1. WHAT IS EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION? As a hospice palliative care volunteer, communication is central to your role. Being there to help individuals and families discuss their fears and share their feelings is one of the most precious gifts you can offer. Your conversations and shared moments have the potential to help patients and families: • Feel less isolated • Cope better with fears and concerns • Find a sense of meaning. You also have to be able to express yourself well to communicate with the person, the family and other members of the care team. The word communication comes from the root "common". To communicate effectively, people must speak a "common" language of words and body language. They must be able to listen, and to know when to speak and when to be silent. As a volunteer, your goal is to develop the skills, perspective and energy to accept 100% of the responsibility for communication: for understanding what the other person is saying to you and for ensuring the other person understands what you are saying. To do that, you do not have to be an expert on all the mysteries of life and death. You simply When we talk, more than 80% of the “message” is in how we say it, not what we say.
Be available and “present” Give your undivided attention Listen without interruption and with empathy Respect silence.
need to be honest, open and non-judgmental in your conversations and develop a sense of trust with the family and other members of the care team. Think about the way you communicate. Are you comfortable being silent? Do you ask open-ended questions that encourage people to talk? Do you give
person,
people
time to answer? Are you an active listener? 2. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION There are five key barriers to communication in a hospice palliative care situation: 1. Poor listening skills . If people feel they are not being listened to, then there is no communication.
2. Stress . People often do not communicate well when they are in a crisis situation. If they are feeling ill or in pain, their attention may be focused inward and they may not hear what is said to them.
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