“There are no easy remedies in social work, especially when we are confronted daily with oppression and deprivation” So basically person-centred approaches, policies and procedures and care practices should put the residents at the centre of the day-to-day activities. It should also include the residents and their families in the planning and maintaining of this. Person-centred care is a philosophy of providing care that is centred on the person, and not just their health needs. We are all individual, no two people are the same hence it is not appropriate to say that because two people have dementia — that they both have the same care and support needs.
The values which one person feels are important in their life may not be so to another. To provide the best support to a person, their values must be taken into account and by doing so you will be empowering that person, increase their self-determination and improve their independence. A person’s values will include their individuality, rights, choices, privacy, independence, dignity and respect.
Read more: Identify possible barriers to active participation essay
Importantce of person centred values
This is to ensure that an individual are at the centre of planning and support, upholding and promoting individuality choice & dignity privacy rights, respect, independence and partnership. The care you carry out on a day to day basis should always be centred on the person you are caring for. You are not there just to meet their physical needs but to maintain their sense of being a person and their identity.
This involves you establishing a supportive relationship with the person, involving respect and trust. You should be listening to the service user, despite any difficulties, understand their emotional needs and preferences and learn about their history. By doing this you help maintain the service user’s identity, independence and self-esteem.
Person centred approach in social care setting
How to find out preferences of an individual
We could find out such information relating to an individual by working in a way that puts the individual at the centre of any planning and support, we can do this be communicating with them to find out about their history preferences and wishes. It is important that we appear and work in a non — judgemental way in order to eliminate any prejudices and, or personal feelings as to not discriminate in any way against the individual? by promoting independence and autonomy we can also ensure equality and inclusive practice: we can do this by actively encouraging and this empowering individuals to use their strengths and potentials. Effective communication is also vitally important as this ensures equality. One way to find out about a client is to talk to them. Learning about their history will help you build a picture of their life and how they have and would like to live. If they are capable they will be able to tell you how they would prefer to be treated, and what their personal needs are.
If they are unable to communicate with you, you could talk to their family; they could provide information about the history and preferences of the client. Another way that would also be useful is to talk to social workers, doctors or any other professional involved in the client’s care, as they will be able to give you information on any medical conditions and needs etc. that you need to be aware of.
Taking into account preferences when planning care and support
When planning individual support# it is necessary to document and record day to day requirements of the individual’s preferences for care and support. We can do this by addressing individual needs and preferences within a care plan, as well as individual support plans.
Holistic approach to meeting the needs and preferences of each individual is also a key skill.
Using an individual’s care plan
Using an individual’s care plan will ensure that the person’s own needs and wishes are being met, rather than offering them a ’choice’ of what is available. Using their care plan, you can build on what they want and see where there are gaps that need to be addressed.
Establishing consent when providing care
Term “consent”
Consent is the principle that a person must give their permission before they receive any type of medical treatment. Consent is required from a patient regardless of the type of treatment being undertaken, from a blood test to an organ donation.
Importance of gaining consent
Seeking consent is part of a respectful relationship with an individual and should usually be seen as a process, not a one-off event. When you are seeking a person’s consent to treatment or care, you should make sure that they have the time and support they need to make their decision. People who have given consent to a particular intervention are entitled to change their minds and withdraw their consent at any point if they have the capacity (are ‘competent’) to do so. Similarly, they can change their minds and consent to an intervention which they have earlier refused. It is important to let the person know this, so that they feel able to tell you if they change their mind.
How to establish consent for an activity
It is not a legal requirement for someone to sign a form to show they consent. They can show they consent by telling you directly or in a non-verbal way such as holding out an arm for an injection. It is good to record who witnessed the consent; a how and where this happened.
Consent mush be given voluntarily; the decision must be the person’s own decisions and not influenced by other or out of a desire to please. Some people with learning disabilities are very complaint, especially to people they see as authority figures such as support workers or managers. You must ensure that you don’t manipulate, coerce, pressurise, instil fear in or blackmail a person into consenting to a decision or plan. For example, you must never suggest a bribe, a reward or a penalty to get someone with a learning disability to consent, even if you think them activity or treatment is in their best interests, such as having a tooth out. It would be wrong to say, for example, ‘If you come to dentists you can buy a DVD on the way home’ or, ‘Look no one else made a fuss when they had their injection, you don’t want them to think you’re a coward, do you’, or, ‘If you don’t go to the doctors about the toe it could fall off’.
If consent cannot be readily established
One way of establishing consent especially with people with complex needs is through a team agreement, where it is recorded with of how and why a decision has been made. For example, the individual has complex needs and cannot communicate his wishes verbally, but the workers who support him/her and family need to review his activities as his physical health is deteriorating. Rather than the manager doing it alone, all the key people who know him best, including parents, get together and record their decisions on document.
How to encourage active participation
What is meant by active participation
Active participation is a way of working that recognises an individual’s right to participate in the activities and relationships of everyday life as independently as possible. The individual is regarded as an active partner in their own care or support, rather than as a passive recipient of care.
How active participation benefits an individual
When people are supported to actively participate in all aspects of their lives, then over time they will gain more skills, become more independent and need less staff support, and they increase in confidence and self-esteem. The benefits of active participation will — Enables the individual to look after themselves and their daily needs. Promotes mental and physical health and personal development. Demonstrates the individual independence and autonomy.
Help the individual to keep fit and mentally alert. Develops the individual talents and allows the person to show what they can do.Give the individual a sense of personal worth. Establishes common interests with other people. Allow the individual to express who they are.Provides the basis for friendships and living together.
They should be encouraged, not forced, to do so. Loneliness and a feeling of isolation from family can be emotionally debilitating for some residents. If they participate in group activities, this gives them the opportunity to enjoy the company of others and forge friendships within the confines of theresidential home.
Ways of reducing barriers to active participation
Equality and diversity can help reduce barriers to active participation and help everyone feel important. Make sure the clients are comfortable in the environment. Offer praise, compliments, encouragement and constructive feedback. Understand others see things differently to you: Try to predict the feelings and attitude of the client. What will their expectation be? What about their state of mind when I am communicating, what prejudices they might have, if I know these things before communicating, I can reduce the risk of misinterpretation. Get feedback from the client: Don’t just ask, ‘Do you understand?’ They will more often than not say ‘yes’ because they see things in the way they want to understand it.
Ask instead, what their understanding of the message is, and how they see it. As often as possible, speak face-to-face: This will allow for questions and, most importantly, allow you to see the body language, which will convey much more meaning than over the phone. Use language that fits the audience: Don’t try to impress by using language and words that may be distorted by the listener(s). It simply makes them confused and inadequate. Plus, they won’t be listening to me while they try to work out what on earth I am on about. Use the right communication channel: Don’t send an email if it’s quicker to pick up the phone or go and talk to the person. Use email for its proper purpose. We are rapidly losing the art of conversation…don’t add to that by using the wrong channel.
Have integrity and honesty in your communications: If I am seen as being someone who lacks integrity, this will immediately be noticed and even more barriers will be built up between me and the listener. Make it easy for others to listen to you: Make my communication style that one of a conversationalist, one who is able to make a point quickly, succinctly and with conviction. If my key message is lost in the morass of a thousand words, clients will wonder what I mean and what the purpose is. Clarity and brevity are the watchwords. Be aware that barriers exist in every contact, and it may not be possible for me to ensure clarity every time, because others will have their own subconscious agenda…
Ways of encouraging active participation
Active participation recognises an individual’s right to participate in the activities and relationships of everyday life as independently as possible; the individual is regarded as an active partner in their own care or support, rather than a passive recipient. Active participation allows the individual more control over their support. Providing support for the clients with communication difficulties also providing full information and choices, providing time for individuals to process information, providing access to meetings etc. Providing information on the rights of active participation, explaining what it means and how it will be supported, responding to questions, providing suggestions and ideas, asking the individual what they want and providing ways for them to express their needs and wants etc.
Support an individual’s right to make choices
Ways of supporting
Support an individual to make informed choices by giving the individual full information with regards to the positive and negative effects of any decisions they make and respect their wish to make that decision, use agreed risk assessment processes so that the client was fully aware of any risks involved with regards to any decision they make and would also discuss this with manager.
A workers personal view should not influence an individual’s choices as everyone is an individual in their own right and therefore should be able to make their own choices as their interests would be different to workers. Support an individual to question or challenge any decision made by others by giving the individual full information with regards to that decision in an unbiased manner, if the individual wanted to make any changes with that decision then discuss this with manager and use agreed risk assessment processes to enable the individual to make those changes. Offering them information, power and knowledge to make the choice. Encourage independence by letting the client do things they might not normally do by themselves, So they can take control of their lives.
As long as they are no risks involved.
Let the client make their own decisions when it comes to dressing, eating and what to do with their leisure time. Enabling.
Risk-taking can be part of an individual’s choices
Everyone is entitled to take risks. We all take risks are everyday tasks. Taking risks is part of being able to choose and being in control of your life. So you need to ensure that concern about risks is not getting in the way of people living their lives in a way they want to. Often, a risk assessment can make it possible for someone to do something that may seem unlikely in the first instance. Risk taking is part of developing independence. If people never take risks they will never find out what they are able to achieve and work out what their limits are.
Agreed risk assessment processes
Risk assessments are there to protect the carers and the individual. Making risk assessments are used to identify issues and maintain safety.
Every service user has a right to take risks because it’s them choice it’s them freedom. Risk assessment is there not to restrict service user freedom it’s there to protect. It is necessary to do regularly review as risk assessment only last so long as you are in premises. Also it’s about service user them health and conditions if they are progressing or changing we have to understand what to do to reach their full potential and and achievements.
Worker’s personal views
Clients have the right to choose for themselves. Even if I have different choices or thoughts I must respect other people’s choice. They must be allowed dignity and respect. I can ask them to reconsider situations if I have reason to believe they are open to speaking about it. With me but I must include it is my personal opinion only and regardless, intend to perform my job as its description and protocol is required.
How to support an individual to challenge decisions made by others
It depends on the mental capacity of the individual you want to support. First, you must obtain their permission and then you must get them to express as exactly as possible what help they reckon they need. Then you can offer further information, suggestions, and a plan to challenge such decisions. You could offer to be their spokesperson if they weren’t confident enough to speak out, or to accompany them to any hearing or appointment. However, if the person is mentally impaired, you would have to get their signed permission to speak and act on their behalf before any health or social care workers would listen to you. Because of issues of confidentiality, you either have to be next of kin, or obtain powers of attorney or guardianship. Outcome 6 Understand how to promote an individual’s well-being
Individual identity and well-being
A person with a low self-esteem would probably have more negative thoughts about themselves and also behave in a way that might cause others to reinforce this low opinion of them which will increase those negative feelings. Identity — a person with a strong sense of self who knows who there are, are less likely to find themselves in situations that they don’t want to tolerate, when they feel these might have a negative effect on themselves.
Attitudes and approaches that are likely to promote and individual’s well-being:
- Being caring.
- Listen to what the individual has to say (feelings and choices, opinions etc.)
- Being understanding and supportive
- Positive comments/feedback
- Ask questions; get involved with what they have to say or what they are interested in.
- Calm approach, do not sound angry or negative, positive facial expressions.
- Ensuring the individual knows they have somebody they can trust.
- Encouraging.