HHS 207 Communcation Skills for Health and Human Services

Answer the six true-false statements on your beliefs about interpersonal communication.

• How important is interpersonal communication? We have been communicating with others throughout our lives. We have casual conversations at work or the grocery store, in-depth conversations with friends or family, and interactions that include communication throughout much of our day. How do you use communication skills in your actions with others? Are there ever times when communication goes awry? Does communication just mean your use of words? What other things might be communicated beyond the content of your words? How might your culture, assumptions, or beliefs affect the way in which you communicate? How important would it be to communicate clearly when working in health and human services?
• Reflect- Think about your own beliefs and assumptions about interpersonal communication, especially as they relate to working with people in human services.

IPlease respond to one of the two following sets of questions:

• Think about characters in television dramas or sitcoms that you have watched. What are some examples of effective communication (verbal and non-verbal) that you have observed? What are some examples of ineffective communication?
• Think about a time when you had to communicate with someone else. What are some examples of effective communication (verbal and non-verbal) that you engaged in? Conversely, what are some examples of ineffective communication you have engaged in? What were the consequences of this miscommunication?

n addition to the text, there are also a number of required websites to be read prior to engagement in the discussions and/or written assignments:

• Attachment Theory (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/attachment.htm
• Attribution Theory (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/attribution_theory.htm
• Communication Accommodation Theory (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/communication_accomodation.htm
• Constructivist Theory (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/interpersonal/construct.html