StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay "Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care" focuses on positive insight into personal values as a social worker and the effect these values can have on others. It is essential that service users are informed about their rights so that they have more control over their own lives. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96% of users find it useful
Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care"

? Introduction: Throughout this report, wherever there is a reference to the patient whose case is under study; the letter 'B' shall be used in orderto protect confidentiality. Maintaining Patient confidentiality – the non-disclosure of patients' details to any person who is not a close family member or primary care-giver to the patient – is one of the most important things for a care-giver. Whenever a social worker accepts the responsibility to perform a required assessment, the mandate for consent is given which allows the social worker to access the patient's (service user's) files and case records. Under the Data Protection Act of 1998, personal data cannot be shared without the consent of the service user. The legal and policy context: A variety of legislations have been put into place in order to protect the rights of individuals may not have the resources to protect their own rights. Some of these are: Data Protection Act of 1998 NHS Community Care Act of 1990 The Department of Health's 'Fair Access to Care' (FACS) 2003 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act of 1970 General Social Care Council of 2002 (GSCC) The NHS Community Care Act of 1990 states that it is a duty of the social services to undertake an Assessment of Needs under s47 (National Health Service and Community Care Act, 1990). In addition, it is also a duty to offer direct payments and a carer's assessment. The Carer's Equal Opportunities Act of 2004 offers the carer the right to an assessment in their own right. Under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act of 1970 (s1), it is the social workers' duty to identify the needs of locals and offer specific information to meet those identified needs. In the event of identification that a patient may be isolated from society; he/she (the patient) may be offered day – care facilities so that they have a network of support. This may assist in preventing isolation and may assist patients to socialise with others in the community. Service User's Perspective: During the researcher's assessment of a case, the staff at the nursing home reported that the case – B (an aged female patient) – was not receiving the required quality of care. B was aged, a resistant nature that may have been due to her age, and most importantly, she was suffering from Dementia. They were unable to meet her requirements of care, which included more attention as part of her day-to-day care since they did not have the facilities to care for a patient coping with Dementia. According to the nursing home staff, it was quite unfair to B that she had to continue living there when her needs could not be met. A day after the initial assessment of the case, B's niece was contacted in order that her views on B moving into a residential home be taken on board. This would be a home that catered to the needs of patients suffering from Dementia. The niece stated that she would be very happy if the transfer were to go ahead. She also reported that she has had a lengthy conversation with the manager of the nursing home with regards to B's safety at the home and really wanted the best for B. The assessor of this project was informed about the opinions and decisions of the nursing home and B's niece. During supervision sessions the possibility and the procedure for finding an appropriate placement for B were discussed. A resource request was then sent to Home Care requesting a list of residential care homes registered to offer care to patients with Dementia that had vacancies. The list sent in response mentioned three homes; information about which was passed to B's niece so that she could contact these homes, makes appointments for a possible viewing and then decide which one would be the best for B. Social Work Values and Anti-Oppressive Practice: The General Social Care Council (GSCC) code of practice is the corner stone of social work values. Social workers are bound by this code of practice; and action can be taken against them if they fail to do so. The GSCC code also forms a part of the legislation, employer’s policies and practice standards that social workers have to meet. Besides the legislation, the social worker is also bound by the four Laws of Care, given by Beauchamp and Childress (Principles of Biomedical Ethics, OUP, 5th ed., 2001) which are the ethical principles applied to all medical ethics issues, and not just clinical situations by the care-giving professions. These rules are more like guidelines that need to be interpreted to preserve the spirit of the principles when dealing with specific cases. They are: Respect for autonomy: the care-giver needs to respect the decisions and choices of the patient even when they may not match his/her own. This principle also assumes that the care-giver will equip the patient to make decisions by providing information, making resources available and providing support. In situations where the patients is not competent to take decisions, the decision of the primary relative needs to be taken into account along with the primary professional care-giver. Beneficence: The principle of beneficence states that the care-giver needs to balance the benefits of the proposed procedures to the possible risks to the patient in both, the short and long term. Only such procedures as are significantly beneficial to the patient are to be considered. Non maleficence: It's not only important to look for what is helpful to the patient, but also to consider if there is any possibility of harm to the patient. Even when this may be minimal harm from the care-giver's point of view, it is still essential that the patient is informed and understands the concerns before taking a decision. Justice: A situation that needs a care-giver's intervention affects not just the patient, but also significant others in the patient’s life. Even when dealing only with the patient, often multiple patients with the same concerns may have differential resources and other needs. All patients coping with similar situations should be given the same set of options, resources and benefits across the board. Also, decisions made need to be fair to all individuals affected by them; and not just the patient at hand. These laws and principles are primary to every investigation of a health care scenario, and need to be followed as close to the spirit and letter as is possible by every member of a care giving team. Effectiveness of Intervention: Coulshed and Orme (2006: p26) conclude that the skill of assessment is in the ability to collect enough of the right type of information. The information collected during an assessment has to be fact based and kept visible and on board. The study did manage to collect the information relevant to B's case – her health and living needs, the possible responses to these needs, and the opinion of her niece. On the basis of this information, a decision was taken to move B to a residential facility that could care effectively for her. She has been able to settle down comfortably there, and the new arrangement is to everyone’s benefit. Thus, one may conclude that the intervention was successful. Critical Reflection on Learning: The case at hand has provided the researcher with much positive insight into personal values as a social worker and the effect these values can have on others. It is essential that service users are informed about their rights so that they have more control over their own lives. The case of B was complicated due to her old age and resistant nature compounded with the possibility that she may have hurt herself while wandering around – a situation that could have created a health and safety issue had she hurt herself. This concern was dealt with by going through the proper channels thoroughly, giving regular updates to B's niece and involving her opinion at each step. In addition, other procedural requirements were also met adequately. The conclusion of this was that B was transferred from the nursing home into a better care centre that was equipped to give her the treatment and care she needed for her illness and age related concerns. Several weeks have now passed and B has settled into the new care centre very well. It is recommended that once the final updates are made to her files at the nursing home, they can now be closed. This will ensure that the relevant personnel can then concentrate on other cases instead of engaging with a now resolved issue. This will help them maintain the high quality standards of service they have established. Focussing on an already well resolved issue would be a hindrance to the cause that the government is attempting to achieve by diverting personnel attention where not required. This could lead to individuals who need help, or are willing to make changes being side-lined. Such situations would mean a wastage of time and money as well as dissatisfied patients. Therefore, this study recommends that B's case file at the nursing home be closed, as she is being well-cared for at the new care centre where she was transferred. Closing the case will allow the personnel at the nursing home concentrate on new cases that need attention; and the efficiency with which these are dealt will not be handicapped. Dealing with persons from dissimilar contexts like age and gender simultaneously is not an easy task. Continually engaging with them provides practice that the researcher believes would be vital to the development of the personal skills that would be required in the future. These would include a sociable approach, helpful behaviour and the ability to understand the needs of individuals within a diversity of cases that would require looking into. References: Bruhn, J.G., (2007). Sociological practice, intervention and social change. New York: Springer. [Print] Coulshed, V., Orme, J., (2004). Social work practice. 4ed. Palgrave: MacMillian. [Print] Stephney, P., Ford, D., (2000). Social work models, methods and theories: A framework for practice. Dorset: Russelhouse Publishing. [Print] Milner, J., O’Bryne, P., (2002). Assessment of social work. 2ed. Bassingstoke, Palgrave: Macmillian. [Print] National Health Service and Community Care Act (1990) [Online] Available at http://www.worcestershiresafeguarding.org.uk/WSCBGuidance/chapters/p_sec47_enq.html Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“PRINCIPLES OF CARE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1419242-principles-of-care
(PRINCIPLES OF CARE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1419242-principles-of-care.
“PRINCIPLES OF CARE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1419242-principles-of-care.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care

Emerging Standards of Care: Culturally Competent Healthcare

This is the picture of the modern world and is a challenge to emerge new standards of nursing care to allocate the changes the society made.... The context of this essay will go around diversity in the viewpoint of health care.... Cultural competency is now widely utilized to bridge the gap of cultural differences among communities such as language differences and other barriers to be able to bring unbiased health care regardless of culture....
18 Pages (4500 words) Essay

Foundation Degree in Early Years

foundation degree in Early Years Grade course 5 December, 2011 Introduction Multi- professional practice in the delivery of services in the UK and other countries is a central government imperative.... “It was the consequence of the 1970 Act that led to the creation of special schools, which gave many children the opportunity of gaining an education for the first time, hence social inclusion (Whitney, 2007).... Reviewing the current integration interlude, concern is with the reformation of work relations as a way of creating new forms of social capital....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Psychological perspectives for Health and social care

… For an individual working in health and social care, an understanding of these perspectives plays an important role in helping people in being in charge of their lives, meeting their needs and supporting changing behaviours.... Furthermore, there are various psychological approaches to health and social care practices that one can adopt in order to improve psychological development (Moonie 2005; Brotherton & Parker 2008).... This inspires individuals to take responsibility for their own health and modify abnormal feelings and thoughts....
4 Pages (1000 words) Assignment

Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care year 2

Sound management in the whole system of health care system is achieved through provision of sound leadership depending on the situation that is being… Youth engagement in alcohol is a vice that requires an almost excellent management system to create a direct route to a reduced intake.... This is through social influence Management on the other hand refers to an organizational process where there is strategic planning, objective setting, resource management, deployment of human as well as financial assets to achieve strategic objectives of a given company....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care year 2

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my instructor for guiding me through and offering tips on how to develop a project, as well giving me the opportunity to work on this topic of project.... I have now been versed with a lot of information regarding the topic. ... ... here… Indeed, modifiable risk habits, including smoking, alcohol consumption and other forms of drug consumption, contribute to morbidity as well as death throughout life....
16 Pages (4000 words) Literature review

Mental Health Nursing: Mental Health and Nursing Care

This research paper discusses mental health and Nursing care.... A registered nurse is competent to integrate promotion and protection of individual's health, prevention of diseases, and treatment focus, and to assess and manage health and illness states.... In each community, the disadvantaged people's vulnerability to mental health disorders is explained as insecurity and hopelessness they experienced, rapid social changes, risks of violence and physical illness....
11 Pages (2750 words) Research Paper

Compasionate Health and Social Care

The researcher of the following paper claims that in the context of the provision of health and social care, compassion has become predominantly significant.... Finally, it will consider how society perceived negative experiences effects health and social care.... Compassionate health and social cares can enhance the efficiency of the staff, and help elicit information about patients better.... This essay will critically show what makes individuals and groups vulnerable within the health and social cares services....
12 Pages (3000 words) Coursework

Context of Community Health Care and Nursing

… ]Context of Community health and NursingNurses as EducatorsIntroductionThe role of nurse as teacher and educators of the community has been one of the most consistent roles of the nurse since the beginning of nursing.... Community-based nursing care is ]Context of Community health and NursingNurses as EducatorsIntroductionThe role of nurse as teacher and educators of the community has been one of the most consistent roles of the nurse since the beginning of nursing....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us