USING THE RELATIONAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE MODEL TO EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP OF COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE AND SOCIAL SUPPORT

Abstract

The following study investigated the Relational Health Communication Competence Model (RHCCM; Query & Kreps, 1996) by examination of communication competence, job burnout, job engagement, and social support among Assisted Living Facility employees. RHCCM was developed initially to examine the levels of relational communication competence between and among providers and consumers of health-care. This study extended the contextual influence of the theory by applying it to elder care within assisted living facilities. This investigation also sought to expand the theoretical boundaries of the RHCCM by exploring the relationship of communication competence and social support to job burnout and job engagement, suggesting that job engagement be included as a new favorable outcome shaped by higher communication competence levels. Additionally, this research examined the role of social support as a mediating variable in the relationship between communication competence and job burnout and job engagement. Three directional hypotheses and two research questions were advanced. Data analyses were conducted using three group multivariate factorial analyses of variances (MANOVA). Additionally, the Critical Incident Technique (CIT; Flanagan, 1954) was employed to gather positive and negatives narratives through open-ended questions.