1. THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND GETTING IT RIGHT FOR INDIVIDUALS

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1 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales 1. THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND GETTING IT RIGHT FOR INDIVIDUALS This set of activities asks you to consider the importance of communication to individuals and the many reasons individuals communicate. You need to think about the different needs and preferences of different individuals, including those with sensory loss, and the impact that you and your service can have in meeting these needs. The activities ask you to demonstrate that you understand and can overcome barriers to communication. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING Diploma: Unit 1: 1.1, 1.2,.2 Unit 74: 1.1, 1.2, 1.6 Task 1 This task enables you to demonstrate your understanding of the different reasons why individuals communicate and why meeting their needs is important. You will do this by thinking about two actual individuals for whom you care. You must not identify them by name, but choose two individuals with different approaches to communication. Your task is to look at the diagram below and either complete a similar diagram for each of your two individuals, or fill in the table opposite. Why they communicate e.g. To let others know how they are feeling and seek acknowledgement and empathy The impact of my role and practice e.g. Most mornings I am their first contact and if I am successfully empathetic it shapes their mood for the day Importance of meeting communication needs e.g. Slightly hearing impaired and believes people are mumbling and can t be bothered The effect on relationships e.g. Successful communication makes them happy and fun to be with; we know what they want and they aren t frustrated Effect of not meeting needs e.g. Withdrawal, left out of conversation, loss of self-esteem The barriers to communication e.g. When they are upset they can t find the right words 4 M0_HASC_WB_BTEC_1281_U0.indd 4 09/08/ :11

2 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales 1. Reasons why each individual communicates Individual one Individual two 2. Why it s important to meet their communication needs. The potential effect of not meeting their communication needs 4. Howr elationships are affected by communication 5. The barriers to effective communication 6. The impact of my role and practice Diploma: Unit 1: 1.2, 2.1, 2.,.1,.2,., 4.1, 4.2, 4. Task 2 This task requires you to write a support pack for your work colleagues. Assume that your work colleagues know little about individuals with sensory loss and that in the future your service is expected to interact with such individuals. Your task is to help your colleagues to understand some of the issues for individuals with sensory loss and prepare them to work with such individuals. The pack should have four sections. i) The main causes of sensory loss. ii) The indicators and signs of sensory loss. iii) An analysis of how the attitudes and beliefs of society affect individuals with sensory loss. iv) An explanation of the methods of communication used by individuals with sensory loss and the sources of support. i) The main causes of sensory loss. This section should highlight the difference between congenital and acquired loss and the factors that influence incidence of sensory loss in different parts of the population. It should include an explanation of the positive impact that effective communication may have on individuals with sensory loss. 5

3 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales Complete the following box. The main causes of congenital sensory loss are: The main causes of acquired sensory loss are: The factors that influence incidence of sensory loss in different parts of the population are: The positive impacts that effective communication may have on individuals with sensory loss are: The explanation for these positive impacts is: What should be done if a worker has concerns that an individual is experiencing the onset of sensory loss or changes in their degree of loss? 6 M0_HASC_WB_BTEC_1281_U0.indd 6 09/08/ :11

4 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales ii) The indicators and signs of sensory loss. Complete the table below. Indicators and signs of: Loss of hearing Loss of sight Loss of both e.g. Appearing to ignore what you said e.g. Tripping iii) How the attitudes and beliefs in society affect individuals with sensory loss. Complete the table below. The attitudes and beliefs found in society towards people with sensory loss e.g. That someone who is deaf can t speak The effect this has on individuals with sensory loss If the assumption is made of someone who can speak that they can t, they can feel extremely excluded and devalued 7

5 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales iv) An explanation of the methods of communication used by individuals with sensory loss and the sources of support. Complete the table below. Sensory loss Methods of communication used by these individuals Sources of support Sight loss Hearing loss Deafblindness Diploma: Unit 1: 1.1, 1., 2.2 Unit 74: 1. Task This task will help you to demonstrate your understanding of the factors that affect individuals with sensory loss. So that you can do this in a practical rather than an abstract way, you are asked to think about your service and how it does, or would, work with individuals with sensory loss. Complete the table below, identifying separately the factors and issues for individuals with sight loss, hearing loss and deafblindness and suggesting good practice solutions to overcome these issues and factors. The first column has been completed for you. 8 M0_HASC_WB_BTEC_1281_U0.indd 8 09/08/ :11

6 9 What is the impact of communication? What is the impact of information? What is the impact of familiar layouts and routines? What is the impact of hazards and barriers to mobility? Individuals with sight loss Individuals with hearing loss Individuals with deafblindness Without special thought, mistaken assumptions can be made that gestures and facial expressions have been communicated and the individual receives only part of the communication. The result can be confusion and hurt feelings. Good practice is: With right-justified text it s difficult for them to find the beginning of the next line. Good practice is: If furniture and items are moved then they can be walked into and items can be lost. Good practice is: BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales Steps and uneven surfaces can cause hazards. Good practice is:

7 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales EVIDENCE GATHERING In this activity you will identify an area of your work that will capture evidence of how you communicate with individuals, especially how you agree the individuals preferences, and then review the effectiveness of agreed communication methods. Your assessor will help you to identify suitable items of evidence. Your assessor will want to see the evidence but you may not need to copy it as long as you identify each piece of evidence and its location. You need to gather evidence of activity within areas of your work to demonstrate: a. how you have discovered the particular communication needs and preferences of two specific individuals and the ways you have agreed to support their communication, including any aids. The evidence needs to show that you have analysed why the individual has these needs and preferred methods. You need to show that you have worked with someone without a formal language system and someone with a formal language system; show how you have used different ways to establish needs and preferences, and show that you have worked with others to establish the individuals preferences. Diploma: Unit 1: 2.1, 2.2,.1 Unit 74: 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2 Suggested evidence may include: the relevant section of needs assessment documentation the relevant section of care plan correspondence and documents showing your collection of information from others. b. how you have evaluated the agreed methods of communicating with the individuals covered in evidence a. The evidence needs to show you collating information about each individual s communication, evaluating the communication and support experienced by each individual, and working with others to identify how to maintain and improve communication. Diploma: Unit 74: 6.1, 6.2, 6. Suggested evidence may include: your notes recording each individual s communication information collected from others about each individual s communication the relevant section of care plan review documentation. 40 M0_HASC_WB_BTEC_1281_U0.indd 40 09/08/ :11

8 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales Diploma: Unit 1: 2., 2.4,.,.4,.5 Unit 74: 2.,.1,.2,., 4.1, 4.2, 4., 4.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE This activity will enable your assessor to examine your competence by observing you carrying out workplace activities. This will include asking related questions to test your underpinning knowledge. Your assessor will agree when they can visit you at your workplace to observe this activity. a. Supporting an individual communicating with a third person During this activity you must use a range of styles/methods to meet the individual s communication needs. These will be the methods agreed in the individual s care plan and your assessor will expect to see the relevant section of the care plan. You will need to have thought about the setting for the activity and how it will help communication and avoid or overcome potential barriers. You must identify an individual and an activity in which you will be actively involved in helping them communicate with the other person. You will need to get the permission of others involved before the assessor can observe you. As an alternative to your assessor, you may, with your assessor s agreement, arrange for an expert witness to observe and write an account of this observation. The assessor will need to see you adapting your approach in response to the individual and supporting the other person to be understood by the individual and in turn to understand the individual. You must show your ability to clarify misunderstandings. Facilitating communication between an individual and a third party helps to ensure they are properly understood. 41

9 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Health & Social Care Wales After the observation your assessor will want you to explain: how you prepared the environment how you monitored the individual s responses during the interaction and how you will check the effectiveness of the communication afterwards why it was/is important to be responsive to the individual what you did/do to overcome barriers your approach to clarifying misunderstandings and other strategies that you may have used how you did/could access extra support/services to enable the individual s communication. Diploma: Unit 1: 1.1, 1., 2.2 Unit 74: 1. PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION Your assessor will conduct a professional discussion with you, which will capture evidence necessary to prove your level of knowledge and understanding of topic areas. Below are some topic areas you will need to consider when preparing for the professional discussion. The attitudes in society towards sensory loss. The impact of the environment on communication with people with sensory loss. The factors that affect service provision for people with sensory loss. Your assessor will plan the content of your professional discussion and will advise you on how to prepare beforehand. The professional discussion may cover more than this section of your Assessment Workbook. Discussion process The discussion process will offer you the opportunity to show that you understand the factors that impact on people with sensory loss and that you are able to identify how service provision must be adapted to their needs. To prepare for your professional discussion, you should think about how you could answer questions such as the following. How do attitudes and beliefs in society impact on people with sensory loss? What are the adaptations that need to be made in service provision to meet the needs of people with: o sight loss o hearing loss o deafblindness? How can the environment help or hinder people with sensory loss? 42