Overcoming Communication Barriers free essay sample

Unmet language needs or preferences Unmet language needs or preferences is a communication barrier because if you don’t speak the same language as the service user you won’t be able to understand what the other person is saying and the other person won’t be able to understand you, so there isn’t any communication being made. Linking this to the case study , where the care worker ‘‘Joanne’ asked ‘Mrs Garcia’ if she would like to get washed loudly managing to gain eye contact with her service user, ‘Mrs Garcia’ looks tearfully and says ‘’I sorry , I no understand’’. This is an example of where communication is not being made. Most people will have a preferred first language, so did ‘Mrs Garcia’ who’s preferred language was Spanish. Also the care worker ‘Joanne’ used slang where she said ‘phat’ meaning good the care worker didn’t understand and misunderstood and thought she was calling her fat. To overcome this barrier the care worker may bring in an interpreter or an advocate to communicate or they can ask the service user which language they feel best to communicate or learn the language they speak. The strengths of this strategy would be that the care worker and the service user will be able to communicate effectively, understand each other also the care worker will be able to understand and meet the service users’ needs more better. Sensory impairment and disabilities Sensory impairment such as hearing impairment and visual impairment Is a barrier because if a care taker talks to a person that has a hearing impairment they would need to maybe speak a bit louder in order for them to hear and in order for them to hear they will need to wear a hearing aid. For example a deaf person whose preferred language is British sign language experiences no problems communicating with another person who is good at signing with British sign language. This person may not be able to communicate with people who use spoken English without the aid of an interpreter. An example of this is in the case study the service user Mrs Garcia has a hearing impairment so Joanne needs to talk louder so that Mrs Garcia is able to hear her but the barriers that are stopping communication from being effective is the background noise which in this case is the loud radio and the window that is open which is letting in the noise of the rush hour traffic outside these are all barriers which are making the communication between Joanne and Mrs Garcia ineffective. ‘ Hello Mrs Garcia , how are you today, Mrs Garcia continued to look out the window that is next to her bed , the service user next to Mrs Garcia’s bed has their radio on loudly and the window is open letting noise of traffic inside’. To overcome this barrier you would again have to compensate by putting more focus into non-verbal communication methods such as hand gestures, facial expressions and touch. Also the care worker ‘Joanne’ may make sure that there is no background noise or communicate and talk to Mrs Garcia in a quite area, the strength of this strategy would be effective communication will be made and the service user will able to receive information of the care worker. Another way to overcome this barrier is by making sure that the service user has their hearing aid with them and making sure that it works properly so that it helps the service user to hear better. The strength of this strategy would be that the service user will be able to hear when they are being talked to and will be able to listen and receive information effectively. Communication involving personality or self-esteem needs, or anxiety or depression Communication involving personality, self-esteem, anxiety or depression is a barrier because if you have your own problems then you may find it hard to concentrate and therefore this could cause barriers in communication. For example if you are stressed or upset about something this can lead them to not being able to concentrate on work and the surrounding environment. So care workers sometimes stop listening or try to avoid conversations to hide or ignore their own personal emotions. Linking this to the case study , where Joanne ‘came in the morning and was finding it hard to concentrate this morning as she did not sleep well last night as a family member is very ill and she is therefore feeling tired and worried’. To overcome this barrier the care worker can ask another member of staff to deal with the situation, if they can’t this is better than the care worker going over there who is upset and worried about a situation themselves, as the care worker will find it difficult to send and receive messages, the care worker will also find it hard to communicate and the service user who it is being said to may misunderstand it. The strength of this strategy would be that the other member of staff will be able to communicate with the service user effectively rather than Joanne as she is worried and upset herself, also the care worker is going to be dealing and handling the situation much better than Joanne. Assumptions This is where you judge or say something without giving it any thought and you just assume of what is being said. Assumptions can be a barrier in communication because if you assume of what is being said it could hurt the service user’s feelings as it could come out wrong, and it would lead to misunderstanding the message. An example of this was from the case study ‘Mrs Garcia was very upset or feeling very ill and the care worker ‘Joanne’ assumed that it was the tablets, and said (TDS). This is a barrier as the care worker only assumed she didn’t ask the service user what actually was the matter. To overcome this barrier the care worker should have listened very carefully to the service user and then ask the service user what was wrong. The strength would be that the care worker wouldn’t have misunderstood and knew what the matter was, effective communication would be made, and the service user would have felt a trustworthy relationship with the care worker.