Assignment 2
M1- Assess the ole of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in Health and Social Care with reference to two theories of communication.
In this assignment I will assess the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in health and social care with reference to the theories of communication and from watching the video clip of David and his physiotherapist.
Communication involves a two way process in which each person tries to understand the new point of another person. Michael Argyle (1972) argued that interpersonal communication was a skill that could be learned and developed as driving a car. He developed a theory of the communication cycle of having six stages which are 1. An idea occurs 2.Message coded 3. Message sent 4. Message received 5.Message decoded 6.Message understood. On the other hand another theorist Tuckman believed that communication in groups was influenced by the degree of people understanding each other. There four stages to his theory which are 1.Forming, 2.Storming, 3.Norming and four performing. Both types of communication were used in the physiotherapy session. I will be looking at each stage of communication in detail giving strengths and weaknesses for each. I will start with Michael Argyle.
The communication Cycle-Michael Argyle 1. Idea occurs
This is the first stage of the communication cycle. For someone to get the message of what you wanted to say it is a result of an idea occurring. You think about something you wish to communicate. This is shown in the therapy session because all the talking they were doing was because she had thought of what to say to David and if it was appropriate for David. She states that she has known David for a long time but because every day has to be different for him each day to make him feel like it’s not a routine the phyiso has to think of an idea first. This is an effective way of communicating because before she sends the message to David it has been thought through and she has found it to be appropriate for him. A weakness to this is that if she had not thought of an idea and just something it would have been in appropriate bearing in mind that David is young and might be sensitive.

2. Message Coded
Once the Idea has occurred the next stage of the communication cycle is thinking through how you are going to send the message you are thinking which Argyle explains as message coded. It’s basically thinking of how to communicate what you have thought to the other person so that he/she can understand. This is when you turn your idea to as form of communication, in the video this is shown throughout the video. In P1 when we had to explain the types of communication used and how they were effective. All the types of communications were as a result of the physiotherapist coding the message.

Message sent
This is the third stage of Argyle communication cycle. This is when you speak or use sign or send your message in some other way that is appropriate for the other person to understand. This is shown throughout the video because she is sending the messages using different types of communication which are effective and suitable for David’s needs. Her voice is calm and she asks David to do certain things like lifting his legs and moving his body, he does these things because the physio has sent the message to him. Strength to this is that because she has gone through the other stages from the idea occurring and coding it the message will be clear and really effective because it has been thought through. In the clip David was not hesitating to do anything he was asked to do because he felt like he actually had a choice and it was appropriate.

Message Received
Argyle describes this stage as to when the other person receives the message that has been sent. Once can receive the message through hearing, looking or through text all this is depended according to how the message was coded. The physio sent the message in different ways that David could understand and he understood them. In the video clip he was being responsive to what he was asked to do which shows that he had received the messages. He sometimes looks at the physio and nods his head to show that he has received the message.

Message Decoded
Decoding the message basically means interpreting what you have received. Argyle states that this is not always done first time because one might not have got the message. We see David decoding the message in the video clip in a way that he can understand. He has a condition and he cannot do other things that normal people can do therefore he has listen and really understand the message. This is strength because If David decoded the message proper there will be a less probability that he would not have understood the message. However if he decoded it and got the wrong idea which will make him think the wrong meaning then this would be a weakness.

3. Message Understood
This is the last stage of argyle Theory. To understand the message means all the other stages from the idea occurring, coding the message, sending it and the message being received shows that they have been successfully completed. David fully understood the message because he was doing what he had been asked to do and was really aware of his surroundings. If He didn’t understand the message maybe because of not receiving the message properly then he would not understood the message which would be a weakness , but because David was doing what he was asked to do means he had decoded the message properly.

Group communication – Tuckman Theory 1. Forming.
This is the first stage of Tuckman’s theory. The group meets for the first time and share ideas witch each other. They explore one another and get to understand each other, in the video clip David, the physio and the career had to form first before they started the session. They got to know each other and understand the purpose of the physiotherapy session. They started by greeting each other at the start of the video to get comfortable with each other. The physio and the career might have formed before David came because they needed to know if the ideas they had would also meet David’s needs. This is necessary for the group to form because maybe because the career was a new replacement for someone who was not there she had to get to know David and the physio better. If they didn’t do this then it would have been hard for them to start the session and will not meet David’s needs.

2. Storming
This is the second stage of the group formation theory. This is when they go through the ideas they have and go through them together. However with this comes a lot of arguments and disagreements. When people meet for the first time they really do not know each other so they don’t feel comfortable around other and also want to make good impression to everyone. In the video we don’t really see them storming but however they might have stormed before the video. Both of them are professionals except of course the physiotherapist which is her job. However tension might have been caused because they will have thought what therapy to give to David that would suit his needs. The physio says that she has known David for a long time but the first time they met they would have grown through storming to understand each other even though it’s not shown on the clip.

3. Norming
This is the next stage after storming. The group comes together consciously or unconsciously agreeing on group values. We see this is the physiotherapy session because they were all actually working together including the career. David was also doing what he was asked to do which shows he understood and felt comfortable doing it. The career also helps the physio when she needs assistant. This shows that now the group is good together and can function properly to fit David's needs. This is important because they can perform effectively because they understand each other’s needs.

4. Performing
After forming, storming and norming the last phrase of group communication according to Tuckman is performing. This is when the group has successfully completed the other stages and can now put into action what they have discussed. We see this in the video because all the communication and actions they did were performing. They had gotten to the stage where they felt comfortable with each other and David feeling safe around them. However if they did not go through the other stages successfully they would not perform effectively to suit David's needs.

For the group to perform effectively they need to go through all the stages of Tuckman’s group formation. Every stage has its benefits that will help the next stage until they reach the final stage of performing. If they failed to perform effectively in one stage then the second stage was going to be affected. If David and the physio didn’t have a relationship then they would have tension when they perform because both of them did not go through norming properly.

Conclusion

To conclude communication is important. From the video clip we have watched it plays a role in our day to day lives. As we have seen and evaluated the methods of communication used and the two theories, it was really effective for the person it was bring used for. When she was communicating she used different methods to get her message across but always thought if it was going to help him or if he was going to understand it. From her body language, tone of her voice and her friendliness contributed to making David enjoy the therapy session. Also looking at the communication cycle and the group formation all the stages was effective to David needs. She also used eye contract and she used her sense of humour to make David feel comfortable with the environment. She kept on praising David which gave him good self-esteem and made him feel safe to ask any questions if he was curious to know something. They had a trustworthy relationship the physio would touch David and he felt comfortable with it which was good. But I think the most effective was the communication cycle this is because all the stages were really useful for David and had an impact on the services provided. However the group communication was also beneficial. If they did not bond and formed they could not gave been able to communicate because David would feel uncomfortable, but then the physio gets paid for doing his job not to really make deep friendship with David

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