COMMUNICATION

WITH SPECIAL
NEEDS PATIENTS
 HUMAN BEHAVIOR: STAGES OF THE LIFE CYCLE
• Guidelines for communication based on developmental stage:
o Infant
o Toddler
o Pre-schooler
o School age
o Adolescence
o Young, middle, old adult

• Understanding growth and development enhances

communication skills
o Physical development
o Psychological growth
 ANXIOUS PATIENT

•Can interfere in communication process

•May not listen well or pay attention to what
you are saying
•Observe for:
1. Tense appearance
2. Increased blood pressure and breathing
3. Irritability and agitation
 ANGRY PATIENT

 Goal is to help the patient express anger constructively

 Steps in communicating with an angry patient:

• Recognize anger and its cause • Askpatient to be specific in

• Remain calm and demonstrate
presenting the concerning
respect cause
• Avoid
breakdown of
• Focus on physical and medical
needs communication
• Maintain • Leaveif you feel that you are
adequate personal
space physically threatened
• Do not take anger personally
 PATIENTS FROM OTHER CULTURES

• Each patient has his or her own behaviors, traditions,

and values
- Strive to understand and be tolerant
• Stereotyping
- Negative statement about specific traits of a group
applied to an entire population
• Generalization
- Statement about common trends within a group
 PATIENTS FROM OTHER CULTURES (CONT.)
• Attitudes about health care

• Beliefs about causes of illness

• Symptoms and what they mean

• Treatment expectations

• Language barriers
 THE ELDERLY PATIENT
• Be respectful
• Do not talk down to elderly person
• Tips for communication
1. Act as if you expect the patient to understand
2. Respond calmly to any confusion
3. Tell the truth and use simple questions and terms
4. Ask the patient to relax, speak slowly, and ask the patient to
repeat if you do not understand
TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS

•Often under extreme

stress, so offer support
and empathy
•Kubler-Ross’s Stages of
Dying
Denial
Anger
Depression
Acceptance
 YOUNG PATIENTS AND THEIR PARENTS

• Recognize and accept their fear and anxiety

• Explain all procedures
• Use praise
• Do not tell children that a procedure will not hurt if it
will, or you will lose their trust
• Reassuring and keeping parents calm will also help the
child relax
 TO IMPROVE
COMMUNICATION WITH
HEARING-IMPAIRED PATIENTS
• Usebody language such as
gestures and signs.
• Speak clearly in short sentences.
• Facethe individual to facilitate lip
reading.
• Write messages if necessary.
• Makesure hearing aids are
working properly.
 TO IMPROVE
COMMUNICATION WITH
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PATIENTS
• Use a soft tone of voice.
• Describeevents that are
occurring.
• Announce your presence as you
enter a room.
• Explain sounds or noises.
• Use touch when appropriate.
TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITH APHASIA
OR SPEECH IMPAIRMENTS PATIENTS
They have difficulty remembering the correct
words, may not be able to pronounce certain
words, and may have slurred speech.
• The health care worker must be patient.
• Allow them to try and speak.
• Encourage them to take their time.
• Repeat message to assure accuracy.
• Encourage them to use gestures or point to
objects.
• Provide pen and paper if they can write.
• Use
pictures with key messages to
communicate.
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH
PATIENTS WITH AIDS/ HIV
• Stigma of disease
1. Guilt
2. Anger
3. Depression
• You
must have accurate information about the disease
and the risks involved to answer the patient’s questions
• Patients need human contact and to be treated with
dignity
 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH
ALL PATIENTS WITH DISABILITIES
• Talk to persons with disabilities in the same way and with a normal tone of voice
(not shouting) as you would talk to anyone else.

• Talk to people with disabilities as adults and talk to them directly rather than to
an accompanying person.

• Ask the person with a disability if assistance is needed; do not assume that help
is needed until you ask them.

• When communicating with a person with a disability, it is important to take steps

to ensure that effective communication strategies are used. This includes sitting
or standing at eye level with the patient and making appropriate eye contact.
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH
PATIENTS WITH MOBILITY LIMITATIONS
• Donot push or move a person’s wheelchair or grab a person’s
arm to provide assistance without asking first.
• When speaking to a person seated in a wheelchair, sit so that
you and the person are at the same eye level.
• Shake hands when introduced to a person with a disability.
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH PATIENTS WITH
INTELLECTUAL, COGNITIVE OR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
• Adjust
your method of communication as necessary depending on the individual's
responses to you.
• Usesimple, direct sentences or supplementary visual forms of communication,
such as gestures, diagrams, or demonstrations, if indicated.
• Be prepared to repeat the same information more than once in different ways.
• Give
exact instructions. For example, “You will see the nurse at 10:30,” rather than
“Come back to see the nurse in 15 minutes.”
• Eliminate distractions and minimize background noise if possible.
• Do not pretend to understand if you do not. Ask the person to repeat what was
said.
• Be patient, flexible, and supportive.
• Do not assume that the person will be able to read well; some may not read at all.
 MENTALLY OR EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED PATIENTS

• Determine what level of communication the

patient can understand
• Suggestions
1. Remain calm if the patient becomes agitated
or confused
2. Avoid raising your voice
3. Avoid appearing impatient
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH PATIENTS WITH
PSYCHIATRIC/MENTAL HEALTH DISABILITIES
• Approach the person as you would with anyone else; speak
directly to the person, using clear, simple communication.
• Treat
persons who are adults as adults. Do not condescend or
threaten when communicating with the person. ‫عدم التعالي أو‬
‫التهديد‬
• Donot make decisions for the person or assume that you
know the person's preferences.
• Offer
to shake hands when introduced. Use the same good
manners in interacting with a person who has a
psychiatric/mental health disability that you would with
anyone else.
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH PATIENTS WITH
PSYCHIATRIC/MENTAL HEALTH DISABILITIES

• Make eye contact and be aware of your own body language.

Like others, people with psychiatric/mental health disabilities
will sense your discomfort.
• Listen
attentively and wait for the person to finish speaking. If
needed, clarify what the person has said.
• Recognize that a person with psychiatric/mental health
disabilities often has the same wants, needs, dreams, and
desires as anyone else.
THANK YOU