Empowerment in Health and Social Care: Importance, Legislation, Factors, and Strategies

This article discusses the importance of empowerment in health and social care, the legislation and standards that inform practice, factors that affect empowerment, and strategies used to empower individuals. It covers subjects such as HSC DM1 and is relevant for college and university students.

HSC DM1 Empowerment in
H&C

Table of Content.
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Importance of empowering individuals.................................................................................1
1.2 Legislation and standards inform practice when empowering individuals............................2
1.3 Factors that affect the empowerment of individual...............................................................3
1.4 Strategies used to empower individuals.................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Empowerment is the process of achieving freedom as well as power to do what someone
is want or to control what happens to someone. It is the degree of anatomy as well as self-
determination in people and social communities. This action is refers to both to the process of
self-empowerments and professional supports of the people, while enables them to overcome
their senses of powerlessness and lack of influences and t recognize and use their resources. In
health and social care, it id explained as a process people achieve greater control over the
decisions and actions that affect their lives. It is important for everyone involved in care which
includes the service user, the families as well as care workers (Pekonen and et. al., 2020).
MAIN BODY
1.1 Importance of empowering individuals
Empowerment is the abilities of the individuals or communities to take control of their
condition, exercise power as well as achieve their personal goals. It the process in which any
individual is able to help anyone by individually or collectively to maximize the quality of their
lives. In health and social care, it is the process through which people gain greater control on the
actions that affect their health. Patient empowerment puts patients at the heart of healthcare,
increases the benefits for all involved. This is consider lowered cost, maximize the efficiencies
ans gives a more positive healthcare experiences for all patients. These are all achievable by
implementing a platform that designed with the patient in mind. These maximize their assets as
well as attributes and build abilities to achieve access, partners or network in order to attain
control over it. Empowerment approach have a beneficial impact for person's health and well-
being. This includes self-efficacy, self-esteem, sense of control, sense of community as well as
increases in individual's knowledge and awareness. By empowering patient to take co-
responsibility for the management of their condition. It is help to enhance the medical outcomes
and also lower the cost. Personalized care ans support planning, including enabling people to
have assess to both read and edit their personal health records. Patients are looking to their
providers to give them better accessibility and knowledge to learn and understand the decisions
that go into planning their care. It is equally importance for providers to includes external non-
health outcomes such as patients satisfactions, engagement to accurately rate the efficacy to
healthcare deliveries. The main target of empowering patient is to assist them to develop self-
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awareness, self-care as well as increases the understandings. The patients can be equal partners
in their healthcare decisions. Health and social care empowerment puts patients at the hearts of
health services so these are able to gain the maximum benefits from it. It is promotes the self-
care and reduce the dependency on healthcare providers. The empowering patients will ensure
that they engage better with their provider. It is help to developed confidence in individuals that
help in ask for the informations they need, along with developing their self-awareness and
becoming an equal partner in their personal care. The individual is on the same page as the care
workers and increases the communication and over all carer-patient relationship (Akgül Gök and
Duyan, 2020).
1.2 Legislation and standards inform practice when empowering individuals
There are some standard and legislation are available which help to improve empowering
individuals as it sets out laws for them. The Equality Act helps to empower the people as it gives
for them to have the right to be accepted as well as feel welcome in any place and they not get
any discrimination. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 is also aim to empower patient and
giving them a greater voice and control of their personal care. It will puts clinicians at the centre
of commissioning, free up providers to innovate and give new focus on public health. According
to the equality act 2010, it gives a legal frame work to protects the rights of individuals and
promotes equal opportunities for everyone. It help to clarifies what private, public and voluntary
sectors must legally do to ensure that individual with protected characteristics are not drawbacks.
It is requires the public bodies and those carrying out public functions to have due regards to the
required to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and develops
good relations. This act is also related with the physical and mental alteration which has a
substantial as well as long term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal activities. This
act is ensure that every person has the equal opportunities to express their thinking or wishes and
have rights into consideration of their condition, situation, education, gender or religion. People
with disability or different gender should be treated with the dignity or respect and also support
their personal choices (Gorbunova and et. al., 2021).
The standard for empowering individuals with the differently depending on individuals
assumptions as well as perspectives. There are some standard are prescribes for service user. It
includes the situations that the patients live in should meet the minimum standard of health and
safety. There is privacy is very important feeling for everyone irrespective of the condition. For
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the individual's privacy is something that is break every day in car homes because most of them
require someone to care for them. It give the rights for effective communication to every
individuals because some people might not speak frequently English and have learning
disabilities (Papp, 2019).
According to The Human Rights Act 1998, it gives the human rights to every individuals
and these are the basic rights and gives the freedom that belongs to everyone. The International
law, contains the provisions which gives human rights and legal effects. There are some human
rights, like the right to respect for family life, can be limited or qualified in certain
circumstances. The government has formulated different policies and procedures in health and
social care for the purpose of promoting the management of the risk. It can be manage by the
empowering the people and by giving the opportunity to express their wishes as well as
requirements. It is help to working in partnership with the service user, families, social workers
and other organizations for the benefits to the service user. It is also assist staff and administrator
clearly understand their roles and responsibilities when it comes to safe guarding and
empowering service user.
According to The Health and Social Care 2012, it targets to empower patients and give
the higher voice and control on their personal care. It help to reduce inequalities between patients
with respect to their capability to access health service. It is also decrease the inequalities
between patients with respect to the outcomes achieve for them. This act is help in increase the
involvement of patients and their carers in decisions about provision of health services. It enables
the patients to make choices with respect to aspects of health services provide them (Gelbort,
2019).
1.3 Factors that affect the empowerment of individual
Empowerment is plays an important roles in health and social care and it gives the greater
understandings of how to navigate the healthcare systems. The analysis of these empowerment
factors yields various findings related to individual characteristics. Individual who may be
different gender and more educated have various factors that impact on the empowerment. These
factors includes being male, older and employed confer greater financial and social factors that
enhance the personal empowerment. The care workers need to establish a positive and healthier
environment and should adopt the principle and values that includes some points. It consider
respect for diversity, maintaining the confidence of the patients, involvement of the people in
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planning and supports as well as promotion of rights and choice. There is good empowerment is
need to development of good health as well as safety practices in the health and social care
environment. Empowerment in health and safety comes from helping individuals to feel engaged
as well as capable of enacting practices. A good leader, should be empowering everyone come
into contact with regularly. The approach to diversity encourages a curious spirit and the ability
to openly engage with others in the process of learning about a different culture. Every human
being, regardless of the colour of skin, ethnic background, religious beliefs or anything else, is
unique. Respecting and valuing people for their individual uniqueness is important to developing
trust. The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect (Mousavi and et. al., 2018).
It means understanding that each individual is different and unique. It is give a safe, positive as
well as nurturing environment children will have opportunities to share and explore these
differences. It is hep to create mutual understandings and respects for everybody's differences.
Empowerment is a creations of an environment in which individuals from varied background and
with varied abilities and experiences can fully participate in health and social care decision
making procedure and operations. Empowerment initiative recognise that various employee face
different challenges at work and seek to accommodate for those differences by creating flexible,
accessible and supportive environment. These all individuals can participate in and contribute to
work practices and decision making. Empowerment supports fairness through adjustment to
physical workplace, tools and equipments, work practices and schedules such that workforce
participation. Without empowerment, there is no equality of opportunities. Empowerment in
patients with chronic disease has shown several positive effects such as increased patients
satisfaction with care, improved patients adherence to self-management of the treatment and
better clinical outcomes (Tandos, Zhu and Krever, 2022).
Empowering leadership gives employees great autonomy from functionary constraints,
stimulates employees to participate in decision making. It enhances the meaningfulness of work
and allow them to express confidence in high performance. Empowering builds confidence in
their capacity to execute collective mission and goals, establishes essential trust in an
organization and creates the secondary levels of leadership necessary when person are not
present for key decision so that the organization continue. The development in the positive
attitude is assist in the attain personal empowerment. Individual who believes they control their
own destiny the giving into external concepts such as fate, luck or circumstance. Set up a
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positive attitude and outlook by evaluating strengths as well as weakness, trusting capabilities as
well as pursuing passions.
A clear guiding vision is the strongest tool for empowerment. It is easy to put far too
much efforts into activities that don't contribute to progress. This results in the waste time,
energy as well as money. There are some common obstacles which are hinder for empowerment.
It includes laziness, fear of position loss, inconsistency, lack of clear empowerment goals,
reliance on programs, wrong perceptions and working goals (Shapkoski, 2020).
1.4 Strategies used to empower individuals
Empower individuals means to give them the means to achieve something and to become
stronger as well as more successful. Helping patients means empowering the professionals to
puts patients first. It helps in the maximise benefits as well as it puts patients at the hearts of
healthcare. It involves with lower the cost, increase efficiencies and positive healthcare
experiences to for patients. There are some strategies which are used for empower individuals.
These are explained below:
Be Appreciative: It means to notice, try to understand and savour the positive value of a
person or thing. It is matters for the well-being because good human experiences are largely
composed of taking a conscious interest in environment and events. It is help to recognise the
best people and the world around us. Appreciative inquiry draws on the strengths of individuals
and organizations. These strengths becomes the foundation on which the future can be built. It
has given rise to better understands the things that connect us as humans and it reinforces
personal aspiration to pursue leadership for the common good.
Ask them what their goals: When empowering people there is need to asking the team
for their individual goals. These are help to knowing the individual's interest and hope to achieve
them and it is also forces them to consider their objectives. It gives the information and
permission for employees to address problems and move forward towards achieving their targets.
If the people have what they need to solve their personal problems, it will free up your time and
allows to challenge yourself at work. It is help to know the directions they want to sheer
themselves to improve the efficiency and also an easy way to ensure they are learning to
motivate themselves (Zare and et. al., 2020).
Empower everyone: This is the one of the most effective way to empower everyone is to
express appreciations for their efforts. It is offering the positive feedback for showing
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responsibilities and taking ownership support initiatives, it is also makes people feel valued and
appreciated, which fosters a positive work environment. Empowering people allows to help them
to be responsible for their development and learning. It is also significantly increases their
engagement in their work because of their commitment to its achievement and it assist them feel
support and encouragement in their development. There are some factors which are need to
empower others. It includes build trust, asks for the feedbacks, offer instructions, simplify
discovery, show appreciation as well as recognize limitation (Vijayalakshmi and et. al., 2021).
CONCLUSION
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Akgül Gök, F. and Duyan, V., 2020. ‘I wanted my child dead’–Physical, social, cognitive,
emotional and spiritual life stories of Turkish parents who give care to their children
with schizophrenia: A qualitative analysis based on empowerment
approach. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(3), pp.249-258.
Gelbort, J.K., 2019. Sex Worker Community Empowerment-Based HIV Interventions: An
Integrative Literature Review.
Gorbunova, V. and et. al., 2021. Social determinants of mental well-being: senses of
powerlessness and empowerment among Romani in Ukraine. Mental Health and Social
Inclusion.
Mousavi, M.P., and et. al., 2018. Stress and mental health in graduate school: How student
empowerment creates lasting change. Journal of Chemical Education, 95(11), pp.1939-
1946.
Papp, G., 2019. P34 Participatory research methods in evidence based local empowerment for
the improvement of roma health.
Pekonen, A. and et. al., 2020. Measuring patient empowerment–A systematic review. Patient
education and counseling, 103(4), pp.777-787.
Shapkoski, V., 2020. Development and empowerment of community health promoters in Prilep–
North Macedonia. European Journal of Public Health, 30(Supplement_5), pp.ckaa165-
707.
Tandos, R., Zhu, R. and Krever, R., 2022. The protection and empowerment of Indonesian
female migrant domestic workers: Proposals from a multi-stage analysis. Asian Journal
of Women's Studies, 28(2), pp.205-227.
Vijayalakshmi, P. and et. al., 2021. Empowerment of nurses' knowledge and skills on violence
against women with mental illness: A randomized controlled trail. Archives of
psychiatric nursing, 35(3), pp.261-266.
Zare, F. and et. al., 2020. Identifying dimensions of empowerment in patients with inflammatory
bowel disease: a qualitative study. Health Education Research, 35(6), pp.637-647.
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