Communication And Confidentiality In Health Care

Promote Communication in Health, Social Care or Children and Young People Settings

The challenges of communication in multicultural settings

Questions:

1.1 Identify the different reasons why people communicate.

1.2 Explain how communication affects relationships in the work setting.

2.2 Describe the factors to consider when promoting effective communication.

3.1 Explain how people from different backgrounds may use and/or interpret communication methods in different ways.

3.2 Identify barriers to effective communication.

3.5 Explain how to access extra support or services to enable individuals to communicate effectively.

4.1 Explain the meaning of the term confidentiality.

4.2 Demonstrate ways to maintain confidentiality in day to day communication.

4.3 Describe the potential tension between maintaining an indiviual’s confidentiality and disclosing concems.

• The primary reason why people communicate to others is to “live”, they cannot stay to themselves all alone, a person has to talk to others so that he or she is well aware of the things surrounding them and for this the person has to communicate. People communicate to socialize others and to survive through it (Testa).
• People communicate so that they can build relationships. When relationships are formed than communities like family, friends circle, clan, etc are created. Children also categorize relationships so that they understand which people should be communicated with. It also helps in building relationships in the workplace and this helps to exchange knowledge, emotions, opinions, etc (Canty).
• People communicate to convey their requirements and choices to others so that they can accomplish their tasks. Is helps to communicate with children regarding health issues if any and helps in promoting social care.
• As relationship is built through communication, people also communicate to maintain the flow of persuasion. It has been seen for the years that through proper communication a person can influence or persuade others to accomplish a task. People also communicate to solve conflict (Breckman).

• Communication encourages motivation, so as to promote communication the doctor or the nurse has to communicate well with the patients and their family. A good communication between the parties helps in motivating the latter in relation to operation or check-ups.
• Communication helps in the process of decision-making. In a hospital or a social care setting, a doctor or a physician assistant helps the patient and its family to take any decisions regarding health care issues. This helps in building good relationships among this group which in turn brings this patient back to the same hospital or care unit (Nelson).
• Communication helps to construct a strong bond of relationship between the patients and the providers which leads to good medical care from the unit.
• Communication helps in building a relationship of trust between medical staff and patients where the staffs and the hospital work together closely to offer the superior care for the patients.
• Communication also helps in creating a quality relationship between the hospital and the medical staffs or among two or more medical staffs. This helps in bringing out quality work as a team and providing patients with the best facilities available (‘Online Information and Communication Services for People with Disabilities’).

• Format of the message: In order to build an effective communication the format of the communicating message should be proper. The message should contain necessary information so the receiver is able to understand and decode the message.
• Channels: The system of communication will be effective if the channel used in the communication process is flawless. Depending on the position of the head in the communication web a message should flow upward, downwards or laterally.
• Medium: The mode of communication is a vital point in transmitting a message effectively. If a written communication is done orally and vice-versa than problems might crop up in the communication system.
• Clarity: An effective communication is only possible if the message is free from ambiguity. The message should be clear and proper so that receiver is able to decode it well.
• Completeness: A message should be complete in nature to create an effective communication. A half written or half said message is considered to be incomplete and breaks the process of communication.

Communication gets hampered when people with different backgrounds communicate. This creates a barrier in the communication (Witte). People get conscious when they realize that the person they are communicating with has a different background. In this type of case people take the aid of non-verbal communication such as, facial expressions, body language, eye contact, touch etc. Children communicate in their ways which they find it best; they use expressions and body language to convey themselves. Care unit people may also use gestures and expressions to communicate with the child or patient (Mira et al.). Gestures like moving your head up and down expressing “yes” and nodding your head sideways expressing “no” may help in interpreting a message in the communication system (‘Communication in Health Care Visits When Doctors and Patients Have the Same Versus Different Ethnic Backgrounds’).

• Emotional barriers or taboos: Many people find it hard to explain themselves or express their emotions during a communication process. This creates a barrier between the sender and the receiver. Example- A child cannot always express themselves (Could).
• Language differences: It may so happen that during a communication one of the parties to communication is unaware of the language used by the other; this creates a hindrance in the communication process (Rodriguez).
• Physical Disabilities: People with physical disabilities such as problem in hearing or speaking find it difficult to convey their message.

• There are people and children who find it difficult to communicate due to improper speech so they may be given a speech therapy session in order to reduce their problem so that they can communicate well (‘Cost-Effective Communication Skills Training For State Hospital Employees’).
• Some patients or children may have problem with a particular language so they should be given support with the language, they can be provided with teachers so that they learn and communicate (Wales et al.). Translators can be kept in hospitals and social care unit so that the patient’s views can be translated to the medical staff.
• Advocacy services may be kept so that the children and patient in a particular locality benefit from the care given to them by these service people. These people can bring therapists to help them in helping the needy (Goldbart, Chadwick and Buell). People with difficulty in hearing will also benefit from these therapists.

In layman’s language confidentiality means “privacy”. It means information should not be forwarded to other parties without the prior knowledge of the party to contract. Private information without prior knowledge should not be shared with others, it is against the law. In case of child care unit, a child’s information or the parent’s information should not be shared with others due to uncertain circumstances which crop up like kidnap. A child’s safety is compromised if there is a breach of confidentiality (Brann). The trusts of the parents are broken and the relationship between the parents and the care unit gets hampered (Leigh and Mullens).

• No information of the patients, parents or the child should be leaked. It should be kept safe.
• Proper legal procedures should be kept in mind if any negligence occurs while handling private information (Metcalf-Wilson).
• Private information should not be gossiped about; it hampers the confidentiality (Matthews and Harel).

There are times when maintaining confidentiality becomes difficult because it might so happen that the information about the child or the patient needs to be disclosed when some unfavorable circumstances come up. So it is to be seen that before passing on a private data the parties should be made aware that information has to be disclosed (Martin and Guillod). Proper authority should be taken. This is a legal issue so the consent of the client is very important. Information should be disclosed considering the well-being of the clients. Sometimes there is a fear of accusation if any data of the client is revealed, they might charge the service-provider with legal cases and hold them responsible for mishandling their private information.

References

Brann, Maria. ‘Health Care Providers’ Confidentiality Practices And Perceptions: Expanding A Typology Of Confidentiality Breaches In Health Care Communication’. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication 8.1 (2007): 45-52. Web.

Breckman, Brigid. ‘Managing Communication In Health Care Managing Communication In Health Care’. Nursing Standard 17.6 (2002): 29-29. Web.

Canty, Reviewed by James. ‘Communication Skills In Health And Social Care, 2Nd Edition’. Australian Journal of Primary Health 19.1 (2013): 88. Web.

‘Communication In Health Care Visits When Doctors And Patients Have The Same Versus Different Ethnic Backgrounds’. Annals of Internal Medicine 139.11 (2003): I. Web.

‘Cost-Effective Communication Skills Training For State Hospital Employees’. PS 46.8 (1995): 819-822. Web.

Could, J. R. ‘Barriers To Effective Communication’. Journal of Business Communication 6.2 (1969): 53-58. Web.

Goldbart, Juliet, Darren Chadwick, and Susan Buell. ‘Speech And Language Therapists’ Approaches To Communication Intervention With Children And Adults With Profound And Multiple Learning Disability’. INT J LANG COMMUN DISORD 49.6 (2014): 687-701. Web.

Leigh, M.A.M.S., and J.E. Mullens. ‘Maintaining Confidentiality’. The Lancet 346.8990 (1995): 1632. Web.

Martin, and Guillod. ‘The Doctor’s Duty To Maintain Confidentiality (“Medical Secret”) In Switzerland; What Attitude Should The Practitioner Adopt When Authorities Or Outside People Ask For Information About A Patient?’. European Journal of Health Law 8.2 (2001): 163-172. Web.

Matthews, Gregory J., and Ofer Harel. ‘Data Confidentiality: A Review Of Methods For Statistical Disclosure Limitation And Methods For Assessing Privacy’. Statist. Surv. 5.0 (2011): 1-29. Web.

Metcalf-Wilson, Kristin. ‘Confidentiality, Communication & Compliance’. AWHONN Lifelines 6.4 (2002): 344-348. Web.

Mira, José Joaquín et al. ‘Barriers For An Effective Communication Around Clinical Decision Making: An Analysis Of The Gaps Between Doctors’ And Patients’ Point Of View’. Health Expectations 17.6 (2012): 826-839. Web.

Nelson, G. B. ‘Assessment And Intervention For Communication Problems In Home Health Care’. Home Health Care Management & Practice 1.1 (1988): 61-76. Web.

‘Online Information And Communication Services For People With Disabilities’. Internet Research 9.2 (1999): n. pag. Web.

Rodriguez, Robert M. ‘Barriers To Effective Communication In Developing World Intensive Care Units’. Critical Care Medicine 36.10 (2008): 2961. Web.

Testa, Doris. ‘Communication Skills For Health Care And Social Care’. Australian Social Work 63.3 (2010): 362-363. Web.

Wales, Sandra et al. ‘Assessing Communication Between Health Professionals, Children And Families’. J Child Young People Nurs 2.2 (2008): 77-83. Web.

Witte, Kim. ‘Effective Communication In Multicultural Health Care Settings’. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 19.3 (1995): 459-462. Web.