Communication between health care professionals and dementia patients

21^st World Congress on Nursing

April 18, 2022 Webinar

Mariana Ramona Voicu

Cleveland Hospital, UK

Keynote: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Communication is the basic need of human life as it is necessary to express feelings, connect with others, feel part of the community and make decisions that affect life to exist and survive (Machiels et al., 2017). The process of communication includes providing, receiving, and exchanging information through a medium that is appropriate to convey the information (O'Toole, 2020). Communication can be of two categories; Verbal communication in which the information is communicated through the use of words and Non-verbal communication in which the information is communicated through gestures, body language, and facial expressions (Warnecke, 2014). Developing effective communication is one of the most important elements of delivering quality, cost-effectiveness and positive health outcomes in care (Machiels et al., 2017). It supports healthcare literacy, gaining cultural competency and overcoming language barriers (Schroyen et al., 2018). Verbal communication provides clarity, honesty and accuracy in the health care process. Therefore, healthcare professionals need to have effective verbal communication skills (Dooley et al., 2015). There are various techniques and elements discovered for verbal communication efficiency such as effective body language, active listening, attentiveness, assertiveness, clarity of thoughts, friendliness, and speaking with confidence to others (Piers et al., 2018). These elements enhance the quality of communication that is a very important part of communicating information in general. Healthcare professionals have to deal with different kinds of people that have different ways of communication, language barriers, and sometimes inability to communicate (Papadopoulos and Ali, 2016). Some of the patients suffer the challenges of communicating well due to their disability and deteriorating communication ability, the healthcare professionals need to have effective communication skills that can help them to address the patients with maximum efficiency (Marler and Ditton, 2021). The patients suffering from Dementia are one such challenging service areas in which the patients' communication ability deteriorates continuously due to a decline in speech, physical and mental abilities (Swan et al., 2018). Therefore, to provide effective care and support to the patients, healthcare professionals must be able to communicate with them, interpret their language correctly, understand their needs and develop a plan accordingly (Wray, 2020). Both verbal and nonverbal communication techniques are required for the healthcare professionals to address this huge challenge for the everyday working process of healthcare professionals and reduction in the errors of care service delivery process (Naughton et al., 2018). This research focuses on verbal communications skills and their significance for healthcare professionals in attending dementia patients.

Biography :

My name is Mariana Ramona Voicu and just graduated BA (Hons) Healthcare Management (Top-Up) at Arden university. I am part of the neuro rehabilitation team at Cleveland Hospital London. I am passionate about research but still a pioneer in this field.