1.1 Review the range of groups and individuals whose communication needs must be addressed in own job role
1.2 Explain how to support effective communication within own job role
1.3 Analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within own job role
1.4 Implement a strategy to overcome communication barriers
1.5 Use different means of communication to meet different needs
3.2 Compare the effectiveness of different communications systems for partnership working
4.1 Explain legal and ethical tensions between maintaining confidentiality and sharing information
4.2 Analyse the essential features of information-sharing agreements within and between organisations
Communication plays a vital and substantial part within my job role in various ways; communicating to the service users, their circle of support which includes relatives, friends and other professionals, it also includes inter team communication and communicating with other professional bodies such as Dorset County Council and The Care Quality Commission to name a couple.
This communication also takes many forms, face to face, via the telephone, written correspondence and email. Ensuring effective communication builds strong positive relationships and promotes the well being of the service users whom I support.
Communication within the team is essential to ensuring effective consistent support for the service users, communication is required for every element of my role, communicating with the home team to ensure support is assessed, implemented and reviewed regularly, this can be through giving direction to staff, arranging training, developing written plans, holding team meetings, attending service users reviews, having professional discussions either face to face, through email or written correspondence, conducting staff supervision and staff appraisals, communicating changes to the team ensuring policies and procedures are understood, information is shared and much more.
Ensuring my communication is received and understood is essential. I need to be aware of the non-verbal cues given by the person receiving the information which can give feedback as whether the information is being received correctly and this can help me to determine if the communication needs to be modified or repeated.
Effective communication is also about listening which again gives me feedback from the person receiving the information. Active Listening is also essential element when building positive relationships, it shows that I am interested and can build an individual’s confidence. I use this in a variety of ways, when communicating to service users as this helps to increase their sense of worth, also when communicating with the staff team as this can help to resolve conflict and builds trust and staff are more likely to come to me when they have any issues.
Many of the service users I support have communication difficulties, it is critical that each individual has support to establish the most effective means of communication for them and that this is shared and promoted within the team. It is likely that communication difficulties will impact on a person’s well- being and could lead them to feeling isolated and detached. If there is clear communication plans in pace then this will help to prevent feelings of isolation and help them to feel in control.
It is important that my team have a good awareness and understanding of the communication difficulties and of each individual service user’s plan which are in place.
Within the home environment there are a number of factors that can help and hinder lines of communication. a Environmental Noise-This could be that the noise levels are particularly high which may mean that someone who is hard of hearing could struggle to communicate. b Distraction- it can be difficult to concentrate n what is being communicated if there are too many distractions, they should be