Therapeutic Communication Case Study

Health professionals are required to complete accurate assessments of their patients. In order to do this there are particular aspects of communication that can hinder or aid therapeutic communication. The type of question asked either open-ended or closed can alter the amount of information gathered. A variety of both should be used in communication to benefit the health professional in gathering information for their assessment. There are a series of environmental factors that can either encourage or discourage positive communication. Health professional should also be mindful of these factors and be able to act upon them to reduce the negative impacts. Finally aggressive communication should always be avoided and replaced by assertive communication when

An example of an open question that may be asked in the health care setting is ‘How is the recovery going?’ Or ‘How are you feeling today?’. Both of these questions require the person to provide detail and elaborate on their answer. In Ms Bernardi situation the first question could be used to gain information on how she is coping with the recent infection and fracture in her hip. By asking this open question Ms Bernardi is able to expand on how she is recovering and what she may need assistance with. The second example is a more generalised question that most health professionals will ask on a daily bases. In Mrs Bernardi case it allows her to explain what pain or problems she may be facing. Closed questions can be answered with a short phrase or a simple yes or no. Two examples could be asked to Mrs Bernardi could be Is the pain medication working? Or How was physiotherapy today?. These questions only required a simple answer however they can also be answered with a short phrase. This type of question could be used by the health professional to assess and obtain information quickly. The health professional needs to consider Mrs Bernardi language barrier when using closed