HLTH103 Communication For Health Professionals Essay

Introduction

This essay critically analyzes the communication between healthcare professional and the patient’s attendant. The video recording of the discussion, entitled OUTPATIENT_JUVENILE_DIABETES has been used for this critical reflection.

Communication Style

It is commendable that the health care professional has, throughout the conversation, made use of a patient-centered approach. This is demonstrated from the regular participation that the professional opens for with the patient himself. The remarks which have been made by the health care professional are quite empathetic and are reflective of care and compassion. The healthcare professional has demonstrated genuineness and respect for the sentiments of the patient. For instance, at one point during the conversation, she asked the patient whether there are soft drinks coming in the house and whether his siblings consume soft drinks in front of him. The patient answered positively to which the healthcare professional remarked that it is very important for diabetic patients to get rid of soft drinks. The professional also formulated a strategy for the patient to abandon inappropriate and junk food items: ‘one step at a time’. All of this suggests that not only the tone of the healthcare professional with the patient was empathetic but also the body language was congruent.

It is also worth mentioning that during the conversation, the healthcare professional regularly demonstrated a reflective speech; the communication may be regarded as open-ended - rather participative - in which questions were asked from the patient and his attendant, and the floor was then left open for them to respond. Paraphrasing and repeating what the attendant of the patient or the patient himself has just mentioned is also a communication skill which has been effectively used by the healthcare professional.

Barrier to Effective Communication

Although the communication went smoothly, there was a psychological barrier which was observed such that this particular barrier restricted a clear and explicit communication between the healthcare professional and the patient. One example can be discussed in this context. The healthcare professional got to know that the siblings of the patient eat junk food items such as cakes in front of the patient at home. Upon getting to know this, the professional should have declared this a negative trait or attitude by the siblings explicitly. However, she did not say anything to the attendant of the patient – his mother. This may be regarded as a psychological barrier to effective communication. 

Achievement

In the light of the discussion which followed between the healthcare professional and the diabetic patient, it can be said that the healthcare professional was, nevertheless, able to achieve a mutual understanding with the patient. The healthcare professional refrained the patient from having junk food items such as soft drinks and cakes. A mutual arrangement was made regarding the consistency of the sugar level of the patient between 4 and 8. This is a major achievement primarily due to the fact that the discussion which has been presented in the work of Stanyon et al. (2016) also concurs with the idea that it is important for healthcare professionals to make a mutual arrangement with the patient explicitly and clearly. The strategy of ‘one step at a time’, which has been introduced by the healthcare professional herself, also goes a long way; according to researchers including Salyers et al. (2017), it is important to build on positive habits in small but concrete and authentic portions and foundations. 

Reflective Action

If I were to act as the healthcare professional in this very case, I personally would have had a more explicit and clearer understanding of the situation of the patient. My communication style would have been a little more authoritative subject to the condition of the patient; I would have stated clearly that the patient needs hard work and support not only from his attendant but also from the rest of the family members at home. I also would have shown a little more discontent upon hearing the fact that the siblings of the patient eat cakes and other junk items in front of the patient. The work of Batalden et al. (2017) would have been my guide; according to the authors, support and facilitation from all of the family members is what makes it easy for the patient to forgo his or her bad habits which are harmful for health. The cultural sensitivity of the healthcare professional in this video is at par and does not need much rectification. However, it must be noted that the professional must have been a little stricter not directly with the patient but with the attendant, due to the fact that the patient is too young for an illness such as diabetes.

Learning

An important learning from this activity is that the tone of the professional is what matters the most to the patient. The professional, throughout the conversation, was calm and had an open-ended conversation with her patients. This is in complete alignment with a study conducted by Vogelaers (2015); according to the author, the patients respond positively to the questions of the healthcare professional subject to the tone of the latter. This particular idea has been supported by Gluyas (2015) who argues that it is important to consider that the patients “upon-up” to the doctors only when they experience a positive attitude by the doctors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this video presented the conversation between a healthcare professional and a patient of diabetes which is a child. The healthcare professional demonstrated a congruent body language and her tone was also quite polite and empathetic.