Communication Leaflet

Idea occurs: this is when you think of an idea that you want to communicate. We all communicate for a reason, which is usually to pass on information to another person. Message coded: once we have thought of an idea we compose this within our thoughts, how we are going to say our idea to the recipient in a way the recipient will understand. For example, is the message going to be spoken to them, do they speak English. Is the message going to written down for them or are we going to use sign language, if so, what signs are we going to use to portray our message.

Message sent: idea/message sent to the recipient. Message received: message is received by the other person. The recipient senses they have a message, for example either by seeing the message you’re signing or have written to them or hearing the message you’re speaking to them. Message decoded: recipient looks at the message and has to process what you have communicated for them to understand what has been spoken, signed or written, the message could be misunderstood easily by interpreting words differently.

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Message understood: the message has been received, decoded and understood by the recipient. If it has been communicated clearly, for example if there were no barriers within the communication cycle, the recipient will show their understanding by replying to your message. As the conversation continues, the sender of the message will then become the receiver of the replied message and so on and so on.

Example of a message being sent using the Communication Cycle.

The cycle will only continue if both parties understand what one another are sending, they can only do this by listening and processing what is being sent, understand then you can reply appropriately. In the communication cycle, things don’t always go smoothly and communication can break down when the cycle is broken. The cycle can break if the sender is unclear when they are sending their message or the receiver can misunderstand the message due to other distractions and then assume something else was being sent.

Working in health and social care, your communicational skills are one of the most important skills you’ll need and use everyday. When communicating with patients/service users it is important they understand what discussions are taking place so they can join in them and it is equally as important for you to understand them so you know what they need and the choices they want to make. Communication barriers There are so many barriers that could affect communication between people.

For example: Noisy surroundings: these can be a barrier as you may not be hear what is being spoken over the noise. For example, The manager of a care home was having a staff meeting when they were distracted with a noisy drilling and hammering sounds from workmen using loud tools in the room next door.. To overcome a noisy distraction you could ask the workmen how long they are going to be and if it isn’t too long you may take a break or postpone your meeting until they have finished. You could ask if they could delay theirs works for the remainder of your meeting.

If this is not possible, rearrange your meeting for a later day, move room location for the remainder of the meeting. Disabilities: A physically disabled person attending their eye appointment and there is no lift at the opticians. To overcome this barrier you would enquire to see if the have another means to transporting the service user up the stairs and if this was not possible, enquire if the appointment could take place downstairs and if this was not possible, arrange an appointment where they can accommodate a wheelchair.

Cultural differences: same meaning but different beliefs in different cultures. For example, eye contact when initially greeting some cultures is important but continuing eye contact is seen as a sign of disrespect. Some cultures like you to introduce yourself, they like a smile and a shake of hands. They are particular with the way they shake hands, extend the hand out and gently touch the other person’s hand, they don’t like the strong grasping shake of hands that the some cultures have.

Bad lighting: bad lighting can be a distraction for example, someone who is visually impaired and wears glasses is at a meeting and the bright florescent lights are reflecting off their lenses or flickering distracting their sight. To overcome this barrier, you would enquire of any disabilities people may have, such as visual impairments or epilepsy and would not use lighting that will affect their condition or change room locations if the problem of flickering lights persists.

Jargon: is technical terminology used by professionals for example, when a doctor uses full medical terminology when speaking to a service user and they do not explain what they mean in a way the service user can understand. Slang: is wording and phrases that are used by service users that could have several ways of being misinterpreted by others, for example, the elder service users may say they have water problems, and they are meaning they have toileting problems, we may think they mean tap water problems. Slang can be used when all parties understand.

Language barriers: someone who doesn’t speak in a language you understand, for example, they are foreign or they can only communicate with sign language. To overcome a language barrier, enquire what language they communicate and have in place a signer if needed or a translator. Body language: is an aid to expressing what we want to communicate, verbally and none verbally. Body language that can be misinterpreted, for example, a manager stood at their office door with their arms folded may be seen as they are angry when really they are stood there listening as they are waiting for a visitor.

Aggression: an aggressive attitude is often a barrier as this behaviour is frightening to others and can be intimidating. Mobile phones: ringing at the wrong time, for example, you are at Sunday mass with a service user and whilst your at the alter with the service user, your mobile phone rings. To ensure mobile phones do not ring, put signs in place to ask people to kindly turn their mobiles on silent if they cannot turn them off for any reason.