Essay about Assignment 1 Principles Of Practice

Submitted By Naomi_96
Words: 1589
Pages: 7

Principles of Practice
In this assignment the principles supporting individuals in health and social care practice will be explained whilst outlining procedures that are put into practice to protect service users and service providers from harm. For the purpose of this essay I will be regarding the term ‘principles’ as a standard or rule of personal conduct, as defined by Collins English Dictionary (2014). The benefits of person centred approach will be analysed alongside explaining the dilemmas and conflicts that may arise when providing care, support and protection to users of health and social care services. Examples of each of these will be provided by applying experience gained whilst in my placement in a health and social care setting. Throughout this essay I will be focusing on the principles of the care value base and will be choosing two to apply to my placement.
1.1
Within health and social care there are five main values in which we base our care. These are referred to as the care value base and include the promotion of anti-discriminatory practice, the maintenance of confidentiality, the promotion of service users’ rights and choices, respecting an individuals’ beliefs and the promotion of effective communication. Firstly, effective communication includes using appropriate methods of communication as to involve service users in decision making or voicing their concerns, encouraging individuals to engage in activity with other service users to diminish possible feelings of isolation when away from their familiar environment. The College of Occupational Therapists (2011) state that competence in communication is being able to utilise verbal, non-verbal, written, visual and digital skills to impart information or to express a range of opinions and behaviours appropriately, which enables all those involved in the interaction to gain the outcome they want or need. Positive communication includes conveying a warm, non-judgemental attitude encouraging service users to cooperate as they feel reassured that their opinions will be listened to. In my placement, a service user, whom I will refer to as Mr A, had a hearing impairment meaning that he often was unable to understand staff and this led to him feeling insignificant when decisions were being made without his approval. I found, however, in order to provide effective communication I removed all external sources of interruption, turning off television and radio, then explaining in a loud, clear voice that I was requiring him to move from the dining area into the day lounge. However on reflection I would sit level to Mr A and maintain eye contact as to ensure effective communication. This resulted in him feeling reassured and confident in what we required him to do. Secondly, respecting an individuals’ beliefs is another important aspect of care. In my placement I experienced this when one service user, Mr B, required me to take him into the lounge for the Sunday church service. Mr B would normally stay in his room all day, with the exception for an hour on Sunday. By taking him into the lounge where he could hear the service, I was respecting his beliefs. On reflection, I could improve this by providing him with a large print version of the Bible for him to read with ease as his vision is poor also.
1.2
In the health and social care setting, various procedures are put in place to protect both the service user and service provider. One of these procedures is safeguarding that is defined by Mandelstam (2008) as the protection of service users from ‘harm perpetrated by neglectful, reckless, sadistic, bullying or dishonest individuals’. In the health and social care setting, it is the management’s responsibility to supply up to date, appropriate training to all staff, however it becomes the employees’ responsibility to attend these training sessions. Another example of protecting service users from harm is the procedure of carrying out risk assessments. Risk