Principles of communication in adult social care settings (TC31)

1.1 People communicate because they need to express and share their needs, feelings, ideas, wishes and preferences. People also need to communicate to build relationships and socialize with other people and for getting to know each other. Being able to communicate allows people to make choices and to express their opinions.

1.2 Communication in an adult social care setting affects relationships by encouraging an individual to participate in activities, so they don’t miss out or run the risk of becoming isolated. Also in a relationship the building of trust and understanding between people makes it easier to work together as a team and to get things done. If there are good relationships then working becomes easier because people will cooperate and trust will develop. The people we are supporting need to be sure that they are working with someone who is honest and trustworthy, able to keep a confidence and who is working in their best interest. Once people are reassured about all of these aspects they are more likely to feel more confident about moving forward and achieving their goals. You need to have a good relationship with your colleagues and other professionals, as this is important if people are to work together effectively. By respecting the expertise and values of the work that others do, we can build a good professional relationship and learn from their skills and experience. Every one that supports an individual is important and everyone makes an essential contribution. Without effective communication you can discourage support, shared understanding, trust, empathy and create inequality which is can detrimentally affect relationships and create unnecessary problems.

2.1 The ways to establish communication and language needs, wishes and preferences of an individual can be either verbal or non-verbal. Verbal ways would be to ask the individual themselves what their wish, preference or need is, seeking information from those who know the individual well such as family, friends and other healthcare professionals. Non-verbal would be to observe them by looking at their body language, facial expressions, gestures and eye contact etc.

2.2 Factors to consider when promoting effective communication are: The eyes, we can often pick up on the feelings and thoughts of people by looking at their eyes. A fixed stare may indicate that someone is angry, looking away can be seen as the person being bored or as someone who is not telling the truth, a shy person may be reluctant to make eye contact. The face is often a good indication of our emotional state, you can tell a lot about how a person is feeling by their facial expressions. Voice tone, you can tell how a person is feeling by the tone of their voice, a calm, slow voice sends a message of being friendly, whereas talking in a loud, quick voice may make people see you as being angry. Tone of voice along with facial expression can indicate a host of other emotions, Body movement and posture can send messages about how we are feeling, leaning forward can show interest, sympathy or concern, sitting crossed arms can mean” I’m not interested”, sitting face to face can send a message of being formal or of being angry. Muscle tension can tell others how relaxed or tense a person is. Gestures can help us to understand what a person is saying. Touch can send messages of affection and care. You should not make assumptions about touch as some people are not happy to be touched, whilst so many like a hug or to hold someone’s hand, you should always ask the person first “would you like a hug?” Personal space usually indicates how friendly the conversation is. When you talk to a stranger you would keep them at arm’s length, but when talking with a friend you are much happier to allow them to be much closer. There are zones within which we are comfortable: Public Zone- strangers tend to maintain a