Communication Theories
Bradley Jordan
HCS/320
April 14, 2011
Karen Jackson

Communication Theories
Communication Theories among patients and people occurs throughout the United States in every doctors office, hospital, dentist office, nursing homes, home health services, and chemical plants. The communication strategies between the patient and doctor are very important. One simple and basic law for communication among different cultures, genders, and races is that people who are alike tend to communicate better with each other.
Over the years of research, studies have shown that individuals with different nationalities tend to communicate less with each other. An example of a difficult communication scenario can be found in a hospital or doctors office. In this particular communication scenario or situation, the intelligent doctor with high status has to relay information to an individual with little or no knowledge of medical terms. In most cases, the doctor finds himself or herself in a difficult situation trying to communicate verbally the diagnosis to a less educated individual. Individuals with high education levels would most likely understand the doctor’s diagnoses. Researchers state that the misunderstanding between the patient and doctor occurs at three levels. The first level of low socioeconomic patient status occurs when the patient have asked little question about his or her condition. Also at this particular level, the patient reveals little or no information about his or her conditions. The second level of socioeconomic patient status occurs when the doctor does not involve the patient in the decision to correct his or her conditions. The second level also states that the doctors use stricter guidelines on the minorities or individuals with low incomes. For example, Mrs. Jordan went to see the doctor because of an abdominal pain at the bottom of her stomach. The doctor asks Mrs. Jordan to show him the area that was hurting. The doctor proceeds to physically touch Mrs. Jordan stomach. Once the doctor discovered the pain that was located on Mrs. Jordan stomach, he exited the room. The doctor returned to the room and said he wanted to run more test to properly diagnosis the problem. After the completion of the test, the doctor read the results and did not explain Mrs. Jordan pain in simple terms. The doctor gave Mrs. Jordan a prescription and told her the pain should be gone in a week. In this particular example, the doctor did not incorporate Mrs. Jordan in his decision to correct the problem. The third level of socioeconomic patient status occurs when people do not understand presentations. “Illiteracy is especially high among elderly and non-English speaking patients, many of whom can’t read medical consent forms or instructions on a medicine bottle” (du Pre’ 2005). For example, Bradley Jordan frequently attends his grandmother doctor’s appointment. The doctor always prescribes the medicine as it pertains to her illness. In most cases, Bradley Jordan’s grandmother cannot explain or pronounce the medication that was prescribed by the doctor. Bradley Jordan works at the Shell Chemical Plant in Gonzales, Louisiana. On this particular job site, different nationalities of all races exist. Some examples of the different types of races include African American, Caucasian American, Hispanic, Latino, and Asian. The communication strategies among co-workers and managers are different. When coworkers of different cultures communicate on the job site, the conversation is short and brief. However, when coworkers of the same cultures work together, the conversation is long and steady each day. The communication is the same in each culture. The Caucasian supervisor communication is different with each culture. For example, when a Hispanic has to perform a job task for a Caucasian supervisor, the communications method is rude. The supervisor speaks in aggressive voice and acts if though the Hispanic disrespected him or her. However, the same Caucasian supervisor speaks in a humble and respectable tone to another Caucasian worker to perform a job task. The managers also use different communication strategies among the different cultures. For example, when a Caucasian manager refers to African American, he or she speaks as if the African American is illiterate. However, when the same Caucasian manager refers to other Caucasian worker, the tone is eloquent, nice, educated, and respectful. The improvements with communication at this particular job site among different cultures, supervisors, and managers are needed. To improve the communication, most individuals would have to exclude the racism that lies within their hearts. Racism plays a vital role in why certain individuals act the way they do. Individuals at this particular job site treat other coworkers of different nationalities as if they do not belong at the job site. “There are cultural and ideological differences and it is good to have an understanding about culture’s customs and ways” (Culture Differences, 1999). The recommendation at this particular site could be to treat every employee with respect, dignity, and kindness. Communication plays a vital role in health care industry and the chemical plant industry. The method of communication makes a difference in the way people perform and possibly save the individuals life. Improvement and recommendation are needed to improve both industries. I strongly suggest that more research is done on this particular topic.

References du,Pre,A. (2005). Communication about health: Current issues and perspectives (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
Cultural Differences? Or We Really that Different (1999) Retrieved April 13, 2011 from http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article01.htm