BTEC National Diploma in HSC

BTEC National Diploma in HSC Lesson 4 – Barriers to Communication

Reminders • Final submission for unit 8 is due today at 4.00pm submit at reception and use cover sheets available in room 24. • P2 and M1 part 2 due Friday 14th of March 2014 4pm @ reception.

P3 and P4 Tasks Format • P3 – environmental factors table and case studies grid, • P4 – strategies grid and case studies.

Structure for P3 • Follow the guidelines on the word document, you have been given and add links to interpersonal interaction.

P3 Task Tips Deadline 21.03.2014 • In order to achieve, P3 and P4 you will be required to create a grid which identifies both the barriers and the strategies which can be used in order to ensure effective communication. • You will be working using cases studies which will be uploaded onto the blog for you to access. • You will need to ensure that you make some links to barriers and strategies.

Task 1 • Factors influencing communication and interpersonal interaction.

Barriers a definition … • Barriers to communication are the things that can break or interfere with the communication cycle – think Argyle and Tuckman cycles. • There are 14 types of barriers which can have an impact on individuals and their use of health and social care settings.

Barriers • Environmental, • Physical, • Language, • Social Isolation.

Environmental • Aspects of the environment which can affect effective communication are: • Lighting, • Seating, • Noise, • Space.

Environmental Factors • Lighting – someone who doers not see well will be unable to read information in a badly lit room. They might also have an issue with reading body language. • Seating – a person who might be in a wheelchair =may struggle to communicate effectively with an individual who is standing as they will have to look up at them thus miss out on important non verbal signals. • Noise – background noises can prevent people from hearing and can interrupt concentration especially for someone who cannot hear well or does not speak the language. • Lack of space – task

Physical Barriers • Sensory deprivation can affect the exchange of information between two individuals. • Physical illness such as arthritis can make movement difficult and painful which can affect effective communication. • Mental illness such as depression or schizophrenia can affect ones ability to send or receive information accurately.

Language Barriers • People who speak English as an additional language may not be able to read signs and information within a health and social care setting. • They may not understand body language and are also likely to have a very different sense of humour.

Social isolation • Social isolation refers to a complete or near-complete lack of contact with society for members of a social species. It is usually involuntary, making it distinct from isolating tendencies or actions consciously undertaken by a person, all of which go by various other names. It is also not the same as loneliness rooted in temporary lack of contact with other humans. Social isolation can be an issue for anyone despite their age, each age group may show more symptoms than the other as children are different from adults.

The factors that may influence: • Types of communication: difficult, complex or sensitive • Language needs/preferences • Sensory impairment and disability • Barriers associated with personality, self esteem, anxiety and depression. • Barriers associated with aggression and submissiveness • Barriers associated with assumptions • Barriers associated values and belief systems • Barriers associated with cultural variation • Barriers associated with the effects of alcohol. • Use and abuse of power P3

Difficult, complex and sensitive communication • Often within HSC settings the content of communication can involve extremely sensitive issues. Can you think of any examples ? • This can prevent effective communication as either the service user and/or practitioner can be emotionally effected by the news they have to give or receive. P3

Difficult, complex and sensitive communication • It is often difficult for practitioners to know what to say in these difficult situations. • However Engebretson (2003) states that practitioners can demonstrate a caring presence that means they are there (and this is understood by the service user). • Sometimes a presence with non verbal communication is as significant as words. P3

Language needs preferences • Service users will have different preferred first languages or means of communicating. • They will also have different speech communities and registers (formal and informal) • Think about this in the context of slang, jargon and dialect.

Sensory impairment & disability • This can often mean that sent information is not fully received. • For example a person with a hearing impairment who communicates using BSL will need another who understands BSL to communicate effectively.

Barriers associated with personality, self esteem, anxiety and depression • Both HSC workers and service users may create their own barriers as they can not cope with the emotions communication evokes. • Can you think of any HSC job where this may happen ?

Barriers associated with aggression and submissiveness • Throughout communication a person may become withdrawn or aggressive. • This can often stop communication completely.

Barriers associated with personality, self esteem, anxiety and depression • A HSC provider will have to work extremely sensitively in situation where service users have self esteem, anxiety and depression issues.

Barriers associated with values and belief systems • Value – ‘general principle/belief that people agree on’ (Waugh et al 2008) • Belief system – ‘ the assumptions we make to make sense of our lives’. • Individuals can have different ways of expressing themselves based on their values and beliefs. • This can cause messages to be misinterpreted or misunderstood. P3

Barriers associated with cultural variation • Culture relates to our values and beliefs. • It incorporates the different customs and assumptions that groups of individuals adopt. • Think about this in relation to the words/language (terms) used by groups and also non verbal communication. • Do words and gestures mean the same things to everyone ?

Use and abuse of power • All HSC workers must work to ensure their service users are treated as individuals and empowered (Codes of Practice ) • If they abuse their power by controlling and manipulating them this undermines the service user and can damage their self esteem. P3

Barriers associated with alcohol and drugs • Both drugs and alcohol can impact on messages not being received. • If someone is intoxicated they may not be able hear the message, misinterpret it or only hear the message partially.

Bibliography /Further reading Stretch and Whitehouse (2010) BTEC Level 3 HSC. Pearson. Essex. Waugh, C et al (2008) OCR AS Sociology. Heinemann. Oxford.

BTEC National Diploma in HSC