Role Of Nonverbal Communication In Health And Social Care

Non-verbal communication (N.V.C) refers to the interpretation and communication of information by any means other than language. N.V.C includes communication through any expressive or behavioural channel of communication such as bodily movements, facial expression, vocal tone and many other channels. N.V.C involves cues related to the communication of information as well as the interpretation of information. The interpretation and communication of non-verbal behaviour draws an implicit and tacit knowledge that all people possess.
Such communication is often subtle, spontaneous, and incontrollable and rapidly and unconsciously interpreted and communicated, and provides a great lot of information regarding affective states. Although non-verbal
In a social care setting, N.V.C is particularly important in establishing and maintaining Social Care Worker (S.C.W)-service user relationships and influencing the service user to comply with the service regime. N.V.C affects the S.C.W, the service user and the relationship in the S.C.W-service user dyad. Such communication can affect several important health related outcomes, such as the service user’s adherence to regimes, recovery and sometime survival.
Service users can be particularly sensitive to a S.C.W’s non-verbal behaviours because they are often nervous and/or vulnerable and want to discern the true feeling of the S.C.W. In seeking information about their situation, the service user pays close attention, not only to the information being given but also the manner in which the information is communicated.
A subtle gesture, a change in vocal tone, or too little or too much eye contact may result in a very different interpretation of a message by a service user. And, as such, often it is not what a S.C.W says but the manner in which it is said that leads to a service user’s trust or mistrust or like or
Information from these four areas forms and conveys distinct impressions. E.g., a smile, direct gaze, a forward lean, and a warm vocal tone all taken together convey interest and liking. However, direct gaze and forward lean, without the smile and warm tone, taken together might convey dominance or intimidation.
A very important area of knowledge in N.V.C for S.C.W’s is that of deception. Deception is the expression of behaviour that is inconsistent with the true thoughts and feelings of the encoder (Rosenthal, 1998). In certain situations, such as for the purpose of self-presentation, deceptive behaviour is considered socially acceptable. E.g. it is acceptable or indeed expected, for employment interviewees to appear confident, although they might actually feel the opposite. In other situations, such as when people are self serving lies, deception is widely held to be unacceptable.
When lying, people tend to direct more attention to managing their facial expressions then to managing their vocal or bodily behaviours; they tend to move their face, head and body less than when not lying. Moreover, when lying, people show more mismatch between channels. Deception is typically detected at rates slightly higher than chance, although situational factors such as the relationship between the person lying can increase the accuracy of detecting