Effective communication in health care: exploring the skills of the teachers

Following the growing commitment to teach communication skills in health care, a project was designed to identify a group of Health Professionals with a responsibility for teaching communication skills in Health Care. This group would have their communication skills assessed, using positive feedback, and attend workshops to improve both their communication and teaching skills. Four key tutors were recruited to the study and were each asked to identify a further three tutors, in their own geographical area, to form a "cell". This sample of 16 tutors remained constant throughout the study. Skills were monitored by the assessment of audio-taped interviews, one made prior to the first workshop and two others at agreed intervals. Written feedback was given on the first interview, plus the option of verbal feedback on a skills study day. Written feedback was given on subsequent interviews. Changes in skills were monitored and baseline skills compared to previous skills training. The results show, with two exceptions, that there appears to be a link between baseline skills and previous training in communication skills. For three "cells", there are gains in overall scores from first to third interview, but for the fourth "cell", which had high baseline scores, there was only minimal change. The work suggests, that for those who teach Communication in Health Care, training is a pre-requisite. Further work is required in this area.