Context Assignment Title: Effective Communication in Action Health and social care professionals require good communication skills in order to carry out their roles effectively. It is important for you to gain knowledge and understanding of the skills involved in communication, so you are able to develop and enhance your interpersonal skills. This unit enables you to explore and develop the skills of effective interpersonal interaction and communication essential to the operation of health and social care services. It will enable you to analyse factors that enhance and inhibit communication and to examine effective interpersonal skills. You will also explore the value of effective and varied types and styles of communication in the support of patients/service users. The unit encourages you to reflect on your own performance and that of others. In order to support your studies, it would be highly beneficial for you to complete a period of work experience, which should provide opportunities for some of the assessment of the unit. You should aim to complete this over October half term or at Christmas. Task Overview Your line manager has promoted you to the position of Trainer and has given you responsibility to deliver some induction training to new recruits. It is your choice whether you base your assignment in a health setting or a social care setting, for example in a hospital, nursing/care home, pre school etc. Where you undertake your work experience should influence this decision. Date of issue: Date of submission: Learning outcomes On completion of this unit, you should: 1. Understand effective communication and interpersonal interaction in health and social care 2. Understand factors that influence communication and interpersonal interactions in health and social care environments 3. Understand ways to overcome barriers in a health and social care environment 4. Be able to communicate and interact effectively in a health and social care environment. Refer to the assignment task sheet and the criteria tick sheet to ensure that you meet the standards for pass, merit and distinction for Unit 1. There are FOUR tasks to complete for this unit.
Assignment Task Sheet Task Activities Assessment criteria 1 Effective communication and interpersonal interaction in health and social care and factors that influence communication and interpersonal interaction in health and social care environments Date task set: Deadline: TASK A As part of your new role as a Trainer, you have been asked to contribute to the inhouse newsletter which is read by the majority of staff. You have been asked to write an article to explain the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in a health and social care context. P1 In your article, you must include an explanation of the following: Contexts that can be used to communicate effectively e.g. one-to-one, groups, formal, and informal. Types of communication that can be used in a health and social care context such as: text messaging, written, signing, symbols, oral, visual, touch, music and drama, objects of reference, arts and crafts, and communication using technology. Interpersonal interaction such as: speech, language (e.g. first language, dialect, slang, jargon), non-verbal (e.g. posture, facial expression, touch, silence, proximity, reflective listening). Communication and language needs and preferences such as: the individual s preferred method of communication (e.g. language, BSL, Makaton, Braille, the use of signs, symbols, pictures and writing), objects of reference, communication passports, human and technological aids, variation between cultures. Ensure that you explain how all of the skills listed above can be used to make communication an effective process. You also need to give examples related to health and social care contexts throughout your article. In order to do this you may wish to use case studies. Hint! It is important that within this assignment you explain the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in a health and social care context.
Therefore, ensure that you explain how communication can be used effectively in health and social care and why it is important. TASK B Create a booklet for the new recruits discussing the theories of communication. Ensure you identify and describe each stage of the communication cycle (Argyle), and Tuckman s stages of group interaction. P2 Communication Cycle ideas occur; message coded; message sent; message rreceived; message decoded; message understood Stages of group interaction Forming Storming Norming Performing TASK C Create a section in your booklet called The Role of Effective Communication. In this section, assess the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in health and social care with reference to theories of communication. In order to do this you need to use evidence to explain why communication is so important (e.g. to build trusting relationships, to meet individual needs, to build self esteem and so on) and how this may impact on the services provided. M1 In order to complete tasks A-C you may find it useful to use some of the case studies included below: Case study examples: 1. Mrs Brown has suffered a stroke. She has no movement on the right side of her body and she has lost her speech. As a carer you are asked to perform personal hygiene on Mrs Brown. She is very frightened about her condition and about being in hospital. 2. Billy is five years old and has severe hearing difficulties. He is in hospital for a tonsillectomy His parents are not present at the moment and he is looking nervous and fed up. 3. Mr Polanski was severely blinded in the war and He is gradually losing his hearing. He attends a day centre three times a week. He does not like the television but is keen to keep up with current affairs.
4. Ms Patel has lived in England/Wales/Northern Ireland for three years with her daughter and grandchildren. Her understanding of English is minimal. She is in hospital as she needs emergency surgery to repair a broken hip. Her daughter cannot attend until the evening. Mrs Patel needs to sign a consent form and have the procedure explained to her before she can go to theatre. 5. You are working in a care home and see a colleague removes money from the petty cash. You challenge him and he states that his wife has just left him and he has no money until payday to buy food for his three children. He begs you not to tell anyone as he insists he will pay the money back after payday. 6. Peter is six years old and attends the local school where you are assisting. He wets himself and while you are helping him to change you notice bruises and scratches on his buttocks and his groin. He starts to cry and tells you that he fell down the stairs. He does not want you to tell anybody. 7. Mr Patel has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His family have been informed but have insisted that Mr Patel is not told as they feel he would not be able to cope with the truth. Whilst walking Mr Patel to the toilet, he asks you if he can read his medical notes as he believes his family is hiding the truth from him. 8. Cameron is two years old. He has just started at a day nursery. His parents have informed the manager that he is HIV positive and asked that she keep this information confidential. 9. You are a care worker in a local nursing home. One day you notice a visiting relative slap her elderly mother. The relative sees you and explains that she is stressed, didn t mean to hit her mother and promises it is a one off scenario that will never be repeated. 2 Factors that influence communication and interpersonal interaction in health and social care environments and ways to overcome barriers in a health and social care environment Date task set: Deadline: TASK A You have been asked to deliver a training session to the new recruits explaining factors that may influence communication and interpersonal interactions in health and social care settings. P3 In order to support the delivery of the training session, you must produce a PowerPoint presentation and a handout to give out to the recruits. In your presentation, ensure you list factors that influence communication and interpersonal interactions and for each factor, give examples of how and why interactions may be influenced. Ensure that you include positive and negative factors which influence communication. Use your experiences from your work placement and/or the case studies provided to support and supplement your work. You may wish to refer to case study or real life examples in your presentation to illustrate a point.
a) Your presentation must include the following sections and information: Communication and language needs and preferences: the individual s preferred spoken language; the use of signs, symbols, pictures and writing; objects of reference; communication passports; human and technological aids to communication Environment: e.g. setting, noise, seating, lighting Barriers: e.g. type of communication (e.g. difficult, complex, sensitive), language needs/preferences, sensory impairment, disability, personality, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, aggression, submissiveness, value and belief systems, jargon, cultural variations, use and abuse of power and effects of alcohol/drugs. Factors influencing communication/barriers to communication case study example: You are observing a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meeting where Mrs Singh is due to be discharged home following major bowel surgery. Present at the meeting are Mrs Singh and her husband, the ward nurse, the district nurse, the social worker, the doctor, a physiotherapist, a dietician and an occupational therapist. The meeting is to organise a discharge package for Mrs Singh and is held in the ward day room at lunchtime. The MDT are all seated around the table on high chairs whilst Mrs Singh and her husband are sitting in lower patient chairs. Mrs Singh and her husband speak minimal English. There is a lot of background noise from the ward and the light in the day room is flickering. The ward nurse begins the meeting and has to raise her voice to be heard over the environmental noise. She appears rather aggressive. The MDT begin to discuss Mrs Singh and use a lot of medical terminology. The conversation speeds up as time is limited and the doctor needs to leave imminently and does not appear interested. You notice that Mrs Singh and her husband look slightly bewildered and are nodding their heads intermittently. Eventually the MDT agree on the care package that they deem to be appropriate and ask Mrs Singh and her husband to agree to it. They thank the MDT and leave looking extremely confused. TASK B To supplement your presentation you have been asked to include a report explaining strategies that can be used in health and social care environments to overcome barriers to effective communication and interpersonal interactions. P4
Examples you can use include: TASK C Communication and interpersonal interaction: staff training, assessment of need, using preferred method, promoting rights, confidentiality, defusing aggression, appropriate verbal/non-verbal communication, building relationships, appropriate environment, attitude and confidence. Aids to communication: human (e.g. advocates, interpreters, translators, signers, mentors, befrienders), technological aids (e.g. hearing aids, text phones, minicom, loop systems and voice activated software). In order to achieve M2 and D1 you need to review and evaluate the strategies used in health and social care environments to overcome barriers to effective communication and interpersonal interactions. M2 & D1 Use your experiences from your work placement and/or the case studies provided to support and supplement your work. You may wish to refer to case study or real life examples in your presentation to illustrate a point. 3 Communicate and interact effectively in a health and social care environment Date task set: Deadline: For this task, you are going to take part in two one-to-one role plays where both you and a partner play the role of a carer. P5 TASK A In pairs, plan, prepare scripts for, rehearse and deliver two role plays where you and your partner portray the role of a carer and a patient/service user. When playing the role of carer you must ensure that you use communication skills to assist the patient/service user. The role plays must be observed by your teacher who will write a witness statement to form part of your evidence. You can create your own scenarios or use the suggested scenarios below for your role plays: 1. Mrs Smith has been waiting in casualty with her three-year-old child for two hours. The child has a fever, is vomiting and is very upset. Mrs Smith is becoming increasingly agitated about the welfare of her child and the length of time it is taking for her child to be reviewed. Eventually a doctor reviews the child and needs to insert a cannula into the child s hand. The doctor has numerous failed attempts. This causes the child a great deal of distress and Mrs Smith is extremely angry over the amount of pain the doctor is causing. 2. Mrs Bernstein suffers with dementia. She is very upset as she believes her
handbag has been stolen. Her son approaches you and demands an explanation as to why the bag is missing and accuses the staff of stealing it. 3. Mr Donnelly is due to be seen by the consultant. He has spoken to you explaining that he does not understand anything that the consultant says and requests your help. 4. Billy is three years old. You are looking after him at the nursery. He is very upset that his mother has left him to go to work. 5. Mrs Solomon is blind and is having difficulty feeding herself. For each role play, underneath the script, give a description of the interaction (provide an overview of the role play) and explain how the carer s communication skills were used to assist the patient/service user. Remember that communication skills include: verbal and non-verbal skills. TASK B a) After your role play, assess your own communication and interpersonal skills in relation to the interaction. To begin with use the table below to review your performance. Communication methods/skills Verbal: Encouraging others to talk back Reflecting back on what others have said Using appropriate questions Use of open questions Use of prompts Clarity and pace of conversation Appropriate language used Conveying feelings of warmth, empathy, interest Involving all participants Defining the boundaries of confidentiality Being prepared to listen How effective were you? Tick the relevant box (5 = excellent, 1 = very poor) 1 2 3 4 5 Comments How skills could be improved? What factors influenced the interaction? M3 Non verbal: Eye contact Facial expression Angle of head Tone of voice Position/use of hands and arms Gestures Posture Muscle tension Touch Proximity Dress and appearance Other: Use of silence as a listening skill Turn taking Supporting the patient/service user Involvement of key people e.g. relatives, friends, health and social care workers Use of care values
b) Using your completed table from (a), reflect on, and identify any areas where you feel your skills could be improved. Explain how you think your own communication skills could have been used to make the interactions more effective. M3 TASK C Evaluate the factors both positive and negative you think may have influenced the effectiveness of the interaction you have undertaken, and analyse their relative importance/influence on the success of the role plays. D2 4 Communicate and interact effectively in a health and social care environment Date task set: Deadline: For this task, you are going to take part in a group interaction. P6 TASK A In groups of 4, plan, prepare scripts for, rehearse and deliver one role play where you and your group portray the role of health and social care workers and/or patient/service users. The role play must be observed by your teacher who will write a witness statement to form part of your evidence. For each role play, underneath the script, give a description of the interaction (provide an overview of the role play) and explain how the health and social care worker s communication skills are used to assist communication. Remember that communication skills include: verbal and non-verbal skills. TASK B a) After your role play, assess your own communication and interpersonal skills in relation to the interaction. Use the table below initially to review your performance. Communication methods/skills Verbal: Encouraging others to talk back Reflecting back on what others have said Using appropriate questions Use of open questions Use of prompts Clarity and pace of conversation Appropriate language used Conveying feelings of warmth, empathy, interest Involving all participants How effective were you? Tick the relevant box (5 = excellent, 1 = very poor) 1 2 3 4 5 Comments How skills could be improved? What factors influenced the interaction? M3
Defining the boundaries of confidentiality Being prepared to listen Non verbal: Eye contact Facial expression Angle of head Tone of voice Position/use of hands and arms Gestures Posture Muscle tension Touch Proximity Dress and appearance Other: Use of silence as a listening skill Turn taking Supporting the patient/service user Involvement of key people e.g. relatives, friends, health and social care workers Use of care values b) Using your completed table from (b), reflect on, and identify any areas where you feel your skills could be improved. Explain how you think your own communication skills could have been used to make the interactions more effective. M3 TASK C Evaluate the factors both positive and negative you think may have influenced the effectiveness of the interaction you have undertaken, and analyse their relative importance/influence on the success of the role plays. D2 Useful Websites for Unit 1 www.bcodp.org.uk British Council for Disabled People www.britishsignlanguage.com British Sign Language basic signs www.careknowledge.com Care Knowledge www.ccwales.org.uk Care Council for Wales www.community-care.co.uk Community Care www.dh.gov.uk Department of Health www.eoc.org.uk Equal Opportunities Commission www.makaton.org.uk The Makaton Charity www.mencap.org.uk Mencap www.rnib.org.uk Royal National Institute of Blind People www.rnid.org.uk Royal Institute for Deaf People www.scie.org.uk Social Care Institute for Excellence www.scils.co.uk Social Care Information and Learning Services www.skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk Sector Skills Council for Care and Development www.skillsforhealth.org.uk Sector Skills Council for the UK Health Sector www.socialworkandcare.co.uk Social Care Careers Information
Criteria Mark Sheet Pass Met Comment P1 Explain the role of effective communication TASK 1A and interpersonal interaction in a health and social care context. P2 Discuss theories of communication TASK 1B P3 Explain factors that may influence TASK 2A communication and interpersonal interactions in health and social care environments. P4 Explain strategies used in health and social TASK 2B care environments to overcome barriers to effective communication and interpersonal interactions. P5 Participate in a one-to-one interaction in a TASKS 3A health and social care context. P6 Participate in a group interaction in a health TASKS 4A and social care context. Merit M1 Assess the role of effective communication TASK 1C and interpersonal interaction in health and social with reference to theories of communication. M2 Review strategies used in health and social TASK 2C care environments to overcome barriers to effective communication and interpersonal interactions. M3 Assess their communication and interpersonal TASKS 3B & 4B skills in relation to each interaction. Distinction D1 Evaluate strategies used in health and social TASK 2C care environments to overcome barriers to effective communication and interpersonal interactions. D2 Evaluate factors that influenced the effectiveness of each interaction. TASK 3C & 4C