UNIT 201 – Principles of Communication in Adult Care Settings

1. People communicate for different reasons in order to express if they are in fear, anger, joy or pain. 2. Communication is very effective because not only you have to communicate with the person you supporting but also their family and friends as well as your work colleagues in the work place 3. It is important to observe an individual’s reactions when communicating with them so that any problems can be identified and can be dealt with in an effective way. Communicating with an individual in a different way is also an effective way such as their facial expressions, body language or their gestures. 4. It is important to finding out an individuals communication and language needs, wishes and preferences because every individual may not communicate the same and the effective way to communicate with an individual other than my work colleagues are their family and friends as well as others who have worked with the individual. 5. Different ways of communicating with an individual such as sign languages, the individual may not be able to hear or if an individual is wearing a hearing aid is not working or fitted properly; communicating with the individual using flash cards, drawing or in writing if the individual has a learning or physical disability such as dementia. 6. Different types of communication barriers in the adult care settings are if the individual cannot speak and may have to use a different way to communicate, the room may be too loud for the individual to speak. 7. To reduce barriers in communication you must be very clear to when speaking to an individual, assist an individual in tasks they may need assisting in or if an individual may need assisting in their personal care. 8. In order to check that communication has been understood, you have listened very