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CS1.2015 Communicate with children and young people, and those involved in their care

Overview

This standard is about communicating effectively with children and young people, and those involved in their care. It covers establishing the most effective methods of communication and enabling children and young people to participate in communication. The main focus of communication is in relation to the health and well-being of the child or young person. This standard is relevant to practitioners who deliver services to children and young people. Practitioners working in this area require effective communication skills that take account of age/developmental related, and other communication needs, and the family/social context of the child or young person. Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies. Version No 2

Knowledge and Understanding

You will need to know and understand:
  1. legal, organisational and policy requirements relevant to your role and the activities being carried out
  2. the nature, extent and boundaries of your work role and its relationship to others in your own and other organisations
  3. the roles of other practitioners working with children, young people and families and how they relate between and across agencies
  4. the importance of effective multi-agency working
  5. the ethical issues, legal requirements and good practice guidelines on consent, including capacity issues and consent for children and young people
  6. the principle of confidentiality and the implications for your practice
  7. how to recognise and respond to the signs of injury, abuse or neglect and your responsibility in relation to raising concerns with the appropriate person or agency
  8. local systems, procedures and protocols for safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults
  9. the principles of equality, diversity and anti-discriminatory practice and how they are applied
  10. the duty to report any acts or omissions in care that could be detrimental to the child or young person
  11. the rights of children and young people to make decisions for themselves and to take risks in the context of their own lives, taking into account issues of capacity and your professional responsibility
  12. how to engage with and communicate effectively with children and young people, and those involved in their care
  13. the need for communication to be modified for different contexts and cultures, including the age, vulnerability, understanding, developmental capacity and communication needs and preferences of the child or young person and those involved in their care
  14. the ways in which children and young people communicate non-verbally and through behaviour, as well as through language, and how different forms of behaviour can be interpreted
  15. the importance of working in a facilitative and enabling way and how to do this
  16. the importance of adopting a child centred approach
  17. the methods and benefits of supporting children and young people and those involved in their care to communicate with each other through a partnership based approach
  18. child and young people's development, including emotional, physical, and social and how they affect one another
  19. the normal development of children and young people's communication skills
  20. how the health of the child or young person, and the treatment that they are receiving, may affect communication
  21. the importance of acknowledging your own feelings, beliefs and values and those of others as part of the communication process
  22. how an individual's feelings, beliefs and values can affect the communication process
  23. the importance of taking into account cultural differences as part of the communication process
  24. the range of other practitioners who are available to support communication with children and young people, and those involved on their care
  25. how to work with communication specialists in an effective way
  26. how communication may be misconstrued and the importance of checking understanding
  27. local sources of health and well-being information, advice and support for children and young people, and those involved in their care
  28. how to enable children and young people to develop their communication skills and have their own voice
  29. how to inform, involve and help the child or young person to assess different courses of action, understand the consequences of each and, where appropriate, agree next steps
  30. the importance of not making assumptions about the communication and understanding abilities of children and young people, and those involved in their care
  31. how to communicate with a child who is pre-verbal, non-verbal and those with communication difficulties
  32. the types of communication differences that children and young people may experience
  33. the sources of information available on the communication differences of children and young people
  34. the range of feelings which people may experience when there are communication differences
  35. the types of communication aids that are used in children's services
  36. the principles of observation and active listening and their application
  37. the need to reflect back your understanding of what has been communicated
  38. the reasons why communication may fail to develop or break down
  39. the information which it may be necessary to share with others, and how to make sure that the child or young person and those involved in their care are clear about this
  40. the importance of keeping full and accurate records, and how to do so in line with organisational requirements

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:
  1. address the child or young person and those involved in their care in a way that shows respect and with due regard to their rights
  2. ensure that the timing, place and environment are as conducive as possible to effective communication
  3. obtain relevant information on the communication abilities of the child or young person and those involved in their care
  4. agree the purpose of the communication with the child or young person and those involved in their care, and identify their preferred ways of communicating
  5. identify any potential communication differences that exist, and how these will influence your communication methods
  6. recognise when there is the need to involve communication specialists in the process and take the necessary action to arrange this
  7. communicate with the child or young person and those involved in their care in a way that is appropriate to their age, understanding, developmental capacity and preferences
  8. recognise your own feelings, beliefs and values, and how these may affect the communication process
  9. recognise the feelings and wishes of the child or young person and those involved in their care and how this may affect the communication process
  10. summarise information to assist understanding and provide the opportunity for the child or young person and those involved in their care to ask questions
  11. direct the child or young person and those involved in their care to further sources of information, advice or support as appropriate to their needs
  12. support the child or young person and those involved in their care to communicate with each other through a partnership based approach
  13. offer appropriate emotional support whilst communicating with the child or young person and those involved in their care
  14. support children and young people to express their needs and make choices
  15. clarify and confirm with the child or young person and those involved in their care, the information which may need to be shared with others within the boundaries of confidentiality
  16. work with the child or young person and those involved in their care to overcome any communication differences
  17. find ways of improving communication with the child or young person and those involved in their care by adopting a flexible approach
  18. confirm that there is a mutual understanding of any outcomes of the communication process, including the sharing of information with others
  19. recognise when you need help or advice and seek this from appropriate sources
  20. maintain confidentiality and share information in accordance with legal, professional and organisational requirements
  21. produce records and reports that are clear, comprehensive and accurate, and maintain the security and confidentiality of information

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: Core 1 Communication
CS1.2015 Communicate with children and young people, and those involved in their care
Final version approved January 2015 © copyright Skills For Health,
For competence management tools visit tools.skillsforhealth.org.uk