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Communication in Health Care Assignment -

Summary - For this assignment you complete either question 1 or question 2 below.

Question 1: Language analysis comparing two doctor-patient interactions in hospital

Data -

In the attached file page 6 you will find transcripts of two consultations with 'Jack', a patient in a hospital emergency department. In transcript 1, Jack meets with a junior doctor. In transcript 2, recorded several hours later, Jack meets with the senior emergency department registrar. In between these consultations, the junior doctor has reported back to the senior registrar about his interaction with Jack.

Task - Your task is to write a critical discussion comparing and contrasting how the junior doctor and the senior registrar interact with Jack.

Analytical process - To do this, you should first use the questions in the 'Analysing healthcare interactions: key dimensions' handout from week 4 to identify and analyse the aspects of the interactions that seem to you most interesting and that show the greatest similarities or contrasts.

Critical synthesis - Once you have analysed the different dimensions of interest, synthesise your findings by writing a critical discussion of approximately 2,500 words (undergraduates) and 4000 words (postgraduates) of the two interactions. You should avoid simply listing, describing or enumerating your findings. You must instead incorporate your findings within an argument. To arrive at your argument, ask yourself:

• From the patient's point of view, how might each of these interactions have been helpful/unhelpful? In what ways?
• In terms of the quality and safety of health care, what key strengths/weaknesses can you identify in the junior and senior doctors' ways of interacting with the patient?
• What do the ways of interacting of the two doctors suggest about the nature of contemporary Australian emergency health care?
• Does your analysis suggest any ways in which junior doctors might need mentoring in communication skills by more senior doctors?

Assessment criteria - Your work will be assessed using the following task-specific assessment criteria:

• your ability to identify and analyse different dimensions of healthcare interactions.
• your ability to critically interpret the implications of your analytical findings.
• your use of primary evidence (the transcripts, referred to by turn numbers) and secondary sources (readings from academic publications) to develop your argument.
• the clarity and detail of your communication.
• your correct use of academic referencing conventions and presentational requirements.

Question 2: A critical evaluation of information available for people living with a chronic condition

Data - Choose one of the major chronic conditions that affect the lives of Australians, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, Parkinson's, chronic kidney failure, macular degeneration or another chronic condition. A chronic condition is one that lasts more than six months and has long-term impacts on a person's health and lifestyle. You should check with the course convenor that your choice of chronic condition is appropriate before you start collecting data.

Compile a small corpus of public health communication material about the condition, making sure that your corpus includes at least three different texts from at least three of the following categories:

• print/hard-copy public health brochures or pamphlets, e.g. available at healthcare clinics, GP surgeries, public libraries.
• several of the pages from an 'official' website about the condition, i.e. the website of a national support organisation with recognised status in the field or an international medical authority.
• media articles about research and treatments for the condition.
• interactions from an online forum/support group of people living with the condition.
• other public health information resources (e.g. illustrated posters, transcripts of radio broadcasts ...).
• a short, recorded interview with a clinician (GP, nurse, medical specialist) about the advice they would give someone living with the chronic condition (5 to 10 minutes, you must get your interviewee to sign a consent form).

Transcribe at least key quotations from the interview.

You can include more than three texts, especially if some are very short. Don't make your corpus too small or you will struggle to find enough to analyse and write about.

Task - Your task is to write a critical evaluation comparing and contrasting the quality of public health communication material available for Australians living with the target chronic condition.

Analytical process - To do this, first analyse the material in your corpus by exploring how each of your texts communicates the key dimensions covered in lectures about written material, health promotion and education and health literacy, i.e.:

• quality and range of information (How much information is provided? Across what range of topics?)
• comprehensiveness (Are any topics likely to be useful/relevant not covered?)
• evidence-base of the information (How credible does the information seem to be? How do you know?)
• clarity (Is any of the information ambiguous or confusing?)
• accessibility (What makes the text reader-friendly or not?)
• assumed knowledge and communication skills (What level of health literacy does the text demand?)
• relevance (How practical/useful does the information seem to be for its target readers?)
• style of presentation (How does the texts use of writing, illustrations, graphs, photos or multimedia content contribute to or detract from its effectiveness?)
• pragmatic goals of the text (Does the text simply inform readers? Or does it give advice or encourage behaviour change?)
• likely motivational impact of the material (In what ways might the material motivate readers to follow its advice?)
• cultural appropriateness (In what ways does the material recognise or not the cultural diversity of readers?)

Critical   synthesis - Once you have analysed the different dimensions of interest in your texts, synthesise your findings by writing a critical discussion of approximately (undergraduates) and 4000 words (postgraduates) comparing and contrasting the quality of the public health communication material in your corpus. You should avoid simply listing, describing or enumerating your findings. You must instead incorporate your findings within an argument. To arrive at your argument, ask yourself: To what extent, and in what ways, do public health materials support people living with the chronic condition to effectively manage their condition and its impact on their lives?

Assessment criteria - Your work will be assessed using the following task-specific assessment criteria:

• your ability to identify and analyse different dimensions of public health texts
• your ability to critically interpret the implications of your analytical findings
• your use of primary evidence (the texts in your corpus) and secondary sources (readings from academic publications) to develop your argument
• the clarity and detail of your communication
• your correct use of academic referencing conventions and presentational requirements.

Attachment:- Assignment Files.rar