Principles Of Health and Social Care Practice

1.1 How principles of support are applied to ensure care for individuals in health and social care practices

Patricia, an Alzheimer patient in ICON Residential Care Home requires support and proper attention. Employees in ICON Residential Care Home are responsible to support Patricia during difficult situations in her daily routine. Though recovering from Alzheimer's disease is very difficult and almost impossible, still such practices might help to ease Patricia's health condition to a great extent.

There are certain principles in health and social care practices which help organisations in taking effective care of their patients. These principles are as follows:

• Respect and Dignity: Every person is entitled to be respected regardless of their condition. Each individual must receive proper and effective care within organisations of health and social care. In addition to this, their individuality and privacy too must be carefully attended by employees of these organisations.
• Rights: There are various rights of patients that protect them from unethical practices. Healthcare practitioners must consider these rights while providing care to patients. The patients in these organisation has right to information, right to equal treatment and confidentiality. Healthcare organisations must function without violation of these rights and aim to enhance their service quality.
• Privacy: It is essential for health and social care organisations to give proper privacy to their service users in terms of personal space, personal belongings as well as personal information. Privacy is essential for these patients and any contravention in this might lead to consequences (Hart and Bond, 2015).
• Effective Care: Service users of health and social care must receive effective care in organisations. They must be treated by professionals who use latest and effective medical procedures to provide best possible care to these patients. There must be no carelessness while providing care to service users. Careful and appropriate measures must be important for organisations of health and social care.

1.3 Benefits of following a person-centred approach with users of health and social care services

World renowned psychologist Carl Rogers developed the person-centred approach. This type of care is concerned with including service users of health and social care in healthcare practices and provide care that effectively meet the needs of these patients. This means that this approach puts service users at the centre and all the decisions are based on their needs.

Person-centred approach aims at acquiring emotional attachment of service users from the organisation. This helps in enhancing their trust which results in more cooperation with employees of these firms. This will be beneficial for ICON Residential Care Home as :

• Quality Improvement:Person-centred approach would help the organisation to improve the quality of care given by the firm. This is because it would improve patients' experience and satisfaction level. Involvement of service users in decisions would allow the firm to effectively make service users realise the seriousness of their cooperation. This would enable use of appropriate methods of providing care.
• Enhancement of Self Care:Since service users of ICON Residential Care Home will be motivated to recover quickly and effectively, this approach would encourage them to take personal measures for recovery. It would enhance self care practices within the service users which would be beneficial in improving their health conditions.
• Cooperation:Person-centred approach would also enhance cooperation of service users and would allow them to undergo complex medical procedures without resistance. Such cooperation would ease the pressure from care practitioners and they can efficiently make use of detailed medical procedures to provide care to patients  (Whitehead, 2011).

1.4 Ethical dilemmas and conflict that may arise when providing care, support and protection to users of health and social care services

It is not easy to provide quality care to patients of health and social care. Care practitioners require to function in certain manner and adopt ethical practices that could help in recovery of these patients. It is very important for care practitioners to consider safety of their service users as a top priority and must take appropriate measure that protect them from any harm during their treatment.

However, care practitioners at ICON Residential Care Home face certain ethical dilemmas and conflicts while providing care to patients like Patricia. In her case, the ethical dilemma arises due to her non-cooperation with the activities conducted by care givers. Another conflict arises regarding explaining the health problems to Patricia.

Care practitioners in these situations must work carefully according to their code of ethics. Acceptance is the key to improvement. Care givers must be honest with Patricia about her health condition. Moreover, they must take appropriate measures to help her regain this information without panic or grief in case she forgets the communication about her condition. In addition to this, they should be perfectly honest with her about her mother's death and seriousness of her condition. Such practices would allow her to regain her conscience about her health and would increase her involvement in practices required to ail her medical conditions. She would indulge herself more in group activities and would develop a sophisticated time-table for her daily routine.

2.1 Theories that underpin health and social care practice

Certain theories underpin health and social care practices. It would be beneficial for ICON Residential Care Home to develop an understanding of these theories to enhance the quality of service given to their patients (Purdie, Dudgeon and Walker, 2015). These theories are mentioned below:

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

Care Practitioner of ICON Residential Care Home must consider Maslow's theory of needs. This would allow the firm to understand needs and wants of each individual within the organisation. Focusing on needs of service users would allow the organisations to deal with their situations effectively (Maslow's Hierarchy of Entrepreneurial Needs, 2018).

This theory by Maslow is a motivational theory which divides human needs in a five-tier model. It comprises of 5 stages, which are described below:

For effective care of patients, care practitioners of ICON Residential Care Home can use this theory within the organisation. It would enable the carers to identify healthcare needs that are yet to be met. To ensure proper well being of service users, it is important for the firm to fulfil the basic needs. These can be potential motivators for service users. But in case these needs are fulfilled, it could result in creation of deficiencies.  This model can help care practitioners in causing a breakthrough in health and social care. It would allow them to enhance their service qualities to a great extent.(Source: Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, 2018)

Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development:

This model divides psycho social crises in eight stages according to age groups. It can be an effective method for ICON Residential Care Home to give proper care to mental patients. Treatment in the organisation must be given according to the age group of patients. This theory would help the carers to solve these crises effectively. In case practitioner fail in resolving these crises, it would affect psychosocial development of service users (Eric Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development, 2018).

This theory would allow carers of the department to understand mental conditions of the patients and implement appropriate method to treat these patients.(Source: Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development, 2018)

2.2 How social processes impact on users of health and social care services

Social processes refer to ways in which different people establish social relationships. These processes impact patients of health and social care. Care practitioners of ICON Residential Care Home must take proper care of some of the social processes described below:

• Isolation: There are different wards for service users suffering from health problems like Patricia. Due to such exclusion, they tend to feel isolated. It is the responsibility of care practitioners in ICON Residential Care Home to ensure effective communication and care to these patients. Under no circumstances must they feel isolated as it would affect their mental health and would result in slow recovery.   
• Marginalisation: This refers to a social phenomenon through which certain individuals are excluded, and given lesser importance than others. This can happen on the basis of caste, creed, cultural differences or health conditions (Gruskin, Mills and Tarantola, 2017). However, such discrimination can disrupt the image of organisations and would definitely affect health of service users. Thus, it is necessary for ICON Residential Care Home to treat every patient equally and effectively. This would develop a sense of trust in the patients as well as would help to enhance the quality of service provided by the firm.
• Poverty: The major issue which reduces the comfort levels of service users is due to poverty. Poor service users often feel socially isolated and tend to be mistreated in various health and social care organisations. Carers at ICON Residential Care Home must focus on treating them equally and must adopt ethical practices that could allow them to receive appropriate treatment for their illness.

2.3 Evaluation of the effectiveness of inter-professional working

Inter-professional working refers to collaboration of healthcare and medical professionals belonging to different backgrounds to treat their patients. These professionals work with service users, families, carers to give the best possible care (Hughes, Tysall and Suleman, 2014).

It can be quite effective for strengthening the quality of services provided by ICON Residential Care Home. With innovative minds and various professional methods, patients at the organisation can receive quality health and social care. The effectiveness of inter-professional working is mentioned below:

• Empowerment: Inter-professional working enhances empowerment among various other members of the organisation. Effective working under this type of working causes enhancement of creativity which increases their decision-making power.
• Closes Communication Gaps: Such working practices causes interactions of professionals from every human resource of organisation. Thus, it closes the unnecessary communication gaps which hinder the performance of the firm. Effective communication within ICON Residential Care Home would allow the firm to effectively manage their duties and enhance their quality of service,
• Comprehensive Patient Care: Each professional adopts different methods to provide care to their patients. These methods can combine together so that appropriate care  could be provided to the patients. In addition to this, person-centred approach can also be implemented in an effective way within the organisation (Lart, Bostock and Coomber, 2014).
• Develops Team Mentality: With efficient methods and innovative style of patient care, inter-professional working would allow development of team mentality which is essential in health and social care organisation like ICON Residential Care Home.

3.1 Own role, responsibilities, accountabilities and duties in the context of working with those within and outside the health and social care workplace

Employees in health and social care are responsible for maintaining health conditions of their patients. For this, it is essential that they perform their roles, responsibilities and accountabilities at their workplace. I happen to be a Care Practitioner in ICON Residential Care Home. I crucial role in supporting the organisation. I have certain roles and responsibilities towards providing care to service users within the organisation. I am responsible for:

• Supporting patients with disabilities
• Maintaining hygiene of patients as well as surrounding environment.
• Monitoring health of patients periodically.
• Acquire and provide knowledge about various methods of treatments that can help the firm in achieving sustainable development.

My prime role and duty is to support patients with special needs.  I immediately tend to their needs and ensure that proper healthcare facilities have been given to them. I am accountable to senior managers and my supervisors who monitor and evaluate my performance and guide me through my daily roles and duties (Turner and Clegg, 2014).

3.2 Evaluation of own contribution to the development and implementation of health and social care organisational policy

Organisational policy refers to the set of rules and regulation followed by an organisation. In ICON Residential Care Home, the policy framework emphasizes on promoting human rights of people with dementia. To achieve this, I tend to practice according to the set policies and catty out my responsibilities in an effective and ethical manner. Through interpersonal skills, I tend to encourage co-workers in working in ways which do not violate human rights of organisation's patients. I communicate the patients about each and every problem they are facing and work towards eradicating these problems. Moreover, I treat them all equally and help guide them through their daily activities. I try to effectively carry out my duties in order to contribute in providing effective healthcare to service users in alignment with the organisational policy followed at ICON Residential Care Home.

3.3 Recommendations to develop own contributions to meeting good practice requirements

There is always a scope of improvement while working in health and social care sector. It is required from the employees to keep enhancing their skills in order to contribute toward facilitating good healthcare practices within the organisation.

While working in ICON Residential Care Home, I have some recommendation to enhance my contribution to meet good practice requirements.

• I must work towards developing a social integrity regarding health concerns to keep every patient, co-worker and people within the organisation safe.
• I must avoid discrimination happening within the firm. My focus must be on promoting equality in services as well as treatment.
• Independence is necessary for every individual(Greene, 2017). Thus, it is necessary that I work towards providing freedom to my patients.
• Lastly, I ought to work towards maintaining confidentiality about personal information of service users. This would help me to gain trust of my patient and establish a transparent communication with them which is essential for enhancing quality of care.

Conclusion

Thus, it is concluded from the above assignment that in health and social care, it is essential to follow principles to ensure proper care of patients. Safety of service users must be a priority of health and social care organisations. Moreover it is important to implement person-centred approach to enhance service quality. Care workers must overcome ethical dilemmas and take decisions that are appropriate for their patients. Within health and social care organisations, it is essential to implement policies, legislations and regulations that enhance the performance of employees in the organisation. Firms must adopt theories relevant to health and social care to understand the health condition of patients briefly and care for them accordingly. Inter-professional working enables an organisation to achieve objectives of providing quality care successfully. Lastly, it is essential for employees of health and social care organisations to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively which helps them to encourage ethical and good practices within organisations of health and social care.

References

• Rollnick, S., Miller, W. R. and Butler, C.C.,  2018. Motivational interviewing in health care: helping patients change behaviour.
• Hart, F. and Bond, M., 2015. Action research for health and social care: a guide to practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
• Whitehead, M., 2011. The concepts and principles of equity and health. Health promotion international. 6(3). pp.217-228.
• Purdie, N., Dudgeon, P. and Walker, R., 2015. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and well-being principles and practice.
• Gruskin, S., Mills, E. J. and Tarantola, D., 2017. History, principles, and practice of health and human rights. The Lancet. 370(9585).  pp.449-455.
• S., Hughes, J., Tysall, C. and Suleman, R., 2014. Mapping the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research: a systematic review. Health Expectations. 17(5).  pp.637-650.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2016. Scope of practice in speech-language pathology.
• Lart, R., Bostock, L. and Coomber, C., 2014. Factors that promote and hinder joint and integrated working between health and social care services: a review of research literature. Health & social care in the community. 22(3), pp.225-233.

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