Communicative competence in postgraduate Health care education in mental Health - approach to new perspectives

Communicative competence in Postgraduate health care education in mental health. Approach to new perspectives Introduction: • Mental health care has undergone major changes over the past 20 years. • Today, the philosophy in mental health care is based on a human science perspective. • Postgraduate health care education in Mental Health in Norway is referring to human science. • Communicative competence is emphasized in the curriculum and study program. • The purpose of the research is to explore students' experiences concerning communicative competence. • Through `one by one` interviews with graduated students, I have explored the following research questions: o What is your understanding of communicative competence? o How is communicative competence developed? Communicative competence is complex. • Students experienced that communicative competence concerns the patient, their own internal processes, external factors, and the relationship with the patient. • Recognizing the complexity has created an understanding of being “not knowing”. • Communicative competence is created in the situation with the patient. Movement between different points of view. • Students are going through a development involving the inner processes and external factors that occurred during the study. • Involving different perspectives or different points of view, is important to their new insights on communicative competence. Conclusion: • There is a movement between the students’ inner processes and external factors. • The movement is made possible through awareness of different perspectives, and contribute to new perspectives and new understanding about communicative competence. • Understanding communicative competence, will be the core of further research.