Trust

The health worker's attitudes and characteristics as an interviewer can strongly influence the success or failure of the worker-client relationship.

To do a competent health assessment the health worker needs to develop self-awareness and learn how to communicate in a caring, empathic way.

Respect, empathy and cultural sensitivity for the client are essential for communicating a helping attitude. A health worker can communicate helping attitudes to a client in several ways, including:

• greeting them warmly at the beginning of the interview
• developing trust by sitting slightly forward
• listening carefully
• maintaining eye contact (if this is culturally appropriate)
• using facial expressions that indicate interest
• being aware of appropriate non verbal language
• providing friendly responses
• being relaxed.

The client's perceptions of the health worker's feelings are also important. Communicating warmth, acceptance, and genuineness promotes a high level of trust. A sensitive health worker recognises other barriers to building trust such as:

• racism
• sexism
• other biases
• stereotyping.

Sensitivity to issues of ethnicity, race, gender and age is important for health workers when conducting interviews. Many clients and families will have backgrounds very different from the health worker.

Roll over these images to see some suggestions to help you show sensitivity and build trust when assessing clients.