Healthcare communication barriers encountered by child life specialists
Abstract
Communication in the healthcare setting can be complicated due to various reasons such as language barriers or complex medical terminology, yet effective communication is necessary for overall care and safety of an individual's well-being. There is an abundant amount of research about communication barriers by a variety of healthcare professionals, but there is limited research by child life specialists. This research study explores the perspective of communication barriers by certified child life specialists (CCLS) in the United States using the frameworks of transactional model of communication and critical incident technique. A total of 129 child life specialists completed an online survey identifying common communication barriers when interacting with patients and families. Nine participants from the survey responses were invited and completed follow-up interview sessions, further examining specific barriers encountered and the ways CCLS worked to address them. Findings were compared with previous research on healthcare communication barriers encountered by hospitalists and other multidisciplinary team members. The results will be useful for child life specialists working to increase patient satisfaction and promote family-centered care.
Degree
M.S.
Thesis Department
Rights
OpenAccess.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.