Effective Communication
This is when one person would pass on a certain message to another person and have the purpose of ensuring that the message is delivered correctly and clearly to the listener. The listener must take notice of the message and attempt to receive it by being an active listener. Effective communication is only achieved when the listener is clearly able to understand the message that was initially sent. Examples of having effective communication is having a one to one conversation with someone where you each have an equal part to do in the conversation. Another example is a written communication such as a letter this is important as it allows a message to be presented in a more physical form that can be understood by anyone.
Interpersonal Interaction
Interpersonal interaction is achieved by just sitting down with a group of people. Interpersonal interactions can be simple things such as exchanging feelings or relating to one another. Interpersonal interaction can be both verbal and non-verbal. Regardless of whether you actually engage in conversation, working together on a project or sitting in the meeting room. Despite not physically attempting to interact with people you are always practising interpersonal interactions.

Health and Social Care Context
Health and Social care context can be any context where vulnerable people are involved such as at a doctor’s surgery, paramedics, pharmacy, in a hospital, nursery, children’s homes and care homes.
There is many different scenarios where you might experience different types of communication techniques and in certain scenarios how they would be applied. This can consist of communicating one to one or in a group. The different circumstances that this could apply is in formal or informal, between professional and people using a service.
Different types of Communication
One to one communication is when it is just two people talking without anyone else interrupting. An example of one to one communication is a social worker discussing your living conditions for the future. One to one communication consists of an appropriate greeting for the situation and then you would go onto discuss the main point of the conversation and the information exchange such as the behaviour of the child and what the last place they lived had to say about them. The conversation would then end with one of the people saying what plan of action they would like to take and then say a goodbye.
Group communication is when there is between three to twenty people talking collectively each given their own input into a conversation. An example of this would inside an A&E setting where the emergency paramedics would have to tell the nurse or doctors about the condition of the patient and any changes in the way the patient behaves. Group communication would usually have a sort of leader which in this scenario would most likely be either the senior doctor on ward or the head of the department, the leader’s role is to ensure that no information is lost or mistaken along the way which could be critical to the patient’s treatment or care. All the other doctors would be in charge of monitoring the patient’s vital signs and their condition. If for example the patient’s vital signs suddenly dropped dramatically, all of the doctors would have to work together to discuss what could have caused this sudden change and what can be done to address this issue as quickly as possible. The group would then discuss the amount the patient should be checked on or the appropriate medication that should be provided.
Formal communication is used when in a more professional environment. For example you would speak more formally with a nursery teacher as you are attempting to determine the progress that the children are performing at and whether or not they should be given extra help. The conversation would begin the appropriate greeting towards each other and would lead to beginning to discuss the progress of each of the children and if they are performing up to certain standard that they would expect. If the children were they would begin to discuss how they may be able to increase the amount or difficulty of the work to ensure they are being tested carefully. The conversation would end once again with a sophisticated goodbye and then be left. Using formal communication is vital as it ensures that everyone involved feels respected and treated fairly.
Informal communication would be used when talking to someone you are more familiar and comfortable with. An example of this would be talking to someone who you share the same care home as you would feel more relaxed speaking with them as they understand what you are going through and can relate to everything. A conversation using informal communication would begin with an informal greeting and would most likely due to the age group be containing slang or some jargon which would mean more professional people such as a care worker would not be able to understand it as much.
Communication between professional and people using services is a situation such as a doctor and an injured patient. An example would be the doctor discussing what has happened to you and the best form of recovering. A conversation like this would take place with the appropriate greeting and question which helps to understand the situation much better. The doctor understand how to put the technical terms into more simple terms that can be understood by everyone universally. Ensuring that their have been no misunderstanding they can successfully do what they need and then allow the people to continue with their day to day life.
Communication with professionals is when a two different professional workers speak with each other to get an accurate idea of care or services they can provide. An example of this is when a registered professional such as a social care worker speaks directly with the GP about the child's health in order to ensure that everything is fine. The conversation would be based around the best way to ensure that the patient is treated depending on their health care needs for example if the patient needs special treatment due to a condition that they have. It is vital that there is communication between the different professionals as this ensures that each job can successfully improve the way they operate.
Different communication forms
They are many different forms of communication each with their own way of being effective. Each form has the same purpose of ensuring that communicating can be achieved by everyone.
One form of communication is text messaging. This is established by using a mobile phone and sending a personal message to one or more individuals to get a response out of it. This can be used in a health and social care setting as a young teen in a care home may use a phone to contact an old friend in a new home or if they moved somewhere else. Using text messaging is essential as it means that people can keep in contact over long distances and have immediate contact no matter where in the world they are. Both the old and young can use it which makes it accessible to anyone.
Written communication is things such as writing a letter or note. Using a letter can be a nice experience as it comes as a surprise when it arrives and can easily brighten anyone's day as they can keep it as a memory. An example would be writing a thank you letter to a former doctor who looked after you or a relative and helped make the experience as comfortable as possible. This shows how professionals in the health and care profession are respected and thanked for the work they do. Using written communication as it is more permanent then other types and are usually more accurate.
Oral communication is speaking to someone physically in person. This is useful as it ensures that the message is clearly received at the time and it ensures that if there are any questions or objections then they are sorted then and there. For example a teacher at a nursery would use oral communication to speak to the child or a parent to establish any issues or concerns about the progress of the learning. Using oral communication can be quite an important factor in a health and social care setting as it allows
Signing is an important part of communication for deaf people as this is one of the only forms that they can use to communicate with other people where they don’t have a disadvantage. An example would be if you were at an important event in life and there was a deaf or hard of hearing person then being able to sign would mean that they are up to date with all the new information. If this would be using in a health and social care setting the best example would be in a care home or hospital where a deaf person needs to communicate with another person they would do this by finding a person who can successfully use sign language and would then use the sign language to express their voice
Music and Drama is a piece of communication that is helpful to those who engage more while listening to music or performing a dramatic piece. This is a helpful form of communication as it allows the person to really express themselves. An example of this would be if a resident in a elderly home had a disability then they find that listening to a certain type of music helps them to relax or feel more comfortable in their surroundings. The same can be said for watching a production or helping out with setting up as this enables a person to create an impression of the performance and feel like they can be a help to their community.
Technology is the newer form of communication as it has some aspects of the other forms but gives it a more modern feel. Such as you can sending emails to multiple people rather than separate letters. You could also use video chatting software to speak to someone indirectly and send messages using the inbuilt chat feature. These can be a big help in multiple scenarios within the health and social care industry. An example of this would be a doctor/nurse can quickly email another hospital or pharmacy to confirm important dates such as any meetings or if there is a need to change the amount of medicine they get in to match the amount of prescriptions they supply.
Interpersonal Interaction
Interpersonal interactions can also be non-verbal which means that without actually speaking or engaging in a conversation you can learn what a person is truly thinking or feeling. One way is by watching someone's posture as if you sit opposite someone with your arms crossed shows that you may not be interested in the conversation at hand. While sitting back facing someone directly shows that you are open to talk and are interested in the topic. This can be used in a setting such as a care home for children to establish what mood the child is in if they are not talking. Another way is by silence as having a quiet atmosphere can have multiple meanings about how they feel towards each other or how comfortable they are in this situation. It is common that in a conversation if it suddenly turns silent that it can create an embarrassing atmosphere as it can make it look as though you don't know how to answer to how to continue the scenario. Silence can be seen as a non-verbal message about how you are willing to listen or that you are giving all your interest. This can be used at a hospital as if the patient is silent after the doctor returns to give them news it can show how they are ready to listen and give it their full attention.
A major form of non-verbal interaction is facial expressions as they show your feelings better than your posture. You facial expression can tell people a lot about how you react to certain things and also exposes if something is trying to hide something that is upsetting or causing them to feel angry. This can be helpful in a hospital as it can sometimes be the final factor of finding the best treatment depending on how they feel. As if someone is feeling quite down they potentially cause injuries to themselves to make them feel better about their current situation. This method can be used efficiently as by looking at someone's eyes, mouth and face you can discover their emotions as each give different indications.
Speech can be a type of interpersonal interaction as different ethnic groups, localities and work cultures have different phrases and words that have significant meaning to them. Speech can be a powerful thing without the intention of trying to use it. Everyone uses their own form of dialect as different places pronounce words differently to others meaning that everyone doesn't sound the same. This can be used in a hospital as patients form different areas have the ability to hear the others therefore they can work out where they are from roughly just by the way they pronounce certain words or phrases. This is a good way as without trying you are finding out some details that you didn't expect. Language can become a crucial factor as different people use different language as the younger teen use a lot of slang in their specific social group. This can be helpful to younger guardians as they are able to understand the language the teen uses which makes it easier to talk and truly understand the feelings.
Communication and language needs and preferences
British sign language is a language of its own right rather than a simplified version of English. British language can be a preferred form of communication to those who feel comfortable only using sign language amongst others who understand it without hesitation. An example of this would be if two people who were both deaf met at a home they would be able to use BSL to quickly and efficiently speak without any issues. This is useful in the health care industry as it means that everyone has the same right to have their voice heard and using BSL ensures that they can easily voice their opinion by using a interpreter who is extremely with BSL.
Human and technological aids to communication could be things such as hearing aids which enables people to be able to function better in their everyday life's thanks to the help of modern technology. An example of this would be that a person who is beginning to lose their hearing, the doctors in a hospital would have to discuss what they feel should be done in order to help the person get adjusted to the idea of a hearing aid that will enable them to still have the ability to hear certain things in the world. Having a hearing aid has advantages to the recipient and those around as although their hearing may not be 100% they can still hear certain things that will be beneficial to their safety such as a traffic light or an emergency alarm. A hearing aid can improve communication as it means that be people will still be able to hold a basic conversation without any of the words being lost.
Braille is the system of raised marks that can be felt which is technically a form of written communication for those who are blind or have limited vision. Braille is vital form of communication when it comes to those people who may be blind or almost blind as they care taught how to read Braille which ensures that if they encounter any things that might be necessary to their everyday life with Braille printed on the label they can understand what it means. Braille is now widely used around the world for those who cannot see written script. An example of Braille is that in a nursing home a resident may be self-sufficient when it comes to taking certain medication they would have to feel the medicine bottle until they find the part where the Braille is located and then simply run their fingers over it until they can read the type of medicine.
Finger spelling is the physical representation of spelling letters using different techniques and different severity of actions. People who use British sign language also use finger spelling to spell out any words that don't have a general sign. An example of this would be how if a person was still in the early stages of learning sign language being able to interpret finger spelling would be essential as it would help them to be able to clearly understand how to say certain letters and words. This is also helpful as people who did not yet quite understand how certain words need to have an emphasis on the way you use your fingers which would help them in the process of learning to use it fluently. If someone was recently told that they were starting to lose their hearing, the best bet would be to learn basic BSL to make it easier for them when they either fully lose their hearing or it becomes very limited. They would have to learn to use finger spelling to avoid any confusion with words such as people’s names or different places as these can sometimes be easily misunderstood.
Variation between cultures is an important preference when it comes to communication between different cultures as each have their own personal traditions and what they view as being socially appropriate. This could be shown how the welsh people consider it to be alright to call anyone mate while people from another culture would have been brought up to believe that everyone should be given an appropriate title that fits the relationship between the people. An example of variation between different cultures within a hospital would be how in a more black community they see looking down when someone is talking to you as a sign of respect meaning they may not look directly at the person who is talking to them when discussing the duties for the day. This would be an issue as a British doctor would expect to be looked in the eye when talking. This can easily be sorted by learning to work no matter what conditions as there is more important things to be achieved.
The use of signs, symbols and writing are quite a vital and important way of communication as each person has their own preference when it comes to how they achieve clear communication. This can be an asset as some people much prefer using signs such as fire exit or entrance to instruct them on what they can’t and can use. Some people also much prefer to receive written letters or documents that they can physically read and look over multiple times or them to clearly understand what has been conveyed to them. Hospitals use written symbols or diagrams such as the fire exit which can be universally understood as the place where it’s advised to leave in case of a fire. Hospitals generally also have signs around the hospital with the different departments on and arrows pointing in the direction as a way of guiding any visitors or patients to prevent them from getting lost somewhere in the hospital.