1. Developing Effective Communication in Health and Social Care
Session 3

2. Aim: To consider the factors that influence communication in groups
Objectives:
To define a group and give examples of groups found in health and social care settings.
To describe the theories of group formation and processes.
To identify patterns of communication and behaviour observed in groups.
To describe the traits of effective group membership and leadership.
To illustrate the impact of poor group communication.

4. What is a group?
Groups are collections of people who come together because they have a common purpose or goal and who gradually develop a shared sense of belonging or group identity.

5. Types of Groups Primary groups
Face to face situations in which group members know each other
Secondary groups
Widely distributed membership. Many group members who may never meet each other.

7. Types of groups in H & S care settings
Report or handover meetings between care team members
Case conferences and discharge planning meetings
Support meetings for team members to share experiences and offer support.
Therapeutic groups.
Meetings with management staff, service users and relatives.
Educational Groups and classes.

8. Tuckmans theory of group formation (1965)

10. Effective group members (Burnard 1992)
Make verbal contributions to the group
Listen to other group members
Are prepared to take direction from the group leader
Are prepared to be open about themselves
Stay on task and don’t disrupt the group
Are positive and construct their approach
Arrive on time and stay until the end

11. Leadership Styles Autocratic:
Authoritarian, dictatorial, paternalistic
Democratic
Leader tends to act as a facilitator
In its extreme this is the laissez –faire approach

12. Victoria Climbie