Unit 2 Elements of Health and Social Care Assignment

Introduction

Communication is exchange of relevant information between conveying end of information and receiving end and it is done through use of signs, words or verbal, body language, gestures, etc. In health and social care services the communication to be effective is very important for proper exchange of information between the service user and the service provider so that the services yield maximum satisfaction by understanding of needs and making provisions as per needs of user. Thus the study aims to discuss the significance, process and elements of the communications in health and social care along with throwing light on the legislations that apply to the communications in the area. Also the organization efforts in promoting good interpersonal communication and formulation of policies and guidelines to ensure good practice by the professionals have been highlighted by taking case of few patients at care. Also the use of modern technology based ICT software in the care organization have been discussed along with legislations affecting their use and the benefits offered by their use.

L 1 comunication skills in care services

1.1 Use of theories of communication

The communication can be effective only if the transfer of the correct information takes place between the sender and receptor with keeping the meaning intact and in the field of care must maintain its effectiveness to yield satisfaction of needs. Various theories are applicable to the process like

• Behavioral theories: stats that the behavior of any individual is shaped from the environmental and surroundings of the individual and thus the various stimuli in the  business environment  can generate various behaviors and as seen in case of Anna and Paul who had to wait for more than four hours outside the emergency ward at care organization and were provided with no care and medications rather than being blamed for being drunk led to negative responses towards the care organization and the doctor (Gwyn , 2007).
• Operant conditioning theory: where the desired behaviors are elicited by conditioning to operant and this may lead to negative and positive reinforcements of the behavior. As in case of Anna who felt distressed and discomfort due to lack of care provisions by the doctor and the care organization would develop negative attitude towards them and will seldom return for services. However positive behavior could have been generated by pleasant services and care provisions at organization.
• Social learning: entails the learning taking place in case of individuals from their surrounding people including role models, family, friends, etc and thus as seen in the casestudy, doctor must look for a better role model to improve the attitude and service provisions towards the users of services (Parvis, 2002).

1.2 Use of communication skills

A very crucial process in the care provision is through listening to patients and gaining an insight to the case through questioning in order to understand the situation and development of a care plan in accordance with the needs assessment (Dainton, 2011). Thus the various communication skills needed in case of health and social care professionals involve

• Verbal communication, use of appropriate words to drive comfort level of service user with a pleasing tone of voice
• Understanding of body language of the patient if the patient is unable to speak as in case of Anna in the case
• Lip and face reading in order to understand the needs in a better manner
• Listening skills as the doctor must be a good listener as was not the case of doctor dealing with Anna and they should allow the user to express
• Sign language skills as in case of user inability to speak out or listening impairments (Anon, 2014)
• Written communication skills as needed for documentation and legal issues

I feel that the doctor in case of Anna and Paul was poor at communication skills and this led to development of negative feeling towards the care services and resulted dissatisfaction in user.

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The Interpersonal communication involves two parties, one being listener or care worker and other being speaker or conveying end or patient. As per the theory of Social Exchange, all individuals try to increase the pleasant feeling and reduce the negative aspects that cause pain in them and thus involve in exchange with others in the society. Thus empathy is an important aspect of interpersonal communication between care user and provider which I feel was lacking in case study of Anna. Various methods are devised to handle inappropriate communication include

• Supervision on part of care organization where the interpersonal behaviors of the care providers are in a constant watch through cameras at organization
• Feedback forms available at the care organization for gaining insight in to the problems and issues of the customers or service users
• Training of the care workers with regard to handling of care needs and communication
• Oral feedback from the clients or users of care services
• Promotion of reflective practice amongst the care workers in order to make them understand the problems and make improvements to yield better satisfaction of care users (Turno, 2010).

Thus the role of the care organization is crucial in monitoring and handling of inappropriate interpersonal communication taking place with the service users and the organization in the case must take care of the communication and behavior of the employer or care providers towards the patients or care users to maintain its reputation and allow for satisfaction and well being of the users in the organization.

1.4 strategies to support users of care services

The barriers in the communication are bound to occur thus various  business strategy  are developed in order to provide support to care users. Firstly the service provider must be a good listener and willing to work with people from various backgrounds and needs. As in case of hearing impairments in the patients, the service provide must make use of graphical representation in order to convey information to the patient (Edgar et al, 2004). Also the service provider must be equipped and skilled in making use of British Sign language to support the communication with disability in patients and communicating through use of hand movements, body, etc. In case of patients with visual impairments, the support must be added in form of magnification equipments or glasses. In order to support communication in case of language or culture differences in the service user, the service provider must arrange for a translator to effect communication. I feel that the doctor in the case was quite unresponsive and not understanding the needs of Anna as visible through body language and did not provide support to patient who was unable to move and she was left in uncomfortable situation.

L 3 use of information and communication technology in the field of care services

3.1 explain the use standard ict software packages

With the advent of modern technology, the use of special software in the field of care services have revolutionized way the service user information is maintained with the help of computerized systems and in provision of better services and care to them through use of modern technology and communication devices like personal phones through the Information and Communication Technology software (Murray, 2011). As shown in the figure below these software not only help in maintenance of the medical history or user information but also help in monitoring of the service uses in their homes and thus this has led to extension of the care environments of the service users. The service users are informed and monitored through sensors or use of the mobile phone as the extent to which they follow the care plan provisions and thus the software is dedicated for better health care of the service users. This software is prevalent in monitoring of health of the ageing European population and is known as Health Care through Intelligent Monitoring (HCIM).

Thus the use of modern ICT packages in extension of the care environments with the aim of delivering better care provisions to the people and monitoring of their activities even in their homes, offices, etc and providing alerts to them regarding exercise, diets, etc.

3.2 benefits of using ict for service users, care workers and care organization

The ICT software is used in the field of care and they offer varying benefits as:

• To service users: as it allows for better communication and monitoring of the health of the service users through use of computerized systems. Also they get more attention of the care provider due to effective monitoring by the computerized systems especially in case of emergencies.
• To care workers: as they can manage client information related to several users for years including the medical history at one place and can get any relevant information just at click of buttons in computers.
• To care organization: as it allows for effectiveness of the care delivery systems through making use of the modern technology. However, there is significant commitment required on part of the care organizations and thus it incurs costs involved in training of its employees in use of such software. Also sometimes, all the information gets leaked away due to unscrupulous actions of the hackers on the internet and this leads to violation of confidentiality policy in health and social care (Parrott et al, 2008).

3.3 legal consideration in use of ict impacting the services

There are various legislations that a care organization must bear in mind before allowing the use of ICT software systems in the organization. They can be explained as under:

• Health and safety at work act 1974: The Act entails that the organization is responsible for the well being of its employees in the work environment and any damages or hazards caused owing to nature of work must incur liabilities for the employer. Thus while  decision making  use of ICT software the employees are faced with risk of harm to their eyes and backbones owing to constantly working on the laptops or computerized systems in order to deliver better services to the service users (Zuppo, 2014).
• Display screen equipment regulation (1992): this help in providing for the welfare of the employees working on the screen based or computerized systems and employer duty towards such employees.
• Data protection act, 1998: All the information gets leaked away due to the actions of the hackers on the internet and this leads to violation of confidentiality policy in health and social care.
• Computer misuse act: allows for penal procedure for the employees or outsiders who are involved in misuse of computer based devices and their misuse of the information through activities like hacking or otherwise.

 

Conclusion

In health and social care, the effective communication means the conveying of the appropriate information between the service provider and the service user. The professionals in the field must be trained in order to ensure their proficiency in use of sign language, face reading, body gesture understanding, etc apart from being good in the verbal communication to allow comfort to the service user. Also the service user must be protected and they should not be discriminated owing to different  cultural heritage , disability, etc. the organization must ensure proper monitoring of the professional in dealing with issues relating to inappropriate interpersonal communication with the service users. Also the use of modern technology including ICT software are crucial fro the health and social care practitioners. These help in better monitoring of the patient health even in their home or office environments however the organization making use of such software owes responsibility to its employees who will be impacted by continuously working on the computer systems. Also the valuable information related to the clients can get leaked away due to action of hackers and thus this can be in violation of the confidentiality policy, which entails the non revealing policy of the patient information without their consent to anyone.

References

Gwyn, R. (2007). Communicating health and illness. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Pp 227-59
Parvis, Leo (2002). "How to Benefit From Health Communication".Journal of Environmental Health 65 (1): PP 41-9.
Dainton, M.; Elain D. Zellei; et al. (2011). Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life (PDF). Sage Publications. pp. 247-59
Turno, R. (2010) Continuing development (online) available at http://www.slideshare.net/irishmeolynturno/health-and-social-care last accessed on 19 July 2016
Anon, m. (2014) ensure your actions reduce risks to health and safety (online) available at http://c/Users/w7/Downloads/Health%20and%20Safety%20in%20the%20workplace.pdf last accessed on 19 July 2016
Edgar, T.; James N. H. (2004). "An Alumni-Based Evaluation of Graduate Training in Health Communication: Results of a Survey on Careers, Salaries, Competencies, and Emerging Trends". Journal of Health Communication: 5–25.
Freimuth, V. S.; Sandra C. Q. (2004). "The Contributions of Health Communication to Eliminating Health Disparities".American Journal of Public Health 94 (12): PP 2053–2055.
Thompson, T.; Roxanne, P.; Nussbaum, J. (2011). The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication (2 ed.). PP 29-48
Rimal, R. N.; Lapinski (2009). Why Health Communication is Important in Public Health(Online) available at  http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/4/08-056713/en/ Last accessed on 20 July, 2016
Ringo, Ma. (Ed.) (2009). Yi binggoutongzhiduoshao [How much do you know about doctor-patient communication?]. Hong Kong: KAI Education. (in Chinese and English)
Noar, S. M.; Christina N. B.; Melissa S. H. (2007). "Does tailoring matter? Meta-analytic review of tailored print health behavior change interventions.". Psychological Bulletin 133 (4): 673–693.