COMMUNICATION

Patients’ perceptions of the quality of the healthcare they receive are highly dependent on the quality of their interactions with health and social care staff. Spending time and listening to the patients’ needs is all that may be required to show them that you really value them as a human being. Having good communication skills develops your knowledge and understanding about individuals and is key to building rapport and putting patient specific provisions in place to promote patient centered care.

By the end of this module, the learner should be able to:

• Describe the 6C’s core values in the health and social care setting
• Identify the different methods of communicating with others
• Overcome certain barriers in communication by using appropriate listening and observation skills
• Understand the importance of effective communication and preventing or diffusing conflict or challenging behaviour
• Use appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication skills
• Understand the principles and practices relating to confidentiality