Step to Work | Building positive relationships

Building positive relationships
By the end of the session you should be able to:

• build positive professional relationships
• describe the importance of seeing people as individuals by using the power of images and narratives

In this activity, you will use the research method of photo-elicitation to inform an interview or discussion with a service user who you work with.

Document your answers to the following task in the worksheet. The exercise should take about 10 minutes to complete.

7a task: photo-elicitation activity

Take time to explore the narrative of a patient or person that you are working with in your professional role. This may include a colleague, peer, supervisor or mentor. To facilitate your conversation, ask the person to choose a photograph that is important to them to discuss with you. This could be a printed photograph that they have with them or a photograph viewed on their mobile phone.

Questions that you could ask about the photograph to begin to elicit a narrative from the person include:

• why is this photograph important to you?
• who or what is captured in this photograph?
• what was happening around the captured image?
• how does this photograph make you feel?

Document your answers to the following reflection in the worksheet. The exercise should take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

7b reflection: further discussion

Consider and discuss with a colleague, mentor, preceptor or peer how a more detailed and deeper understanding of a person's narrative can enhance your practice.

• In what way did the photo-elicitation method develop your relationship with the person?
• Did you see the person differently after you found out more about their personal story then you did before? In what way?
• Does this method inspire other ways that you might build positive relationships with colleagues and service users?
• Complete

Summary

• Building positive relationships is important regardless of experience.
• Photo-elicitation is a commonly used research method which involves utilising at least one visual image in an interview and asking the participant to make remarks or observations of the images.