Communication Opinion Paper
Shannon I Hardy
HCS/235
December 22,2014
Debra Hunt DNP RN
Communication Opinion Paper
Communication within the healthcare field between provider and consumer can consist of multi barriers that often takes time to overcome. Consumers may have different cultural beliefs, reluctance to communicate candidly or even the inability to understand the complexity of medical terminology. Good communication between healthcare providers and consumers enables information to be explained and the process with a better foundation. By utilizing elements of healthcare communication, providers and consumers can establish a better understanding of the consumers and medical needs. Communication is a multi-step process. A conversation between two people may occur simultaneously, or messages are being sent and received at the same time. To have effective communication, it is important to understand the elements of communication. Communication involves the sender, who originates the message, and the sender encodes a message with thoughts and feelings by applying symbols. The receiver decodes the message by unraveling the sender's symbols of thoughts and feelings. Next is a message, according to Cheesebro, O'Conner, and Rios (2010), "The message is the idea, thought, feeling, or opinion to be communicated". (Chapter 1 Communication Concepts). Channel is the pathway of which communication has occurred. It can happen in face-to-face, telephone email and even text. A Channel can also involve other sensory components such as smells or even a touch of a hand. Lastly is feedback, according to Cheesebro, O'Conner, and Rios (2010), Feedback is a receiver's response to the message and indicates how the message is seen, heard, and understood, and often how the receiver feels about the message and/or the sender. In the case oral communication, effective feedback comes after careful listening. Communicating accurate messages by speaking, writing or expressing a thought or feeling involves a variety of steps that also requires effective listening habits. One may experience external or internal noise. "Noise is anything that interferes with the message and keeps it from being understood in achieving its intended effect." (Beebe, Beebe, Redmond, 2011, p. 9). To become a competent communicator is to allow oneself to be aware of the noise and overcome it's adverse effects, and provide one's full attention to the conversation. Healthcare communication differs from the basic elements of effective communication in the sense that effective healthcare communication the provider and consumer rely on interpersonal communication. Intrapersonal communication involves a consumer expressing their thoughts and feelings. The provider’s role is to treat the consumer with respect, honesty and to gain a trustworthy relationship with the consumer. Maintaining patient confidentiality and involving the patient in the decision-making process of medical care will help achieve patient satisfaction. Using a model of collaborative interpretation, "proposes that health communication is most effective when patient actualize the roles of decision-makers and problem solvers and caregivers function as counselors or friends who work alongside patients to help them achieve shared goals. This rhetorical shift relies on the mutual effort of everyone involved. It cannot work if patients are unwilling to share their stories and take an active role in healthcare transactions. Nor will it work if caregivers perpetuate the paternalist notion that they know what is best for patients. With the collaborative interpretation model, patients and caregivers are coagents who establish shared goals and work collaboratively to pursue them". (Du Pre’ 2005, 2000 Communicating About Health: Current Issues and Perspectives, 2ep. P.67). By strengthening the communication relationship with providers and consumers, other areas of health communication can grow stronger.