Learning to listen: Improving students' communication with disabled people

Background: This report outlines the action research used to develop a workshop for interprofessional student groups to enhance listening skills. Aim: The project aimed to enable students to reflect interprofessionally on the human factors central to effective communication using the power of storytelling by disabled people and their carers. Methods: Qualitative data from students and participating service users were collected using focus groups and one-to-one interviews over three pilot cycles. Results: The results from each pilot informed the cyclical development of the project so that each stage of data collection informed the next stage. During the pilots, 20 interviews with service users were completed and a total of 109 students participated. Transcribed data were analysed using principles from grounded theory. Quantitative scored questions on students' learning were analysed using statistical package for the social sciences. Conclusions: Both students (health and social care) and users benefitted from the education process which delivered highly relevant explicit learning opportunities, with analysis of how to improve communication for safe practice. Students benefitted from meaningful interactions with service users who shared their experiences and gave feedback on students' communication skills. The final workshop design resulted in a learning model which reflects the human side of healthcare delivery.