Supporting Individuals Through Significant Life Events

This document discusses the impact of significant life events on individuals and their social networks. It includes case studies on severe autism and brain tumour, exploring the challenges faced by the individuals and their families. The document also highlights the organizational policies and support systems in place to assist individuals in coping with these life events.

UNIT 22 SUPPORTING INDIVIDUALS THROUGH
SIGNIFICANT LIFE EVENTS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO3..................................................................................................................................................3
Organisational policies as well as support individuals and the social networks which they are
having which are affected by life events which are significant..................................................3
LO4..................................................................................................................................................5
Reflecting upon the individuals who have faced life events which are important and are
supported in the care of service provision...................................................................................5
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Autism is a disorder in which the social issues due to which the patient feels depressed in
social interaction and fear so much that the patient in unable to live properly (Autism. 2019).
Brain tumour can cause cancerous as well as non-cancerous disease. The skull includes brain,
which contains rigid structure and due to tumour, any growth inside the brain stops and this
causes non-functioning of brain properly. In the study organisation framework and practical
approach will be discussed along-with reflection and referral and support for both the patients
and society is discussed.
LO 1 – Assess the impact of significant life events on individuals and their
social networks
Introduction
Significant life events are major changes in ones circumstances that affect their whole life and
their life may not be the same after this event. In this essay I will be explaining the two different
perspectives of significant life events that have impacted service users daily lives. These events
can be both expected and unexpected but this demonstrates the unexpected and negative side of
life events. In my two case studies I will be discussing the affects of autism and brain tumours on
the service user as well as surrounding people. Life events can have either positive or negative
impact over the lifestyle of an individual, as they are significantly affected by such events
(Graves, 2009).
Case Study 1– Severe Autism
I work part-time with a young adult who has severe, non-verbalising autism.
History and ongoing situation
J was discovered to have autism in his early years following some vaccinations, up until that
point his development had been normal, by this time mum had had another baby boy. J’s autism
has affected the whole family, it is very difficult for them all and the family can’t live as a
normal family, their life style is very different to that of a family without an autistic child.
The financial cost of raising an autistic child also has an impact, it can be very expensive on the
family finances providing extra care and support to enable the family to have some ordinary

family time together without having to worry about J’s needs. Because J cannot verbalise he is
unable to say what he wants to eat, so mum doesn’t know what he wants, she therefore makes
food for him that he doesn’t want and it goes to waste. He is also unable to tell people if he wants
to go to the toilet, so frequently wets himself, he also needs continence pads for night time, this
is all an extra cost, including the cost of frequently, mostly daily, washing of clothes and
bedding.
Mum has had to give up her job in order to look after J, he has also become the central focus of
the family, so his two younger siblings tend to suffer from their needs and desires being
neglected within the dynamics of the family. The parents have minimal time for the younger boy,
which causes the parents to feel guilty regarding their parenting of them. The younger boys
appear to cope with this relatively well however, but have very little interaction outside of the
home, except for at school.
The family is now unable to do normal things such as go on holiday, this is because J now being
under Adult Social Services he is no longer entitled to respite care, and mum and dad have been
unable to find anywhere nearby that will take him for a short period because most adult providers
will only accept adults with this type of disability on a long term basis. J is also difficult to
handle in busy, noisy environments so the family are not even able to go out shopping as a
family as this would distress J too much and cause the family to have to return home, having not
completed their shopping trip.
Mum had to give up her job due to the amount of appointments J had, he also has some physical
issues which are difficult to identify initially due to him being unable to tell anyone that he is in
pain, and these issues are only identified by noticing a difference in J’s behaviour or the way he
walks etc. At times mum can become very depressed because she feels guilty for not giving
enough time to her husband and the other children.
Mum also feels ashamed when J wets himself when they are out, he refuses to wear incontinence
pads/pants outside the home, and looking like an adult and with little interaction with him, he
looks perfectly normal; however she feels people judge her badly when he wets himself because
they do not understand his issues, this makes her feel embarrassed, sad and angry to varying
degrees. Mum is also very concerned if anything should happen to her, what would happen to her
son if anything happened to her, who would look after him in a caring enough manner?

It is very worrying for both parents if their health should decline, mum also had diabetes. Their
sons’ condition also means that they miss out on cultural activities, gatherings and other events,
such as their other sons’ awards nights etc. This causes a long term, underlying level of stress
that can become very harmful to their mental health which can sometimes manifest itself in their
physical health.
Social Network
J is the eldest of 3 sons of a Muslim couple, he is approx 20, and his brothers are 16 and 13. J
goes to a day centre during the week where he mixes with carers and other service users. J also
has his ‘home/direct’ carers, there are about 8 in total who take him out at varying days and
times around his attendance at the day centre. Outside of this J has very little interaction with his
extended family and community since they either have to come to him, or it requires a lot of
organising in advance. I am only aware of one instance when J has gone on a break with his
family, this was a short break at a holiday camp in the UK, a fairly short drive from home and
was organised, as a group event, by a Muslim organisation.
Role of me as a health care assistant
As a health care assistant, I have been involved in understanding the problems that was being
faced by J. I was involved in motivating him to communicate more fluently so that I am better
able to analyse the problems which is being faced by J. I also make sure that during my tenure J
do not face any issue that can hamper his health outcome. I have motivated J to also include in
behavioural therapy where the health care professionals lay keen emphasis on improving the
communication disability which is being faced by infants.

Case Study 2- Brain Tumour
I work with a service user who has had the significant life event of having a brain tumour. This
life event was a significant and unexpected life event that happened in her later adulthood, which
has impacted her whole family; the after effects of a brain tumour are very often life-long.
It has changed her life completely as she is unable to complete daily tasks without feeling pain.
As a result of this it has restricted her activity and exercise, due to her strong medication it has
slowed her down and takes even longer for her to go about her day. In this case the tumour has
had an enormous affect on the family, as a result of the tumour the service user has lost the sight
in one eye; also if she does not go through further treatment she will lose the sight in her other
eye too.
Prior to the diagnosis of her brain tumour the service user she was looking after her husband
who has dementia. This has affected the couple, and therefore extended family, a great deal. The
service user feels very sad, hopeless and very emotional at times because she is no longer able to
look after her husband.
The service users treatment involves 6 weeks of radiotherapy, and as such she will need to be
looked after herself during this period, the rest of the family are too busy leading their own lives
to have the time to look after both or either one of them.
Following on from her treatment the service user is now bed bound and needs 24 hour a day
care, due to her husbands’ dementia, he does not understand why she is in bed all the time rather
than looking after him and the house, this causes extra stress within the household as the husband
becomes frustrated as a result of this.
Social network
It has affected her social life as she cannot visit her family as often as before and cannot attend
social events along with her family. She feels secluded as she is unable to go on days out and
social events with her family. On top of this she also is unable to go shopping for long periods of
time as she gets tired quickly.

She is not able to attend cultural events such as going to the mosque to pray and she feels
saddened by this as she used to attend the mosque daily as it was her chance to socialise. She
also used to fly to Bangladesh every year to visit relatives but due to her regular appointments
she is unable to stay as long as she desires.
Conclusion
Evidently, significant life changes have a great impact on numerous people from old to young.
Many of these events are uncontrolled and have a terrible impact on the service user themselves
Life stages of case study
2

but also their carers. Although these life events can’t be prevented but they can be helped with
the assistance of other people.
LO3
Organisational policies as well as support individuals and the social networks which they are
having which are affected by life events which are significant.
Case 1:Severe Autism
Medway council is having strong policies for the autism which is faced by J, as J is facing issues
such as having environment which is noisy, family troublesome in handling issues of J, the pain
is not been shared with the family members and also J has stopped outing activities. Mum is also
worried and she quitted the job due to the Autism faced by J and she is taking extensive care of
him and she was having diabetes and worried that it do not affect J (Rosly. and et.al., 2020).
Medway council is having social networks in which the disease is treated in innovative way by
making the students plays sports and diverting the interest of the patients. The patients, order
make socially active they are introduced to the social activities step by step in which they are
made socially active by framing the policies in which the problems faced by J will be analysed
and on the basis of the analysis of the problems the framework is designed and under the
framework The key areas which are hindering in the treatment of the patient will be determined
and the resolution of the problem will be done accordingly. Organisational policies support for
the J in relationship with piratical aspect is categorising in the framework. The framework for J
will be effectively addressing the issues (Zhao, 2019). J is unable to speak well for the problem
faced by him for this the framework will be starting talking with J as much as the doctor can first
and then send the feedback of the report for the further process in which communication with
family and friends will be enhanced. This will provide effective remedy for the problem in which
J will be able to share what he is feeling and what are the needs of him to feel better. The issue
faced by J which is fear of going outwards, as outing is felt by him as a noisy environment,
Medway council will solve this problem by relating the policy with actual support by realising
the patient the importance of outing in which the patient will be given treatment by behaviour
management therapy and medication therapy is applied as per the framework. The therapy will
include betterment of the patient by letting know the patient we are part of the society and

nothing is more important then, society for humans (Zhang. and et.al., 2018). This will be started
by making visit J in the garden and slowly engaging him in the social activities such as run for
fun, run for entertainment and various others. This will lead to more indulgence of patient in the
social activities and due to which he will become more active and agile towards the social work,
this will divert his mind and the patient will be started feeling better and free of stress.
Case 2: Brain Tumour
Under this case where a woman is facing brain tumour, its a life long disease and due to which
she is unable to complete the task which are of daily basis on time and also due to which it is
having enormous issue on the family (Rutkowski. and et.al., 2018). The framework for the
treatment or Medway council policy is Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy in which there are
chances that the disease might get cured and might not get cured. Because the disease might be
resolved and might not be as the disease falls under the critical diseases on earth. But if the
organisation policies are related with practical solutions then it depends upon the age and time
form which the patient is suffering from the disease if its long then there are higher chances that
the issue will not be resolved (Brain tumour. 2019). Taking medicines timely may result in gaining
some relief and can cause moderate development and may the women function better as the eye
vision of the women has been lost and she is unable to support her husband who is also suffering
from disease known as dementia. If precautions have been taken such as taking timely medicines
and timely treatment it would have been better. It is good for the women now to follow the
framework treatment in which first step is Radiotherapy and then Chemotherapy (Nicol. and
et.al., 2019). At this stage the tumour has become exceptionally huge in the brain this will cause
migraine as well as infection. After the therapy if the women take timely medication for the
treatment then there are higher chances that the issues will be resolved. She should not make the
disease a big issue and should increase the will power to deal with the disease without thinking
too much of the disease, this can be done by diverting the mind in which she can manage her
social life by outing activities after the 6 week bed rest (Pinto. and et.al., 2018). She should plan
a family trip outside and should spend time with the other family member by sharing the life
experiences and social activities such as get together activities and other social activities. This
will make life interesting and due to which the women will not feel alone and overthink. She
should also practice meditation and yoga in which taking deep breath and exhaling activities

must be performed wisely. She should also indulge herself in the physical activities such as
walking and cycling this will reduce her stress and will make her more agile and fit.
LO4
Reflecting upon the individuals who have faced life events which are important and are
supported in the care of service provision.
Case 1: Severe Autism
My client is suffering from the Autism and in order to support him and his family I personlly will
take care of him. The period of support will be one year in which all the activities and the
progress report will be made (O'Connell. and et.al., 2018). I will collect the data of the ones who
are having the same diseases in which I will make a community of the similar suffering people.
This will be helpful as to make to all the patients similar activities which are necessary for the
treatment. I will also make a referral support in which I will both the patient and the social
network will get appropriate treatment advice from the expert(Barry. and et.al 2018)My team
will deeply analysis the strengths of each of the patient and then each patient be motivated to
boost the interest. This will lead to more indulgence of the patient in the activity. A team will be
made in which similar interest patients will be included and this will help better treating the
employees. A friendly environment will be created so that the mind of the patients are not
affected due to it. Social as well as personal skills will be given in order make the task interesting
and which will ultimately help the patient to cure the disease (Li. and et.al., 2019). Social
services adult team's active participation will be given to J as well as complete team for the
period of first three months. In the next three months report will be made and the effect of the
activities will be seen and on the basis of which what are the weak areas will be addressed in the
next three months in which sports and social activeness will be given due importance. In next 6
months additional support will be needed as the condition of J is critical and J is not feeling good
and his nose in bleeding (Aspromonte. and et.al., 2019). This thing of J will be looked upon by
the specialist and the specialist will see what are the available remedies for J. This can be
specific for specific patient and accordingly the treatment will be made to the patients. Even if
the situation is not good than patients will be refereed for the intensive care in which the special
care will be given to the patient.
Case 2: Brain Tumour

The second case is completely different from the first case and it is more critical in which the
patient will be requiring separate treatment for the same. After seeing the condition of the patient
it is found that the situation of the patient is critical and I will deal with the patient by referring
the patient to the hospital (Balaji. and Sumathi, 2018.). During the six months I will support the
patient by taking care of the husband and also the wife in which it will be taken care that
intensive care is given to the patient. After the Radiotherapy, if the situation of the patient is well
then the community of similar patient will be formed and similar treatment will be given to them.
Successive report will be prepared in which the report will be compared with patient of similar
treatments and similar factors (Zhan. and Wang, 2018). I will play a dominant role in the support
where I will be playing a role of a nurse which support the doctor and this will help me to gain
the insights of the decease. This will help me to better handle and treat the patient to due which
the whole community suffering from the disease will be benefited. Referral process will be taken
for both the women and the patient if the patient is not getting well. This will help the patients in
the advance treatment in which the critical issues of the patients will be addressed. Under the
advance treatment I will first look at the surgery in which the single area which is infected will
be managed and after the management of the single area other area will be seen (Bray, 2019).
Then Targeted therapy will be done in which the specific area is covered with the special
treatment of that area. After this therapy immunotherapy will be provided in which special care
will be given to protect the immune system which will help the patients from the heart attract and
silent attack. I will do the work of support in which I ill support the doctor in achieving better
results of the patients (Puthenparampil. and et.al., 2018). I will do the same for the other patients
and this will help them as well I will also help the upcoming generation by viewing how their
nurturing is done. If there are no sports and social activeness then it will be introduced in their
life it will help them not to have similar problems which had happened with the women. There
are very much positive impact of the indulgence of sports in the growth and development level of
the students and there are minimal chances that the patient will suffer from the such harmful
deceases.

Illustration 1: Brain Tumour

Appendix – 1
Suggested observation write-up
Date and time of observation
September 2019 and time 9:30 am to 3 pm.
Rationale – why these activities/tasks were chosen:
The activities were chosen were making patients socially active and indulge themselves in the social
activities. This will divert the mind of the patients. Sports activities were also included in order to make the
patients fit and agile. The patients will be engaged will be made busy and due to which life will become
interesting for them.
Explain the individual’s needs
There are various needs of the patients and were need for healthcare, social needs and need for
communication. The following needs were necessary in order to achieve better results in the patients by
which they will feel well and feel better for the future. If the needs of human body is satisfied then the
body feel relaxed and due to which the patient will feel better.
Describe briefly the details of the setting (for example location, type of setting)
For the setting location considered are the park, hospital and house. The descriptive setting will
be used in which the location chosen will have detail of the information in which reason for
choosing the location will be described. The location is chosen because it is safe and have a
quite which is most suitable for the patients.
Describe the context of the setting (for example what takes place in the setting at the time of
observation)
The thing which takes place in setting are the bed, medicines and the medical equipment's which
are necessary for the treatment which includes bandage for the treatment of the patients, surgery
machine and all other important items. This will help the patient in the comfortable treatment.

Appendix - 2
Exemplar Student Reflective Practice Logs: Meeting the Unit Assessment
Criteria
Student name
Unit number and title
22 Supporting Individuals through Significant Life
Events
Assessment criteria LO2 M2, LO3 D3, LO4 M3, LO4 D4 (circle as appropriate)
Placement
How well did you achieve the practice criteria
for this unit?
I tried my best to understand the patient in I
became nurse in order to know the insights of
the disease. I formed a community which was
suffering from the same disease, this helped
the patient to discuss with the similar
audience what they were feeling and how the
What challenges did you face? The patients were impatience and were very
worried about the health in which they not
knowing what they were doing and what
could be the impact of the disease. I faced the
challenge for convincing the patients in which
sometimes the patients were becoming
aggressive and sometimes they were feeling
depressed. The biggest challenge I faced was
of treatment of the brain tumour in which the
patient is supposed to go through various
process and which resulted in creating a lot of

Are there any specific examples
from your placement that evidence
your learning/development, e.g.
Interpersonal skills, dealing with
specific issues requiring ethical
consideration?
When I was there as a nurse I learned various
skill such as treatment of patient of brain
tumour in which I learned the process of the
treatment and the steps involved in the
treatment. I also learned to do management in
which I learned to manage the patients in
which I learned which patient to be treated
well and which patient later.
What skills and/or qualities do you
consider you need to develop as a
result of completing this element of the
unit?
There are various skills which I am supposed
to work upon and are as follows time
management skills, Equipment management
skill and Coordination skills.
How can you action plan to
develop these skills and/or
qualities further/ help to
improve provision in the
healthcare sector?
The skills can be developed by taking training from a
prominent person who is competitive enough to give
training. The other way to learn skills is getting experience
in which learning will be done on the basis of experience.
Student signature Date
Assessor name
Assessor signature Date

Appendix - 3
Witness Statement
Unit number
and title
Unit 22 - Supporting Individuals
with
l Specific Needs
List the assessment criteria for which the activity
provides evidenceTime management
Equipment management
Description of activity/skill witnessedZhao, W., 2019

Time management
It is very important of manage
the time management will make
me understand what are the
thing which I should handle first
and what are things which I
should do later. This will make
me free of from stress and which
will lead to handling the task in
better way. In time management
I will learn how to organize the
task and how to set the goals for
achieving the task. This will lead
stopping the procrastination and
due to which management of
the work will be proper. Time
management skill will make me
learn how to plan for the work
and how to timely implement
the plan which will lead to
completion of the task on time
and according to the plan with
minimum deviation in the plan.
Equipment management
Proper management of equipment
will lead to when to use the
equipment and where the
equipment must be used for the
particular are treatment of the
disease. This will also include
maintenance of the equipment in
which the timely repairing of the
equipment will be done this will
save a lot of time and the
equipment will always be ready for
the treatment. This will not waste
the time for the treatment of the
patients and the patients will be
treated well due to this and on
time. Management of the
equipment will lead to setting of
the goal and which will help the
patients by knowing what to use
and when to use.

Witness name Job role
*Witness
signature
Date
Student name
Student
signature
Date
Assessor name
Assessor
signature
Date

Appendix - 4
Sample of Reflective Journals
Date Description and analysis of an
event/incident/ relating to your
work
Assessment – what had happened, should not
have happened. What you should do in future.
Feeling sad of the patients, this
event made me serious and I felt
that I should not deal with the
patients.
When the patients were not having proper treatment
and due to which they were suffering from pain. In
order to correct the situation I should not have been
using profession kit for the patients which will help
the patients in reducing the pain and smooth
treatment of the patient.
Feeling afraid of the patients, I was
feeling afraid that the change in
the feeling of the patient will effect
badly the patient and due to which
the patient will feel scared.
When I was asking for the treatment the patients were refusing for the treatment. The thing
which could have been better is taking intensive care of the patient for the treatment.
Dealing with the pain
This was a challenging task for me in which I was told
to manage the patience's pain. The worst thing
happened in the treatment was not timely, the
patients were given treatment. This leaded to creating
more pain in the patients. The thing which could have
been better is timely providing of treatment.
Coordinating and cooperation
Coordinating among the staff was a big challenge in
which I faced difficulty in handling the issue of
convincing among the staff. This could have been
corrected by taking appropriate action by convincing
the staff by monitory motivation factor.
Management The management was also not good in which the staff
was not reactive the response. This would have been
corrected if the reporting relationship was clear.

CONCLUSION
It matters a lot how the childhood of the children has passed after looking the case of J. Autism
has been caused may be by lack of awareness of mother in the nurturing of patient. The disease
of the patient can be cured by framing the organisational policy and relating with the practical
solution. Here the policy is behaviour management therapy and medication therapy and practical
treatment will be making the patient more socially active. Brain tumour is a harmful disease and
the treatment of the disease can be done if the disease is realised timely and treatment of the
same is done timely. But if the disease has become old and then there are lower chances of the
practical treatment or natural treatment. The treatment of the disease can be even be possible if
timely there and by will power. There are two therapies for the treatment as per the Medway
council framework which are Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy. These are the treatment available
for after stage.

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