Introduction
Effective health care involves skills of communication that have been identified together with those that are cognitive and technical in nature. Professional competence in health care greatly relies on having good communication skills that can be used to addresses various groups in different stages of life, ensure public health, security and safety and the devolvement of effective communication in social and health care.
Developing effective communication in health and social care
Professionals dealing with health and social care are required to have good communication skills. This enables them to easily and effectively carry out their roles. The health and social care professionals have to have skills through knowledge and understanding of communication. These are the strategies that inform and influence the community and individuals on decisions that enhances their health standards. Communication has come to be known as a crucial aspect in the field of health and social care because through communication, efforts have been made which have improved both personal and public health (Pootrow, Kincaid &Rimon, 1997, P 45).
Health communication enables people in the community to search for, explore and use information on health. It has assists professionals to effectively communicate with patients leading to healthy relations. Developing effective communication is also for the purpose of construction of public campaign and public health messages. Individual are able to adhere to regimes through effective use of communication. Effective health communication has assisted in the development of tele health application and educate consumers on how to obtain health care systems and public health(Jackson, 1998)
Effective communication triggers effective participation of service uses and the care givers because they can adequately plan for the provision of health and social care service. Effective communication has had increasing importance as targets are worked through and HSC strategies are implemented. This can be seen in the case of disease prevention where by with the development of patient partnerships, success can be achieved. The diseases can be prevented and managed as a long term condition.
Communication is essential because service users are involved in bringing strategic changes for the benefit of the general public. For example the increase in community based or home based services can be provided so as to reduce over dependency to hospitals. Poor communication has been known to be the heart of negative complains and negative experiences as well as negative attitudes and perceptions by the service users.
Developing effective Health, safety and security in health and social care
Effective communication helps to raise awareness on solutions and health risks through the provisions of skills and motivation on how to reduce risks. The people provided with these skills can support other people facing the same risks in the community. Therefore, effective communication reinforces health, safety and security through a change of people’s attitudes. Effective communication gives the people voice to refuse health services which are inappropriate and demand appropriate health services. This is because of the knowledge bestowed to them through effective communication. The development of effective communication helps in the making of complex choices through the selection of care providers, treatment, and making health plans.
The community benefits through effective communication because the members are able to advocate for programs and policies, influence public agenda, and make positive changes that are for the benefit of their health safety and security. There social care is enchased through programs that promote the physical environment and bring changes to the socio-economic environment. This can be done through effective communication in the improvement of healthcare services, public health and the encouragement of social norms that benefit the quality of life and general health.
Practicing health communication has contributed to the prevention of diseases and to the promotion of health in various communities. Effective communication has facilitated group and personal interaction in the provision of health in clinical situations. Health care officials and patients can only operate as team when there is effective communication. Therefore, even patients should have effective communication skills just like the health professionals.
Public campaigns and health massages seeks to enhance the social life thorough encouraging healthy behaviours , changing attituudes, creating awareness and giving motivation to individuals to adopt the recommended behaviours(Backer, Rogers, and Sopory, 1992, 102).
Development of effective communication through the life stages.
Social health care calls for health care providers to be divide the community into distinct audience depending on the stage of life development they are in so as to ensure effective communication. After this division a health care professional can decide which of his audience are critical because a health provider can determine how to communicate to an individual basing on age (Freeman, 2001, p 10)
Effective communication makes health service receivers to feel at home, comfortable, and to state his/problems by making them to feel loved. The way to achieve this is through using effective techniques that fit the age group of the patients. This means that the way a health care provider communicates with teenagers should be totally different to the way he communicates with an older adult, adult or children. Current means of communication technologies like through mails can be used when communicating with to the youth and middle aged persons but not to children and older adult. Health care providers should therefore weigh these aspects so as to ensure effective communication.
Conclusion
Comprehensive and effective health communication are essential because they can be used by health centres in developing strategies and developing influential programs that touch on environmental degradation, lack of health care, poverty and lack of access to health care. These are the systematic problems related to health. This is because through well designed activities the communities individuals are helped to understand that they have the responsibility to take care of their health. This can be achieved by community member by taking appropriate action to maximize health.
Reference
Freeman, Y (2001) Tools and techniques for effective health risk communication, PDF, p 10. Retrieved from.
http://www.cepis.ops-oms.org/tutorial6/fulltext/tools.pdf
On May 13, 2010
Piotrow, P; Kincaid, D.; Rimon, II, G.; et al (1997). Health Communication. Westport, CT: Praeger publisher, p 45
Jackson, L.D., and Duffy, B.K., Eds (1998) Health Communication Research. Westport, CT: Greenwood, publisher, p 68
Backer, T.E.; Rogers, E.M.; and Sopory, P. (1992) Designing Health Communication Campaigns: What Works? Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, p 104.
