Sensitive Communication in Health and Social Care
- 3 ins.ide
- Aug 28, 2020
- 3 min read
- by Tanya
What's Sensitive Communication?
Sensitive Communication Skills. The ability to understand the use of non-verbal communication and body language is a powerful tool for facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, etc. Being aware of and sensitive to other practices and cultures. Facial expressions are simultaneously universal and culturally specific. There are six universally recognized facial expressions which include happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. People from different cultures perceive the six recognized facial expressions in unique ways.
Why it is required for Health and Social Care?
Effective communication in care involves being sensitive to feedback from others. Sometimes the people you meet may be happy but often they may feel sad, afraid, upset, or anxious. You need to be able to recognize and respond appropriately to many different emotional situations.
Communication on any subject in health and social care could be controversial or upsetting to service users as it could be personal and make them uncomfortable. Effective communication allows carers to express trust, understanding, and support so that they can make the service user feel as comfortable as possible.
Sensitive communication is essential for collaborating with the patient and family in decision-making regarding care. Clinicians who use culturally sensitive communication can demonstrate an understanding of patient and family beliefs, goals, and values. Health and social care professionals need good communication skills to develop positive relationships and share information with people using services. They also need to be able to communicate well with people's families and/or carers and their own colleagues and other professionals.
Poor communication has been a factor in 1,744 patient deaths and over $1.7 billion in malpractice costs nationally in the past five years, according to a study published in FierceHealthcare. This shows that better communication methods would benefit both patients and health care providers. Effective communication — both intrahospital and interhospital — is important for health care providers to protect their patients, save on costs, and increase day-to-day operating efficiency. Meanwhile, patients benefit from increased access to their medical histories, which reduces the chances of medical errors.
There are two types of communication methods that health care institutions use that are crucial to patient safety and well-being: interhospital and intrahospital.
Interhospital
Interhospital communications involve information sharing among multiple sites or institutions. This includes transmissions between facilities owned by the same organization and between completely separate health care entities. Moving patients from one facility to another, sending medical records, and transporting vital medical equipment all require clear communication between sites.
However, hospitals often encounter obstacles in communicating effectively with one another. A study conducted by the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS) found that poor interhospital communication costs the industry upward of $12 billion annually. Inadequate communication drives up costs by preventing institutions from accessing patients’ medical files, which may create a need for duplicate tests and second opinions that would not otherwise be necessary.
Intrahospital
Problems with communication also occur among personnel within the same hospital. Intrahospital communication is any information sharing within a singular institution — whether it involves coordinating room changes, scheduling surgeries, assigning further tests, or even setting up appointments. When doctors, staff, and patients are not effectively sharing information, the efficiency of each process may decrease, potentially resulting in unnecessary costs or even danger to patients. Patient record delays, lack of procedural coordination, and even serious medical errors may all be consequences of poor intrahospital communication.
While communication errors can have severe consequences, these issues are often relatively easy to fix, meaning many patient deaths caused by communication errors are preventable. That fact alone is one of the most important reasons why communication is so important for patient safety.
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