Health Communication and Advocacy
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Sharing of information in a workplace setting ought to be done in a manner that ensures the protection of the privacy of the victims for the purposes of maintaining collegiality. In the Sara’s case scenario, it is essential for the human resources department to follow some specific communication strategies as pertains to sharing of health information to the stakeholders involved in that setting (Paladino, Lakin & Sanders, 2019). In a workplace setting, communication is undertaken in a bidirectional manner such that patients and medical practitioners must be able to communicate and share information freely. The information shared in a workplace environment such as the one presented in Sara’s situation ought to be easy to understand and interpret. There exists a number of strategies that the Department of Human Resources in the health care facility could have used in communicating Sara’s situation to her colleagues to ensure that she does not suffer from discrimination in her work.
Health Communication and Advocacy
Tailored communication strategy is one of the most successful health communication strategies used in formal healthcare settings. According to the communication strategy, the Human Resources department was supposed to undertake communication via print and the memos shared to all the stakeholders involved about the disease contracted by Sara and one of her colleagues (Paladino, Lakin & Sanders, 2019). In the communication, the message passed should also have incorporated the measures that the healthcare workers could have undertaken to protect themselves as well as how they can guarantee that the victim is cared for while undertaking her normal duties. Tailored communication is more effective than general communication since it allows for increasing of knowledge about an outbreak as well as the related dangers posed by an outbreak (Paladino, Lakin & Sanders, 2019). Through tailored communication, it would be easy for the human resources department to send specific information to departmental leaders which will be different from the information sent to normal colleagues of Sara.
Message framing is a communication strategy that the human resources department would use to ensure that stakeholders such as employees understand all the important information about the disease to avoid discriminating against victims (Riskika et al., 2020). Through message framing, it would be possible to educate the workforce about the effects of social discrimination on the morale of a worker in healthcare. In the case of Sara, the message from the human resources department should have emphasis on the benefits of preventive care by nurses and medical aides. Message framing is a strategy that is used to emphasize or create persuasiveness in the message passed. At the end of the day, the intention of the human resources department should be to change the attitude and behavior of Sara’s co-workers so as to guarantee collegiality and create a conducive working environment for the two victims of tuberculosis.
During an outbreak such as Tuberculosis in the workplace setting, the obligation of the management will to communicate to the workforce about the reasonable precautions undertaken to ensure the safety of the employees (Riskika et al., 2020). Through such communication, the workforce will have confidence in their working environment and will have the morale to continue with their work without the fear of contracting the disease. The communication by the human resources department should be geared towards demonstrating the steps taken by the management in protecting the victims against discrimination including allowing them to take leave even after their recovery to allow themselves time to rest before resuming work (Tinetti et al., 2019). Having been diagnosed with TB, Sara might have infected her colleagues as well as the patients that he come in contact with in the course of her work.
Communication about Sara’s case to her colleagues may have ramifications on her reputation and the manner in which she will be treated by others. Implication of the problem is that her close colleagues as well as the patients she attended to required to be subjected to mandatory TB tests to ensure that they are safe. There are certain costs implications to the home health organization in terms of the costs incurred in conducting mandatory TB tests as well as the money lost when temporary closure of the facility will be done to facilitate screening of healthcare practitioners. For the colleagues of Sara, the implications will be on the matters of health as opposed to the implication to the home health organization will be reputational and financial.
For Sara, the implication of the revelation about her situation will be on her socia