One to One Communication :: Communication Body Language Health Care Essays

One to One Communication To practice one to one communication I spoke to someone who regularly attends the ‘Princess of Wales’ Hospital, Bridgend for physiotherapy on his knee after an operation 6 months ago. From this interaction I found that the service from the NHS was satisfactory and adequate, but could use some improvements. I spoke to the patient mainly about waiting times for appointments and operations, as that appeared to be the main cause for concern. I conducted the one to one interaction in the patient’s living room, so that the surroundings were familiar to him and he would feel more at ease. As the room was decorated in warm colours it created a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere, which contributed to making it easier to open up and talk freely. Skill Used ========== Comment ======= Body language I used open and friendly body language towards the client and didn’t cross my arms or anything so that I didn’t come across as intimidating. This is because body language makes a great impact on interaction. Gestures I regularly used hand gestures to put emphasis on what I was saying as gestures are a strong part of effective communication. Eye contact I regularly maintained eye contact with the client during my interaction. This helped to show that I was interested in what he had to say and also so that he knew when it was his turn to speak. Facial expressions I used appropriate facial expressions to match my topic of conversation so not to confuse the client, and to show interest in what he had to say. Open questions Open questions require extended answers and make the client feel that their opinions are valued. I tried to use mostly open questions to facilitate the conversation and so that the conversation flowed and did not feel like an interrogation. Closed questions I tried not to ask many closed questions, unless I needed more specific information, as they can make people feel uncomfortable and inhibit conversation. Probes and prompts I used probes and prompts to make the client give more in depth information and to help him to think more about the subject that I was questioning them on. I used prompts to help the client understand what I was asking by suggesting a possible answer. Paraphrasing To check that I had heard and understood the client properly I used paraphrasing as a way of reflecting back to him. Paraphrasing also helped him to clarify exactly what it is they were saying, because he had to listen to the paraphrase and work out whether that is what he meant to say. The particular individuals involved, the relationship between the individuals, the subject of the communication and the physical