Communication and Interprofessional Teams in Healthcare

Patient interactions

Active listening, verbal and non verbal, time and safe spaces, trust and confidentiality, empathy and compassion, cultural awareness

Professional interviewing requires:

Inclusive dialogue, cultural competency, honouring patient’s vulnerability, proficiency

Purpose of professional interviewing

Informed decision making, understanding needs requirements and health literacy of the patient, diagnosis, treatment planning and goal setting, helps build rapport

Types of social power (therapeutic alliance)

Expert, information, legitimate, referent, reward, coercive

Introductory phase of interview

Therapist establishes who they are, what they are doing and purpose of interview, presenting the problem, patient narrative, open ended questions encouraging participation, question selection, therapist response, cues

Working phase of interview

Info gathering phase, logical systematic structure, clear and concise speech and language, open ended questions, prompts and directions

Termination phase of interview

Physio summarises, wrapping up, clarification, review goals and treatment planning or rehab program

Motivational interviewing

Patient advice and education, patient centre approach to promoting changes in personal health behaviours, advanced communication skills to help patients with health related outcomes - patient role in self management

SMART goals

Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely

Things that need to be considered when communicating with an interpreter

Mode, prep, briefing, seating arrangement, during session, communication

Communication skills when working with interpreters

Need to consider patient rights and informed consent, interpreters need to be impartial

Therapeutic alliance

Patient and practitioner are both working collaboratively towards a shared goal

Common five steps for effective communication

Information sharing, common understanding, active listening, common language - cultural and academic, consider both perspectives

Importance of good communication

Emphasises person centred care, legal responsibilities, improves healthcare and effective teamwork

Active listening

Receiving - hearing and attending, understanding - learning and decipher meaning, remembering - recalling and retaining, evaluating - judging and criticising and responding - answering and giving feedback

Effective oral communication

Active listening, relation and paraphrasing for clarification, non verbal behaviours, questioning to gather further information, summarising

Barriers to effective communication

Medial jargon, criticism, ridicule or sarcasm, lecturing, poor listening, generational language

Skills required for communication in healthcare

Development, practice, inclusive language, cultural competency, health literacy, safe space and providing compassionate care

Communication in healthcare teams

Active listening, common purpose and goal, preparation for situation, conflict resolution

Communicating with patients in pain

Patient is an expert of their own pain, listening or look for non verbal cues, time and advocacy, emotional intelligence, voice tone and volume, DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS

General tips for communicating with people with disabilities

Use person’s first language, age appropriate tone, eye contact and become level with patient, always talk to the patient as well as support people, avoid negative phrases

Communicating to patients with intellectual impairment

Simple questions with easy answers, be specific and direct, body language

Communicating to patients with visual impairment

Introduce yourself and use their name, verbalise throughs and feelings, communicating coming and going, don’t touch assistance dogs or equipment

Communicating to patients with hearing impairment

Visual sign to gain attention, face directly and maintain eye contact, make sure mouth is visible but don’t accentuate movements

Communication strategies with culturally diverse people

Culturally relevant pictures and pictograms, pictures inclusive of cultural representation, cultural preferences, interpreters or community members, motivation to learn

Communicating with children

Talk to child at their eye level, age appropriate language, include parent but let the child lead, consent

Written communication

Reports, emails, documents, forms, medical history, notes - patient confidentiality important

Telehealth

Delivery of health at a distance, usually to remote communities, consultation, synchronous communication in real time

Beneficence

Looking after patient’s welfare

Non maleficence

Harming patient

Communication competency with specific populations

Be respectful, be sensitive in verbal and non verbal language, appropriate tone and language for person, be aware of communication difficulties, adopt strategies to enhance communication, develop skills to ensure competence in assistance

Interprofessional team

Two or more professions working together as a team with a common purpose, commitment and mutual respect

Importance of interprofessional teams

Can address multiple health issues, makes it easier to receive services from multiple professions

Skills required for interprofessional teams

Own professional language, respective and holistic view, ability to resolve conflict, open mind and flexibility

Limitations to interprofessional teams

Time consuming, time away from other patient appointments, logistically challenging