How to Communicate Effectively in Health and Social Care: A Practical Guide for the Caring Professions

There was once a time when having adequate technical skills and competencies, and the appropriate clinical management plan, was sufficient to be considered an effective member of the healthcare team. Today, effective communication is regarded as an essential skill for any healthcare or social care professional. The various healthcare professionals' codes of practice all demand good communication as a basic requirement, and yet despite more than three decades' mainstream acceptance of the positive impact of good communication, and widespread understanding of the consequences of poor communication, first-class communication is not always evident on hospital wards, in doctors' and dentists' surgeries, in ambulances and at clinics.This practical handbook aims to address this problem for anyone working in health and social care, from students undergoing professional education or on practice placements to recently qualified doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics.Senior members of healthcare teams whose formal training may not have covered communications will find it helpful, as will many other staff, including non-regulated health and social care workers such as healthcare assistants, who have received limited formal training in communications.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Communication and Why Effective Communication is ImportantChapter 2: Barriers to Effective CommunicationChapter 3: Non-verbal Communication and Unintentional CommunicationChapter 4: Effective Listening, Observing and QuestioningChapter 5: Communicating with People who have Particular NeedsChapter 6: Communicating in Difficult or Challenging SituationsChapter 7: Communicating Bad, Sad or Difficult NewsChapter 8: Written CommunicationChapter 9: Communicating with Colleagues

About the Author :
Moi Ali is a professional writer, specialising in books on various aspects of communications. She has written best-selling books for publishers such as Dorling Kindersley, Kogan Page and Heinemann and has been published in such titles as Health Service Journal and Quality in Primary Care.Moi is a former Vice President of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the world's largest healthcare regulator, and a former interim member of the General Optical Council's investigations committee, which deals with allegations of professional misconduct. She has served on the Board of a large health authority and is the former chair of a healthcare charity. Currently she is a member of the Board of the Scottish Ambulance Service, where she chairs the clinical governance committee. She has acted as communications consultant to a number of NHS hospitals and healthcare clinics, to two children's hospices, a voluntary sector hospital and the Scottish Cot Death Trust. She is also founder of healthcare pressure group Good Practice, which aims to make family doctors more accountable.

Review :
At The Patients Association, via our national helpline, we hear every day from patients who tell us of both good and bad experiences they have had interacting with health care practitioners. I would always strongly recommend that any health and social care practitioner take time out of their busy schedule to pause and appraise their own work in order to grow and develop. What this book offers is the mirror to reflect, and the tools to guide this process in an easy and to-the-point manner.' (Katherine Murphy, CEO, The Patients Association): 'This book provides an essential, necessary and timely addition to the literature on communication for all healthcare professionals. Not only is it grounded in evidence, it has a unique balance of practical advice and skills that are an essential component of all those engaged in the delivery of health and social care. In my view this book will provide something for both undergraduate healthcare students and qualified practitioners alike - an essential read.' (Professor Brian J. Webster Henderson, Professor of Nursing/University Dean of Learning & Teaching, Vice Chair Council of Deans of Health UK, Convenor Council of Deans of Health Scotland): 'Having worked in dental clinical academia and provided oral healthcare services over many years, I would recommend this very useful handbook to dental clinicians, dentists and dental care professionals, and to their support staff - and to anyone working in other branches of healthcare and even social care. I would also highly recommend it for use across the breadth of undergraduate and postgraduate education and training.' (Professor J G Cowpe, Emeritus Professor, Cardiff University, Consultant Oral Surgeon)