ASIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE

1518 Leon Guinto St., Malate, Manila

SOCIAL WORK BOARD REVIEW

COMMUNICATION AND
DOCUMENTATION
IN SOCIAL WORK HELPING PROCESSES

Prof. Edna Julia V. Cunanan, RSW, MSW

Lecturer
 COMMUNICATION AND DOCUMENTATION IN SOCIAL
WORK HELPING PROCESSES

 concepts, methods, techniques, skills and tools used in

interviewing and documenting social work problem activities
and processes
Communications
 derived from the Latin "communis," which means “to make common”
 the process of transmitting information and common understanding from
one person to another (Keyton, 2011)
 the process of transferring and sharing messages and meanings through
the use of symbols like words, gestures and sounds
 it is interactive, always takes place within a relationship and it is context-
related, does not happen solely within the confines of a relationship, but in
a larger world which affects both the nature of the

relationship and the nature of the

communication that properly takes place
within it (Koprowska, 2014)
Communication Theory Concept
 Encoding- the process of putting a message in a symbol form so that it is ready to
be transmitted
 Transmitting- process of sending the encoded message
 Decoding- the process of interpreting the stimuli that are received
 Noise- extraneous material that interferes with and distorts the message that is
being sent from the transmitter to the receiver
(Compton & Gallaway, 1999)
 Feedback -provides a way of overcoming the
problems created by noise and by inadequate
coding or faulty reception and transmission
(Brown, 1973)
Elements of Communication Process
 Source - origin of the message
 Message - the idea that is communicated
 Channel - the means by which the message is transmitted from the source to the
receiver (e.g. oral, written or body language)
 Receiver - the target of communication who interprets the message being
transmitted
 Effects - the changes occurring in the receiver as a result of the transmission of
the message (e.g. changes in knowledge, attitude and behaviour.)
 Feedback -the information that comes back to the sender and tells him how his
message is being received which can guide his further communication and repair
any change that may have taken place.
Kinds of Communication
1. Symbolic Communication
2. Non-verbal Communication
3. Verbal Communication

Symbolic Communication
 expressed, denoted, or conveyed by a symbol (Oxford English Dictionary)
 involves behaviour, actions or communications which represents or
denotes something else (Koprowska, 2014)
 as social workers awareness on potential meaning on our presentation,
our dress, the lay out of room, the food we provide for clients and
physical care we gave them will have a symbolic, as well as literal,
meaning for our clients (Koprowska, 2014)
Non-verbal Communication
 “music behind the words” conveying feelings or attitudes (Sutton, 1979)
 ambiguous (e.g. swinging of foot can convey, anger, fear, boredom) and
of context (e.g. avoiding eye contact) –Nicholson & Bayne’ 1984
 expressed through non-linguistic means, the actions or attributes of
humans, including their appearance, use of objects, sound, time, smell,
and space, that have socially shared significance and stimulate meaning
in others. (http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/53604_Gamble_(IC)_Chapter_6.pdf)
 involves awareness of the cues and messages that a worker and a client
are constantly sending back and forth in a relationship (Pillari, 2002)
Two Areas of Non-verbal Communication (Lishman, 1994)
1. Proxemics- concerned with the distance and how close people like to be to
each other
2. Kinesics- referring to movements, gestures, expressions and eye contact
Verbal Communication
 oral or spoken communication (Lishman,1994)
 involves the use of words in delivering the intended messages
(http://www.brighthubpm.com/methods-strategies/79297-comparing-various-forms-of-communication/)

Two types of messages conveyed in verbal communication (Okun, 1987)

 Cognitive content - consists of the actual facts and words of the message;
easier to understand as the message is stated
 Affective content – consists of feelings, attitudes and behaviour; more
difficult to understand as meaning is less apparent

Use of verbal communication in social work (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2012)

1. to facilitate interpersonal helping;
2. to facilitate the exchange of information within an agency, between agencies
and among professionals
Barriers to Communication (Eisenberg, 2010)
1. Process barriers
 arise when breakdown occurs in any step - sender, encoding, medium,
decoding, receiver and feedback
2. Physical barriers
 interference from other person, noise and inappropriate set-up
3. Semantics barriers
 encompasses language, meaning attached to words, jargons, etc.
4. Psychological barriers
 lack of sincerity and empathy, improper

self-perception, role confusion,

prejudices, inability to communicate and
listen, culture and traditional stereotypes
 How to Address/ Overcome Barriers to Communication

 Significant Communication/ Active Communication (Egan, 1994; Pillari, 2002)

 takes place through active listening, paying attention to the client’s underlying
feelings as well as words
 use of effective body language, communicate attentiveness and use gestures in
order to demonstrate openness and concern
 use of techniques of clarification, paraphrasing, reflection and summarizing
 a skill that can be developed and encouraged
Skills in active listening:
 observing and understanding the client’s non-verbal messages including posture,

facial expression, movement and tone of voice; listening to and understanding

the client’s verbal messages
 listening to the person in the whole context of the

social setting of his life; and

 doing “tough-minded” listening
The 7 C’s of Effective Verbal Communication (Cutlip & Center, 1952)
(http://www.managementstudyguide.com/seven-cs-of-effective-communication.htm)

1. Completeness
 The communication must be complete, no important information should

be missed out. All information provided to client and collected from

client should be complete in all sense.
2. Conciseness
 Communicating what you want to convey in least possible words

without forgoing the other C’s of communication.

 both time-saving as well as cost-saving.

 underlines and highlights the main message as

it avoids using excessive and needless words,

non-repetitive in nature.
3. Consideration
 implies “stepping into the shoes of others”.

 takes the audience into consideration, i.e, the audience’s view points,

background, mind-set, education level, etc.

 ensures that the self-respect of the audience is maintained and their

emotions are not at harm.

 modifies words in message to suit the audience’s needs while making

the message complete.

4. Clarity
 Implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather

than trying to achieve too much at once.

 It makes understanding easier, makes use
of exact, appropriate and concrete words.
 enhances the meaning of message.
5. Concreteness
 implies being particular and clear rather than fuzzy and general, supported

with specific facts and figures, makes use of words that are clear and that
build the reputation.
6. Courtesy
 implies the message should show the sender’s expression as well as

should respect the receiver.

 The sender of the message should be sincerely polite, judicious, reflective

and enthusiastic.
 taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of the receiver

of the message, positive and focused at the audience, is not at all biased
7. Correctness  
 implies that there are no grammatical errors in communication

 checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the

message, makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.

 COMMUNICATION TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
 Social work practice involves the use of tools to facilitate the
achievement of the worker’s goals and objectives.

Interview
 an art, a skilled technique that can be improved and eventually

perfected primarily through continued practice (Garrett , 1942; Zaki &

Mangold, 1972)
 a specialized form of communication, a conversation with a deliberate

purpose, a purpose mutually accepted by the participants (Kadushin,

1983)
 a primary tool of the social worker (Johnson,1998)
  Objective/Purposes of Interview (Garrett, 1942; Zaki & Mangold,1972)
 to obtain information

 to give help to individual

 to help individual arrive at the right solution of his problem

 to know the goal for particular interview.

 The general purposes of social work interviews (Kadushin (1983):

 informational (to make a case study),

 diagnostic (to arrive at an appraisal) and

 therapeutic (to effect change)

 The Interview Process (Woodside & Mcclam, 2006)
1. The Beginning - is a time to establish a common understanding between the case
manager and the applicant. An opportunity to respond to any questions that the
applicant may have about the agency and its services and policies.
Important activities that may occur during this stage:
 greeting the client; establishing the focus by discussing the purpose; clarifying

roles; and exploring the problem that has precipitated the application for
services.
2. The Middle - is the continuation of the beginning process, through sharing and
considering feelings, behaviours, events, and strengths.
 it is devoted to developing the focus of the relationship between the case

manager and the applicant

 assessment, planning, and implementation also take place at this time.

3. The End - a summary provides closure by describing what has taken place
during the interview and identifying what will follow.
Interviewing Skills/ How to Interview (Garret, 1942; Zaki & Mangold,1972)

1. Observation
 observe what the interviewee says

 note equally what he does not say and

significant gaps there are in his story.

 note also bodily tensions, flushing, excitability

and dejection because they supplement, and

sometimes even belie, the picture given by the
client’s words
2. Listening
 allowing the client to expressing without interruption;

 absence of response may easily seem to the talker to reflect absence

of interest
 learn the value of “ letting the steam off” catharsis.
3. Listening before talking or “begin where the client is”
 the first step in an interview is to help the interviewee relax and feel

fairly comfortable
 encourage him to talk and then listen carefully while he speaks of

what is on the top of his mind in connection with the interview

 try to clarify questions

 wait for the interviewee to reveal answer to many questions without

being asked and he will suggest methods of approach for obtaining

additional information required
 control any preconceived ideas about
him which the interviewer may have
allowed himself to entertain
4. Questioning
 the central method of interviewing is the fine art of questioning.

 friendliness, is the method of asking questions in order to understand

and be of assistance.
 abrupt or tricky questions are inappropriate

 the wording of the question is often of less importance than the manner

and tone of voice in which it is put.

5. Talking
 closely allied to questions are the comments, the only difference between

the two lies in the speaker’s inflection

 the interviewer must devote considerable care to his manner of

expression
 interviewer should comment only for

purposes similar to those for which he

asks questions
6. Answering Personal Questions
 personal questions may indicate the beginning of the establishment of that closer

relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee.

 brief, truthful answers to personal questions is desirable.

 the answer should be followed by an immediate redirection of the client’s attention to

himself.
7. Leadership or Direction
 skilled interviewer assumes leadership throughout; he consciously decides to allow

the client to express himself.

 first directs questions along the lines of allowing the interviewee to express his needs

in sufficient detail so that he may understand him better.

 Unobtrusively directs the interview throughout, deciding when to listen, when to talk,

what to observe and so on.

8. Interpretation
 the interviewer must interpret the many clues to the underlying situation that the client

presents through his behaviour and conversation.

 requires diagnostic skills and interviewing skills to make client benefit from this.
 Documentation and Recording in Social Work
 Documentation and record keeping are important to ensure
accountability, facilitate coordination of care between providers and for
service improvement
 Recording 
 the process of putting in writing and keeping on file relevant information

about the client; the problem; the prognosis; the intervention; the
progress of treatment; the social, economic, and health factors
contributing to the situation and the procedures for termination or
referral (The Social Work Dictionary ,1995)
 “Social work records individualize and typify the client, the need, the

situation and the service transaction and through the process of making
the record, which involves reviewing, selecting, analyzing and
organizing information; and through the product, the record, itself, this
becomes an important resource in communication about the case
(Kagle,1991)
Purposes of Records/ Why Write Records (Mendoza, 2008)
 agency records serve many purposes, among these are the following:

1. Serve as tools that guide the worker as he and the client proceed with
the task of problem solving.
 they show the “process” as it has developed, and help the worker keep

track of the significant events that have taken place so far.

2. Useful in evaluation - records will show the significant problems and
obstacles encountered, as well as growth or change in the client, and
the success or failure in achieving objectives.
3. Valuable to the social worker who wants to improve her knowledge and
skills in helping people.
4. Provide an account of what have taken place, which is needed when
one worker must replace another, or when, in an emergency, one
worker must take over for another.
5. Provide important information to the agency especially where it has to
make decisions about expanding, changing or terminating programs and
services, and for reporting to the community on how fund have been
used.
6. Records are supervisory tools. The review and analysis of their content
during supervision help improve the skills of the worker.
7. Social work records, such as case studies, are
used as basis for learning in professional school of
social work and for this reason, serve an important
educational purpose.
8. Records are source of statistical information about
agency operation, and provide data for various
research projects.
 Types of Documentation
 Intake
 also known as face sheet, admission form, application form (Mendoza, 2008)

 a screening tool, a log for short-term cases, and a pre-assessment resource for

ongoing ones (http://ssw.unc.edu/cares/rk/2intake.pdf)

 contains personal information of either clients or clients’ caregivers, in order to

facilitate service providers as well as clients to make informed decisions about

the needed programme and/ or services
(https://www.ncss.gov.sg/documents/JulyIntakeandAssessmentv.pdf)
 “brief and generally standardized procedures for identifying variables and risk

factors that indicate the need for referral and help identify the level at which any
service intervention should begin” (http://ssw.unc.edu/cares/rk/2intake.pdf)
 Case study
 contains the synthesis of the information that has been obtained on the client

and his situation, an assessment/ definition of the problem for work, and the
helping interventions goals and plans (Mendoza, 2008)
 Casework Record
 an abstraction of what happened in a social situation between client and
the worker in the process of the former’s seeking help and the latter
responding to the former’s needs.
 provide an ongoing picture of the nature of social work involvement with a
client, progress in achieving social work goals, and the eventual outcome
of the interaction between social worker and client or agency.

 Forms of Case Records: Narrative Recording and Narrative Process

 Narrative recording
 A form of recording is preferred for reporting acts of practical helpfulness,
events and most collateral visits or conferences.
 It may be used for the contents of the interview in all instances except
when the process itself and use of relationship have special significance
 Narrative process
 a form of recording used frequently by the caseworker.
 in this type, the process of interview is reported and is a rather detailed description of
what transpired with considerable paraphrasing.
 it preserves a sequence in which the various matters were discussed.
 it includes not only what both the worker and the client said but also significant
reaction of the client and changes in mood and response. in this the interview and
observation go hand-in-hand.
 it may be verbatim or non-verbatim reproduction

 Summarized record - Summary is a good device for organising and analyzing facts.
 points into meaning and relative importance of material gathered
 commonly assumed to be a review or recapitulation of material that has already
appeared in the record.
 it may be either topically arranged or may appear as condensed chronological
narrative.
 Case/Service Plan
 contains a realistic, specific and measurable goal developed both

by the case manger and the client; tasks necessary to achieve the
goal are defined by the case manager (Mendoza, 2008)

 Transfer/Closing Summary
 use when the goals for the client have been met, and there appears

to be no need for additional goals, terminating a case will free up

resources for other clients who need them (http://ssw.unc.edu/cares/rk/9closing.pdf)
References:

• Scott M. Cutlip, Allen H. Center (1952). Effective public relations: pathways to public favor. Prentice-Hall.
• Wilson, S. J. (1980). Recording, guidelines for social workers. New York: Free Press.
• Kagle, Jill Doner (1991). Social work records (2nd ed). , Belmont, California.:Wadsworth Pub. Company
• Cordero, et al. Philippine Encyclopedia of Social Work Volume 1. Megabooks Company, National
Association of Social Work Education, Inc. 2000.
• Garret, A., Zaki, E. and Mangold, M. Interviewing, Its Principles and Methods. Family Service Association
of America, New York. 1972.
• Mclam, T. and Woodside, M. Generalist Case Management. Thomson Brooks/Cole., 2006.
• Mendoza, Thelma Lee. Social Welfare and Social Work 3rd Edition. Central Book Supply, Inc. 2008
• http://www.slideshare.net/richisimon/relevance-of-communication-in-social-work-51861944
• http://ssw.unc.edu/cares/rk/recordkeeping.pdf