TEACHING INTERPERSONAL SKILLS TO OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

An innovative course for teaching communication and interpersonal rela tionships was delivered to 29 environmental and occupational health pr ofessionals. This course aimed to highlight interpersonal and emotiona l aspects in the professional-client interaction and incumbent communi cation aspects when consulting team members, colleagues, and nonprofes sionals in the occupational arena. Various experiential and other teac hing techniques were used. Assessment showed that participants reporte d the positive features of such a course although few,changes in eithe r psychosocial abilities or awareness were evident. Possible ramificat ions of the findings are discussed.