eprintid: 174041 rev_number: 169 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/00/17/40/41 datestamp: 2010-11-04 05:26:46 lastmod: 2015-09-01 07:12:34 status_changed: 2013-07-26 15:19:34 type: article metadata_visibility: show item_issues_count: 0 creators_name: Hartley, S title: Bridging the gap between health care professionals and communities ispublished: pub note: Journal content is licensed for general distribution under the non-commercial Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-profit purposes, provided that the author, or photographer, and the Community Eye Health Journal are acknowledged. abstract: Bridging the gap between health care professionals and communities is a difficult task. It involves establishing a culture of community participation and improving the process of communication between the two groups. Effective communication between these groups is not easy. The people concerned often speak different languages, have different levels of education and competence, different priorities in life and generally understand things differently. In addition, the greatest proportion of communication is transmitted non-verbally, through gestures, facial expressions and ‘body language’. This is important for two reasons. Firstly, any feelings of pity, superiority, frustration, dismissal or respect, will almost certainly be transmitted through these alternative modes of communication, they carry much more powerful messages than those contained in what is said. Secondly, many of these non-verbal messages, with the major exception of speech intonation, are visual and are therefore missed by people who cannot see well enough to pick them up. This combines to give an effective recipe for communication breakdown. This article will examine the process of communication in terms of need, opportunity and means. It will also examine the potential benefits of improved communication between health care professionals and community members in terms of what health care professionals might learn from the community. It is important to remember that community members include people with visual impairments and their families. date: 2004 publisher: International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine official_url: http://www.cehjournal.org/0953-6833/17/jceh_17_51_038.html oa_status: green language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: Article verified: verified_manual elements_source: Manually entered elements_id: 162588 lyricists_name: HARTLEY, SALLY DIANE lyricists_id: SDHAR69 full_text_status: public publication: Community Eye Health volume: 17 number: 51 place_of_pub: London, UK pagerange: 38 - 39 issn: 0953-6833 citation: Hartley, S; (2004) Bridging the gap between health care professionals and communities. Community Eye Health , 17 (51) 38 - 39. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/174041/1/ceh_17_51_038.pdf