Specific Needs in Health and Social Care Assignment

Program	Diploma in Health and Social Care
Unit Number and Title	Specific Needs in Health and Social Care
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

This specific needs in health and social care assignment discusses the perception and behaviour of users of social and health care services while analysing the role played by the social and health care organizations and legislative frameworks and professional standards framed in this regard. The ways in which health and social care services support the people suffering from dementia, learning disability, physical disability and other health problems are also explained in context of different situations with the examples from practical life and social and health care service environment. The effects of strategies and methods used to deal with these problems and challenging behaviour are also evaluated.

Task 1

1.1 Make an analysis of the ways in which the concepts of health, disability, illness and behaviour might be perceived by the following users of health and social care services:

 A. 22 year old man who has been deaf since birth

• Health – The health of a person ensures that he is able to do the physical, mental and social tasks on daily routine basis without any difficulty. A 22 year old man who has been deaf since birth might perceive the concept of health in a sense that he is able to efficiently manage the daily tasks without any help and understand the messages and  communication process  made to him by other persons of society with the help of understanding gestures and sign language. (Brehmer, 2014)
• Disability – A deaf person who is deaf since birth may not perceive the lack of ability to hear as a disability since he has already spent 22 years with this disability and this might has become his habit. For such a person disability might not be perceived as a problem.
• Illness – The concept of illness which causes a person incapable of doing all the routine work is perceived by a deaf person as dependency on others only for these daily routine tasks for which they have to listen to others to complete the tasks. The illness is not considered by them until they easily complete their intended work.
• Behaviour – The behaviour of a deaf person who is deaf since birth may be different from others in a way that they may feel dependent on the gestures and sign language to socially interact with other people and as a result they may not be willing to communicate their ideas, thoughts and opinions.
• 1.2 A 55 year old woman whose overriding interest is in rock climbing and had just discovered that she has arthritis in both knees.
• Health – Having arthritis in knees the 55 year old woman will not be able to walk long distances properly and thus she might perceive the concept of health as dependency on others for going from one place to another.
• Disability – Since the old woman has an overriding interest in rock climbing the problem of arthritis in knees might be perceived as impairment in her legs by that woman.
• Illness – The concept of illness might be perceived as the incapability to even walk little long distance where she had keen interest in climbing the mountains do high.
• Behaviour – The changes in the behaviour might be noticed in the woman in the way of depression and feeling of helplessness since she is unable to pursue her overriding interest. (Albert, 2013)

1.2 From the point of view of a care worker, make an assessment of the ways in which perceptions of the specific needs of the groups listed below have changed over time. You must give examples to illustrate the changes that have taken place.

Group 1: elderly people with dementia: An elderly person with dementia at an early stage of dementia feels oppressed because of the reason of his mental disorder and this increases more with the passage of time. People discriminate with persons suffering from dementia less during initial stage as compared to the later stage when the mental illness grows more. However the stigma of being a sufferer of dementia loses its impact with the passage of time as society start accepting his mental condition as a part of his character. The rights of elderly people are affected right from the beginning and are never restored unless the disease is cured fully. For example when an elder person suffers from dementia his children start to disrespect him and he never gains the same respect but the effect of stigma on his character reduces since his children start to accept him the way he is...

Group 2: people with physical disability: A person having a physical disability develops a feeling of inferiority due to his weakness as a result of impairment or loss of a body part. This feeling grows with the passage of time and they feel more oppressed and discriminated. However the right of a physically disabled person are not lost instead they are given more priorities and rights under various laws and acts. For example, a person who lost his one leg in an accident feels discriminated because of incapability to walk himself or go from one place to another without help but he get the many reserved rights for handicapped persons under the laws of government. (Ravindran, 2012)

1.3 As a care worker in a small group home for individuals with a variety of psychiatric illness analyse the impact of Community Care Act, social policy, society and culture on the ways that services are made available for this vulnerable group. You must give examples specific to the setting specified and make reference to other specific legislation, as well as specified social; policies and socio-cultural/developments.

• Community Care Act: The Act help people who need care and support along with psychiatric treatment to live with dignity and respect in the society and community to which they belong and prevent themselves from social isolation. It enables the matching of care needs with the financial capabilities and expectation of the client. The key objectives of the act include the services of people at home and Domiciliary care and day care services for people suffering from mental illness which helps them overcome their mental illness easily and in short duration without depending on others. The Act provides that any person including a member of healthcare team can make a referral to Social Services on behalf of patient and the Local Authority shall then provide community care services along with residential accommodation to the patient if he is in genuine need of care. This helps the patient suffering from mental illness by reducing his stress levels and enabling him overcomes his depression and cause of mental illness. (Schwarzer, 2011)
• Social policy: The social policies largely affect the mental health of an individual since the individual living in a society needs to adhere to the social policies strictly in order to avoid social isolation. By doing this the person creates pressure around himself which relates to his performance and success leading to his mental illness. If the social policies favour the thoughts and perception of individual and do not create pressures on him he can easily recover from psychiatric illness through the care and support.
• Society: The society is the environment or place in which a person lives including his family, friends, relatives and near and dear ones. These are the people with whom an individual is connected mentally as well as emotionally therefore they have a direct impact on the mental state of a person. The care, love, respect and support from society has a crucial role to play in the cure of mental illness of a person.
• Culture: The culture of a person includes the traditions, beliefs, rituals and customs which are followed by a person and which determine his behaviour and attitude towards life. The cultural factors also have an impact on the mental illness of a person in a way that they guide the path to be followed by such a person inclining him towards spiritual aspects to overcome his illness. The attitude and behaviour in accordance with the cultural needs helps in controlling the mental state. (Stevenson, 2013)

Task 2

2.1 As a care worker in a residential home for young people with moderate level of learning disability, analyse, with your reasons, their physical, social and emotional care needs.

• Physical care needs – The physical care needs include the need of as per their choice and taste and satisfaction of their cravings for food. Apart from this physical needs include proper exercise for the fitness of young people, sexual needs, physical activities increasing their energy levels such as playing indoors and outdoors and other needs to maintain their physical health and fitness.
• Social care needs – The social needs for young people include the needs to interact people, hang out with friends, attend parties and social gatherings, get love from near and dear ones, the need of being interested in life and enjoy themselves, bleeds of being able to learn And get success and  promotion in business  , recognising their talent and interests, having the sense of belonging to society and community, religious and cultural needs and abiding by their traditions and beliefs. (Peel, 2014)
• Emotional care needs – The emotional needs of young people having moderate level of learning disability include the needs of feeling loved, trusted, understood, valued and secured since the average level of learning disability affect their emotional level to a great extent. It also includes the need of being hopeful and optimistic about life, accepting their inner self, trusting their instinct, develop the ability to cope up with difficulties and develop confidence and self –control and appraisal.

2.2 Explain how a combination of statutory systems, voluntary systems, self-help and formal + informal care can be used to support the specific needs of:

A 32 year old whose only means of locomotion is a wheel chair?

A lady in young age of 32 years who can move from one place to another only by means of wheel chair need special care and attention since the disability at the young age develops depression in mind of a person. Formal care is needed to support the lady in performing his daily routine activities without difficulties whereas the informal care from friends, family and relatives helps in the overcoming the mental depression and stress. (Hean, 2011)

An 86 year old woman with arthritis who is the sole carer for her husband who has dementia

The old woman who is suffering from arthritis is the only care taker of her husband who is suffering from dementia therefore she is in great need of support. The voluntary and statutory systems which provide for home care services will be very helpful for the lady to manage her daily routine work and take care for her husband enabling him getting recovered from his illness. Since the lady is old and also having arthritis causing problems for her to manage all the work therefore the formal care from some other carer who can render the services of taking care of her and her husband  will be an effective support system for her. Apart from this the informal care in the form of emotional support will prove to be helpful for the lady to enable her survive even with such difficulties. In this way not only voluntary and statutory systems but a combination of them with formal and informal care, love and emotional support can only be helpful for the lady and her husband to overcome their illness. (McNeil, 2012)

2.3 This task asks you to carry out some research in the town or the borough where you live. Find out what services are available in that town or borough for the two groups listed below and evaluate them in relation to how easy they would be to access in relation to availability/ physical location/ cost.

People with early stage dementia

NHS is UK’s biggest health website which arranges for provision of social care services for people differing from dementia. It includes treatment to be received from GP and hospital along with health care services such as community mental health nurses, speech and language therapy and mobility specialists. The nurses go to home to provide practical guidance and emotional support in order to help the people cure their mental illness being at an early stage. NHS provides funds for entire package for health care and social care whether the person is living in care home or his own house. To avail the services the local NHS organization which is known as CCG can be contacted through NHS healthcare co-ordinator. Another organization offering healthcare and residential care services to cure early stage dementia is Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregiver Centre having availability of its services not only in New York but many states of United States. It provides early stage dementia patients with services like keeping appointments, remembering words, recalling people, keeping track record of medications etc. since at the early stage person suffers with less problems mainly related to memory loss. (Nurmi, 2011)

People who have recently come to this country and do not speak English

For persons who have recently come to New York and are unable to speak English free English classes at New York Public Library are available known as ESOL (English Speakers of other languages). These classes are for adults and no documentation is required to get registered therefore the visitors can easily avail these services available at libraries located at Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island and in the shifts of daytime, evening and weekend. Another organization working in this direction is English Language and Employment services for Adult Immigrants and Refugees (ELESAIR). Apart from this the International Centre in New York (ICNY) also aims at teaching English and American culture to immigrants and other new comers with the help of services to be provided by well-trained volunteer corps who help the persons in their transition from new comer to New Yorker. It has a team of more than 500 volunteer corps belonging to different cultural backgrounds from around 50 countries across the world in order to provide the cultural safety and comfort level to the immigrants in New York. Being a non-profit organization it charges a modest fee from the members and immigrants and also offers many scholarships. (Paparello, 2014)

Task 3

3.1 Explain, giving practical examples to support your points, how the approaches and interventions listed below might be used to support individuals with learning disability.

• Partnership working: While working with partners or persons in a team or a group the person with learning disability develops the desire and enthusiasm to learn by the inspiration and motivation he gets from the abilities and work of the partner or another team member. The person develops the spirit of competitiveness and with the desire to perform better and co-ordinate with the team member or partner he himself initiates to learn and make efforts to develop the learning abilities. For example the children are unwilling to study at home but when they study with other children at school they themselves take part in the learning activities and are able to learn effectively with the group of other students.
• Guardianship: With the help of guardianship individuals with learning disability feel secured and safe which help them develop the interest in life and they start taking interest in developing their learning abilities and make efforts towards this direction. They are provided with proper guidance and mental support which gives them mental strength and confidence to believe in themselves and overcome their stress levels. As a result the guardian who takes care of the individual in an effective manner helps the individual get back their ability to learn and explore. For example as a teacher, coach or mentor helps an individual to excel in his area of interest and expertise and achieve the success similarly a guardian helps an individual with learning disability to develop the ability and skills to learn things. (Sinisammal, 2016)
• Empowerment/lifestyle choices: When a person is empowered and independent and he is able to take decisions about his life style and choice of living he develops the feeling of self-respect and confidence. These feelings help in the satisfaction of egoistic needs of human being which encourages them to take initiate to develop the abilities to learn. The empowerment boosts the energy and enthusiasm of an individual and stimulates his interest in life and social interactions. For example, people who feel empowered and secured and makes his lifestyle choice himself takes interest in life and increase his living standard for which he develops his learning abilities.

3.2 As a care worker in a residential care home, evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention strategies listed in 3a above for a child with learning disability. You should consider the advantages and disadvantages of each of the strategies listed and give examples to show how each might work in practise.

• Partnership working: This strategy helps in developing the team spirit and competitiveness in children along with inspiring and motivating them by adopting the habits of others and learning from them. This strategy is quite effective for a child with learning disability because children mostly Havre the habit of doing what others do and getting inspired from the work of others. Making a child do some work or activities with another child or group of children will help the child to develop the learning ability by getting inspired by another children playing or performing some task with him. For example children at school easily develop the learning abilities which become a difficult task for them at home. 
• Guardianship: This strategy is useful in providing an individual with security and safety along with guidance and mental support to lead his life in effective manner. However it makes the individual dependent on the guardian completely and he does not develop the sense of responsibility and accountability throughout his life. A child who is having learning disability essentially needs a guardian because of the reason that at the stage of life which he is in the guidance and support is very important to grow and learn... For example a minor needs a guardian for entering into a legal and binding contract because his learning abilities and knowledge is not developed fully up to the age of minority but on attaining the age of majority the support of guardian is not needed by him. This shows that this strategy is very effective to enable a child develop his learning abilities.
• Empowerment/lifestyle choices: This strategy helps an individual to develop the confidence and enthusiasm and interest in life but on the other hand this results in allocation of excess responsibility and accountability without authority and ability to handle. It creates the feelings of self-proud and makes a person over-confident. This strategy can be effective for a child with learning disability only if the child is empowered to perform the tasks which may be within his capacity and strength which in the alternate case can cause harmful effect on the mind of child and may spoil him. For example if a teenager is given lot of money to spend he might misuse it but if he is given money within his limits and capabilities he might develop excellent abilities to spend the money properly and make its optimum use. This shows that the lifestyle choice or empowerment strategy may work for a child in both positive and negative ways to develop his learning ability depending upon the manner in which it is applied by the provider of social and health care services. (Mental health, 2014)

3.3 Using your own work experience and/or independent research as a base, discuss, with examples, the potential impact of recent changes and legislation and social policy on the way that support is made available for individuals with specific needs.

The recent changes in legislation and social policy include signing of Affordable Care Act, 2010 to provide for comprehensive health insurance reforms and affordable health care and social care services for the individuals with specific needs. It includes Accountable care organizations and other programs to enable the medical practitioners and social care service providers to work together to deliver better health care services. Apart from this Community Care Act and Equality Act 2010 are also enacted to enable local authorities to provide health care and social care services along with residential accommodations to the individuals with specific needs based on a non-discriminating policy. These regulatory changes focus on preparing the base to support the organizations and community workers working in the direction of welfare of persons suffering from physical and mental disability and illness. These changes have been incorporated in the legislative framework to help the patients recover from their illness with the help of emotional love and care and other support related to the home care and domiciliary care services.

Task 4

4.1 From the point of view of local authority, social worker explains how challenging behaviour might differ between the three groups listed below:

• People with learning disability: Learning disability refers to lower intellectual ability and less social interaction and adaptive functioning The people with learning disability generally develop a behaviour different from others which becomes quite challenging for the society to which they belong along with their family members, relatives and carers.. The changes in behaviour includes increase in aggression, self-injury, stereotypic behaviour, destructive behaviour, withdrawal, disruption etc. As a result the person indulges in activities such as violence, sexual abuse, arson and other activities which relate to crime. Some people with learning disability also develop other problems sensory impairments, difficulties in communication, autism and physical and mental health problems. However it may happen that the behaviour appears to be challenging in only some environments or cultures but not in others. (Learning, 2014)
• People with physical disability: The behaviour of persons with physical disability is not much challenging as compared to the results of changes in behaviour of persons suffering from learning disability, dementia or other kind of mental illness. Such persons usually develop the feelings of stress, depression, inferiority complexion, lack of self-confidence, irritation and frustration of not being able to perform their daily routine tasks and activities without the help of others. The dependency because of physical impairment of one or more body part make the person feel helpless due to which he loses his interest in life and gets frustrated. Lack of emotional support, care and love and oppression, discrimination, stigma is some of the factors which lead to the changes in behaviour of these persons. As a result they develop other mental health problems and start avoiding social interactions and do not communicate properly with other persons in polite and humble manner.
• People with mental ill-health: Mental illness refers to the situation when the mind of a person stops working in an efficient manner which the result of some is mishappening, unexpected event or uncertainty. The changes in behaviour and its impact on the society, carers, family friends and relatives are largely visible in the persons suffering from mental illness due to the malfunctioning of brain. Such persons develop behaviour which may be destructive or harmful for other persons of society. Since the impact is huge the cure is also to be done with great emotional care and love so that destructive behaviour is not adopted by such persons. The changes result in aggression, violence, stereotypic behaviour, doing unexpected tasks, abusing others and other insane activities by mentally ill persons.

4.2 Giving examples from specific health and social care situations describes how legal framework/ professional standards/ policies and procedures have an impact on the way that health and social care organisations are able to work with service users who exhibit challenging behaviour.

The legal framework, professional standards and policies and procedures which provide for the social care and home care facilities by community workers, health care nurses, and health care organizations is able to create a huge impact on the organizations working with social carers and service providers in dealing with service users who tend to develop and exhibit challenging behaviour as a result of their physical and mental disability and illness by regulating the accreditation and dealings of these organizations with the service users. They cover many areas such as community health, child care and protection, disability services and family relationships. For example Community Service Act and Civil Liability Act which apply to the community workers and social workers. Another example is The Nursing Act 1992 and the Psychologists Registration Act 2001 which prescribes set of standards for nurses, community workers and other social and health care service providers. (Johnson, 2014)

4.3 From your work-based experience and/or work done in class, make an analysis of the strategies listed below as methods used for working with challenging behaviour. Consider the advantages, disadvantages and limitations of each of the strategies listed.

• Sanctions – This strategy refers to the rewards and appraisal of the person with disability or mental illness in order to boost his confidence and reducing the adoption of challenging behaviour by him. This is useful as the person himself overcome his challenging behaviour being able to cope up with the stress and depression. Using this method might create discrimination and affect the rights of other persons with disability and mental health problems. This method sometimes results in over confidence and empowerment of the challenged person and as a result his challenging behaviour may have a destructive impact.
• Medication – This strategy refers to the treatment of the illness with the help of medicines and pharmaceutical drugs so that the disease can be cured with the roots. The advantage of this method for dealing with challenging behaviour is that it is a simple method and the result of the medication provided to the patient is certain. However some medicines have side effects and excessive dosage of medication may result in other physical and mental health problems instead of curing the root cause of the illness. The relief from this method is temporary until the dosage of medicines is in effect since the complete cure is a time consuming process. (Coleman, 2013)
• Setting clear boundaries and targets – This strategy refers to the determination of limits, boundaries and targets for the level of tolerable challenging behaviour and taking steps to deal with behaviours which have huge destructive impact with gradually increasing the limits. This method is useful in dealing with the challenging behaviour as focus is given to small behavioural aspects by treating them one by one through targets and the improvement and efficiency of treatment can be measured easily. This method sometimes results in ignorance of other aspects while focusing on the targets and boundaries.
• Time out – This method involves temporary suspension of any favourite social activity of the person at the time of behaviour. It is also known as time out from positive reinforcement. For example if the person likes listening to music being played on TV then switching off the TV at the time of challenging behaviour. This strategy is helpful in controlling the challenging behaviour for the time being the reinforcement activity is suspended. Since the person enjoys that activity its withdrawal or suspension will have an impact on behaviour, sometimes this strategy results in increase in the challenging behaviour due to aggression of not being able to enjoy anymore. (Hemmeter, 2012)

Conclusion

From the above mentioned discussions related to the social and health care services in context of different persons with specific needs if these services suffering with physical and mental diseases and illness it can be concluded that the organizations working for the welfare of these persons, community workers, nurses and social carers along with the combination of statutory, legislative and legal and professional framework developed for these services are capable to [provide a great support to such persons and their family members and carers in dealing with their health problems and challenging behaviour adopted by them as a result of these illness issues. They have a huge impact on the society by reducing the effect of the challenging  organization behaviour  through methods and strategies along with the emotional support and care. (Daerga, 2012)

References

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