Effective Vs. Poor Communication

Communicating is one of the first skills we were taught as small children. This is how we are able to transmit our thoughts and feelings to others. It seems like such a simple concept, yet ironically it is something we as humans find as one of the most difficult elements of our daily lives. So many different details go into effective communication, not just speaking and understanding. Everything must work together like a well-oiled machine in order to be effective. Body language, facial expressions, posture, voice, and tone of volume are just a few key aspects of communication. As a future OT, there are many different people I will have to communicate with on a day to day basis: Children, parents, my supervisor, my co-workers, caregivers, my spouse, older adults, nurses, and the list could go on and on. The benefits of having good communication skills with my future clients are to establish a trust between myself and my patient to allow them to disclose information they may feel uncomfortable with, provide a greater patient satisfaction, and connect with the patient in a way that makes them become more motivated and allow them to see that I care about them as a person and their progress. Poor communication with my clients could lead to a decrease in patient confidence and trust with their therapist causing them to not share information relevant to their health and well-being, discouragement and feeling of unimportance of themselves, negligence, and patient complaints. Ultimately, communication is the key to a healthy relationship between you and your client. By being cognizant of who you’re communicating with and appropriately responding in a way that is positive and engaging, you will become a successful communicator.

Reference: 
Davis, L., & Rosee, M. (2015). Occupational therapy student to clinician: Making the transition. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK Incorporated.