Using sociograms to share findings

In this video you will learn how sociograms can be a powerful way of visualising interactions from observational data to better understand the communication pathways and lines of hierarchy amongst team members.

Sociograms are a graphic representation of social links that a person may have or a social structure. They can encompass multidimensional and complex relationships and are used to record and analyse information.

In sociograms, symbols, lines, arrows and colours are used to present the information. Symbols represent the different types of people, lines represent the communication between them, and arrows show the direction of communication and if there has been a response. Colours can be used to separate different contents of conversation.

The study described in this video was aiming to understand communication practices around how a ward round team comes to decisions surrounding antibiotic prescribing.

Many factors contribute to this, and all of them can be conveyed in a sociogram:

• Positions around the bed

• Who talks most often?

• Who is talked to most often?

• What is talked about most?

• Are their multiple initiators of dialogue?

• Who asks the questions?

• Are patients included in the dialogue?

The next steps in the study are to feedback relevant information to teams included so that findings can be acted on.

In the comments below please let us know:

• Have you used sociograms in your practice?