Throughout this essay, it will look at the barriers to communication, but to understand the barriers it must firstly look at aspects of what makes an effective communicator and how this is achieved within a professional role. Within my role as Senior Co-ordinator, I organise activities for adults with learning and physical disabilities. It is one of my responsibilities to facilitate the transition of service-users from school into adult services.
For this essay all names and places have been changed to maintain client and work identity.The initial meeting to start the transition process may be one to one, with family or with a multi-agency team. It is extremely important to have a well organised meeting as this is the service-users first impression of the service. This is also where I start to build a therapeutic relationship.
The service-user’s needs are at the centre of everything that the service has to offer, being treated with repect, respectful of their needs, building trust, showing empathy and this must be delivered in a calm positive professional manner. (Moss 2008, p. 101-9)In the first instance I need to gather information on the service-user from different sources. This could be received by e-mail, letter or telephone conversation. The barriers here could be information not received or it might be old and not relevant to the service-user any more. As part of these documents there would be a care plan and personal centre plan.
Both of these plans are built around the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs model.The model has five stages; they are biological and physical, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs and finally self actualisation. (See appendix) (businessball. com, 2012) The care plan mainly concentrates on the first two stages of this theory and the personal centre plan would take in to consideration the last three stages. Communication barriers can be evident here where the overwhelming medical and professional assessments have overpowered the service-users choices.This is where the person centred approach would need to be necessary to ensure that the dignity, diversity and choices of the service-user are at the forefront of all decisions made.
There are three guiding principles or core conditions, in the personal centred approach, empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence. Many healthcare professionals base the beginnings of a positive therapeutic relationship upon this theory. (personalcentredapproach, 2012) Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanist psychologist and he was responsible for this theory on the person centred approach.He agreed and believed with all Maslow’s Hierarchy of need theory, but added that for a person to grow and achieve self –actualisation of personal growth and fulfilment they need an environment that provides them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure) acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard) and empathy (being listened to and understood).
Without these relationships, healthy personalities will not develop as they should. (Rogers 1997, p 33) (See appendix)These also are the foundations from which my organisation bases their values.So taking in to consideration the theories mentioned above and once I have received all relevant personal information on the service-user I would organised the meeting and prepare its agenda. This would be based on the service-users needs and choices. From this information I would have the knowledge on how they like to communicate, what equipment is needed, what are their cultural preferences, if family are attending or if not then their advocacy. Also the environment where the meeting is to be held and how I would demonstrate what the service has to offer them.
I would use verbal, sign language, pictures and electronic devices this would depend on the service-users communication choice. Within this process there can be many barriers and as I support people with severe complex needs and behavioural issues, I cannot be too rigid in my agenda as I need to adapt to the changing behaviours that might occur. Within my communication skills I have developed different techniques. These are based on different theories and models which I have gained an understanding of through my experiences and professional training. Communication is the production and exchange of information and meaning.It involves encoding and sending messages, the channel of message and receiving and decoding them.
If we look at the models of Shannon - Weaver and later the more in-depth model of Berlos we can see these structures. But both of these models have a weakness as they state communication is a static phenomenon and that non-verbal communication is considered as an unimportant thing. This has to be a considerable barrier as many of the service-users I support do not use verbal communications.So I have to be adaptable in my methods of communications using different formats to a level of which the individual can understand.
Being able to be an active listener is very important in decoding the messages that the service-user is trying to send. Active listening skills are well illustrated by P. Trevithick (2005) and give 20 basic skills for listening. (See appendix) This skill can seem impossible to get completely right and is always an ongoing challenge. ( Moss 2008, p16-17) But we need to remember that “We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak.
” (Epictetus, Greek Philosopher 55AD) Sometimes, somewhere between the moments someone speaks and another responds, communication becomes broken and blocked. We must look at the most common barriers to effective communication. (effectivecommunicationadivce. com, 2013) A physical barrier could be poor out dated equipment, noise, poor lighting, temperatures that are too hot or cold. Attitudes and emotions like anger, sadness, nervousness, aggression, avoidance, submissiveness and assertive personal agendas are difficult barriers to overcome.
Languages like professional jargon, slang, accents, and cultural differences. Physiological barriers like ill health, poor eyesight, hearing difficulties and pain. Cultural stereotyping where people make assumptions about others based on their own cultural background. Information overload can be overwhelming so it should be kept simple and clear. Assumptions and jumping to conclusions to make someone reach a decision before listening to all the facts is one of the most common barriers.(effectivecommunicationadvice, 2013) So to conclude, with my theoretical knowledge, own experiences and professional skills on how to communicate and how to recognise the barriers are vital in this initial transition meeting.
The ability to read the signs of body language and gestures and how to adapt to changes in behaviour will enable the process of effective communication to develop. By achieving these goals it will allow the initial stages of a therapeutic relationship to begin and from this the recognition of the service-users choices, aspirations and self-actualisation can be achieved.
