information, not discus client out of work place, ensure that all written informatio n is signed and dated and stored in a secure manner, are not left out, are accurate and up to date, the passwords and computer screens are used in computer systems, information shared with appropriate peoples and on need- to- know basis. Managers responsibility for maintaining confidentiality is to be convinced that policies and procedures are appropriate and operational within your area and staff are provided training covering basic information about confidentiality, data protection and access to records.