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First published in Well-being 2.3 August 2008
Bernard Moss (2008) Communication Skills for Health and Social Care, London, Sage. Don’t let the title fool you. While it specifies communication skills for health and social care, the reality is that this book offers a sound foundation for anyone involved in the people professions. If you need to communicate (and who doesn't?) then there is much in this book that you will find useful. The book adopts a rather unusual format. It is basically organised like a dictionary, but some concepts have much fuller entries than others. The author’s understanding of the complexities involved in human interactions comes through loud and clear. His writing is clear and helpful, presenting ideas accessibly without oversimplifying them in the slightest—quite a feat for such a range of issues. The main dictionary-style part of the book is prefaced by a short essay on the importance of communications skills, and this in itself offers some important lessons to students, practitioners, managers and educators. The use of exercises within the text will make the book useful for students and will give it the potential to be adapted as a learning aid by tutors and trainers involved in education and training issues relating to communication. The book offers a nice blend of theory and practice, in so far as it is clearly rooted in a firm grasp of the huge theory base that has developed in relation to communication, while also offering helpful guidance for dealing with the challenges of practice across the people professions. Given the central role of communication for professional practitioners, this well-balanced mix of theory and practice makes this a very valuable book for all concerned. In my experience, where situations go wrong for whatever reason, communication is very often directly or indirectly a major factor. Similarly, where situations go well, this is often down to someone using some very high-level communication skills, so there can be no doubt that communication is such a central issue for anyone involved in the people professions. This book should therefore be seen as essential reading for a wide range of groups, whether beginners wanting to find their way in their career or more experienced personnel wanting to take their capabilities to the next level of competence. It left me wanting to read more about communication and related matters, and that is usually a sign of a very good book indeed. Reviewed by Sue Thompson
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