Healthcare Assistant's Role and Service User Needs in Groveland Park

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the role of a healthcare assistant within the Groveland Park care home in the UK. It explores the work profile, responsibilities, and skills required of a healthcare assistant, with a focus on supporting service users, particularly those with dementia and physical disabilities. The report highlights the importance of understanding service user needs, including mobility, psychological impacts, and ethical considerations, emphasizing the adoption of person-centered approaches. It details the nature of involvement, including multidisciplinary teamwork, communication, and the preservation of patient dignity. Furthermore, the report examines the healthcare assistant's role in supporting service users through person-centered assessments, detailing how healthcare assistants provide care, monitor patient conditions, and develop care plans. Overall, the report underscores the multifaceted nature of the healthcare assistant's role in providing quality care and support within a residential care home setting.

Healthcare

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Work profile within organisation and needs of service user.......................................................1
Nature of involvement.................................................................................................................4
Overview of role in supporting service user within person centred assessment.........................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Health care services are basic and psychological needs of every individual. The role of a
health professional is to provide high quality care services to people. Also, he or she is
responsible for identifying needs and providing care services. In health care there are different
types of roles that exist. So, the responsibility varies according to roles. However, professional
have to deal with challenging situations.
The report will highlight role of health care assistant in hospital. It will also describe
about needs of service user and nature of health care assistant within care home (Stanhope and
Lancaster, 2015). At last report will discuss the role of health care assistant in supporting service
user.
Groveland Park is a residential care home located in UK. It provides various types of
health care services to old age people. Also, it provides accommodation facilities and personal
care services as well for patient suffering from dementia, physical disability, sensory
impairments, etc. The care home is governed and regulated by NHS.
MAIN BODY
Work profile within organisation and needs of service user
Work profile
This sector is related to offering care services to people in order to improve their social
lifestyle. So, I selected this sector as I want to enhance healthy lifestyle of people. I have been
working as health care assistant since 3 years. I am satisfied with this job as it is giving
opportunity to improve health of people. I am from past 1.5 year in Groveland park care home.
Here, I have gained much knowledge and skills.
I am able to work with different people of age, gender, caste, etc. who are suffering from various
types of diseases. So, I am able to serve them by providing them care services.
As a health care assistant I am serving society and gaining values of people. It is making
me a better human being. I am possessing variety of skills and knowledge, but my passion was to
improve healthy living of society (Kim and Park, 2017). I feel privileged that I am working for
welfare of society. Moreover, I am a problem solver and I like to help people. So, this provided
me a platform to work in health care sector. There are many other things as well such as
following principles of respecting others, valuing them, etc. It motivated me to become a health
care assistant. My work is mainly to support nurse so that proper and effective health care
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services are delivered by them. I like to communicate with people and help them. As I am
excellent in communicating with others. Thus, I interacted with people. I also like to solve
people problems. Hence, I started my career in health care so that I can treat patients effectively.
Role profile
As a health care assistant I have to deal with different types of patient. But mainly I deal
with people suffering from dementia and who are physically disabled.
So, I have to identify needs of every patient suffering from various needs. A health care assistant
plays a crucial role in care home. I worked as a health care assistant in Groveland Park where my
role is to monitor machines and record reading. Also, I have to look after patient condition and
analyze them (Hopman and et.al., 2016). I took temperature readings, pulse, weight, etc.
Moreover, I communicated with nurse as well and assisted them to do things. Besides this, I
performed several clinical duties such as maintaining hygiene, food quality, etc. Sometimes, I
conducted risk assessment and develop care plan. Moreover, I conducted training sessions on
how to deal with patient condition and took feedback of nurses.
The main role is to understand patient conditions and record readings. It enabled me to
provide treatment accordingly. As dementia patient needs regular monitoring so I visit them
daily and analyse their mental health. Alongside it, I support physical disable people by
analysing their reports and physical health. I work closely with nurse and regularly monitor
dementia patient health. By this I develop report and meet with doctors and brief situation of
patient. On some days I also give basic care services to patient like giving medicines, changing
clothes, etc.
In addition to it, I also supported nurses in taking blood samples and trained them. I
communicated with doctors and supervisors. So, on basis of this I am developing care plan and
implemented it. By this I developed relationship with patient relatives so that I can identify their
needs. I also acted as supervisor and manage work. I not only overlook the personal matters of
patients but also try to analyze and review their recovery planning procedures. It is also giving
me perspectives to understand the entire treatment plan prescribed by doctors. I also develop
daily schedule of patient on basis of their needs. Then, I explain it to nurse and monitor whether
they are following schedule or not.
Needs of service user
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Most of the service users in Groveland care home are elder patients. Along with the
healthy elder people who have age related health issues care home also have people suffering
from serious illness and physical immobilities. Thus, the most of the issues faced by my service
users are associated with the mobility and physical care needs. For providing them suitable care I
follow various person centred approaches. For enhancing my observational and knowledge skills
I follow proper schedules so that I can communicate with each of my patients in care home.
Through my experience I have also observed that people who are living in these residential
homes also suffer from critical psychological impacts. For instance the people with physical
immobility often feel hesitated to share their difficulties and to regularly seek help from me or
other health professionals.
Thus, it is required that service users must be feeling comfortable so that they can easily
describe their needs. While providing services and assistance to them I interact with them and
prefer to take their feedback to assure that I am going in right way to provide them care. For
understanding the need of people it is essential that I must try to build good relations with the
service users so that they do not feel hesitate in discussing their concerns with me.
Another critical aspect which is required for quality services is that as health assistance I
must consider several ethical concerns. For instance while providing services to the dementia
patients it is possible that they may not give full cooperation to me or may behave in harsh tone.
Thus, in such situation I am required to be patient and calm so that I do not feel hectic and
stressed with such response from the patient. In such situation it is required that as a health
assistant must also understand the behavioural and psychological aspect of the patients so that
the care plan for the patients can be improved.
Along with the medical assistant dementia patients also require additional safety and
psychological treatment (Bodenheimer and Bauer, 2016). For instance the engagement in social
activities and interaction with other people can make care home living comfortable and safe.
Thus, residents also require that the staff members of care home treat them with dignity and their
privacy is respected. This issue and requirement can also affect the service provided by health
assistances. For example while providing services to many patients in care home, patients
demands the assistance from the same gender so that they can comfortably take their assistance.
In such cases the other health professionals assist them.
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However, the health care requirements also depends upon the individual's perspective and
need. For instance many dementia patients does not prefer to share their life or family details
with me while other are quite comfortable in sharing their life. Thus, as professional I deal very
unbiased in and try to ensure that in care home all individuals are comfortable and they do not
face any discrimination or disrespectful behaviour.
The care needs of dementia patients may vary significantly from person to person. Thus,
residential care homes must assure that the service providing health care professionals are trained
enough to understand the sensitive nature and pharmaceutical needs of the old dementia patients.
Another critical feature of care home is that since care home consists of number of patients thus
resources are shared among each user (Stanhope and Lancaster, 2015). Hence, it is the
responsibility of the service provider and health assistant that all service users have access to all
resources. The older people also required various health equipment which aids in mobility and
hearing. Thus, health care professionals must identify the needs of their patients so that resource
availability can be assured and health outcomes of the dementia and physically disabled people
can be identified.
Nature of involvement
As a health care assistance, I am supposed to be very cooperative and supportive in my
role. My involvement in the care home is not only limited to assist residents but is also extended
to develop a residential setting in which all people can live happily with satisfactory care
assistance. The overall health care assistance cannot be delivered without multidisciplinary
approach. I also keep record and track of patient’s biological parameters. Thus, for this purpose I
have to communicate with other senior health care professionals and members of
multidisciplinary teams. I work in shifts so I also have to interact with other health assistants so
that I can have updated information and records.
The effective communication with elder people and other health professionals makes my
services effective. For instance the interaction with the nutritionist guides me to prepare the
menu for the elder people as per their medical condition (Cooke and Bartram, 2015). The
healthcare assistants are required to work with compassion and warmth so that they can
understand the needs of elderly and dementia people. However, as healthcare assistant I always
assure that along with the equal treatment and respect I understand my ethical boundaries so that
my involvement is acceptable and qualitative.
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For instance I always inform care home patients about the specific care interventions and
allow them to take decision at their own. This approach leads to better care quality. A typical
observation of the physical symptoms and the behaviour of my patients is also needed for
effective execution of my profession. For example to prevent cross infection I perform various
inspection tests and link them with my professional knowledge.
The extent up to which my involvement depends vary from patient to patient. For
instance the old people with physical disability needs my complete support in all areas such as in
maintaining hygiene, or in performing their regular functions like taking them to toilet, brushing
or walking (DeMarco and Healey-Walsh, 2019). However, with dementia patients such type of
physical assistance is reduced and I have to pay more emphasis on behaviour and actions of the
people. It includes monitoring to assure that residents of Groveland care home are not feeling
depressed or anxious or does not make any attempt to harm themselves.
In order to involve in such in depth care planning I also required that I have
communication and team work skills. These skills assist me in interacting with patients as well as
to work with multidisciplinary teams. Since the lab testing and analysis of health variables of the
patient require team work and collaboration with other health professionals the development of
above described skills is vital for improving my overall service delivery. The involvement of
health professionals must not neglect the dignity and respect of the patient.
Overview of role in supporting service user within person centred assessment
As healthcare assistant I have been providing services to vulnerable patients so that they
can live their life independently and assistance can be provided to them for their day to day
activities. It is essential part of my job role to understand the needs and interest of the residential
patients (Salmond and Echevarria, 2017). For the patients who have difficulty in performing
routine tasks such as dressing, feeding and assisting in mobility. The personal care needs such as
cleaning and washing are also performed by me so that hygiene of the care home residents can
be maintained. There are many people in care home who have difficulty in mobility and thus for
facilitating their free movement I also support and oversee their transition within care home. It is
my responsibility that every comfort is provided to the patients.
Thus, I also assist and monitor that linens are replaced every day in the care home. In the
care home there are many old patients who need assistance in taking shower. The elder patients
in the care home who are suffering from chronic diseases also use several medical equipments.
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Thus, it is also essential that medical facilities are sterilised daily so that infection risk are
avoided and safety can be assured within Groveland care home. To promote the safety of the
care home residents I essentially perform the sterilisation functions (Kogan, Wilber and
Mosqueda, 2016). Since the health care of residents is my responsibility I also regulate and
perform the functions which encourages their safety.
The people suffering from dementia are required to take medications timely so that their
health outcomes can be improved and controlled. Thus, if any of the elderly patients in care
home is recommended any kind of diagnosis or the medical inspection in labs then it falls under
my responsibility (Lines, Lepore and Wiener, 2015). I work as intermediator for the lab
processing. It is my duty to assure that all recommended lab tests are performed and their results
are communicated to the other medical professionals. Care home residents spent their most of the
time with me thus if any of the adverse changes occurs in the patient then I keep record of such
changes and notify those changes to expertise health care team. For this purpose I have regular
interconnection with the multidisciplinary team.
Along with the nutritionist the team also consist of palliative care service providers,
social workers and therapist. To assure that all service users are given effective care necessary
information related to patient are essentially exchange with each other (Coyne, Holmström and
Söderbäck, 2018). In Groveland residence there are people who are not able to feed themselves
or to change bed sides at their own. Their old age and physical disability is one of the key factor
which make it hard to perform the routine activities. Thus, I also provide assistance to such
patient in feeding or moving their body so that their nutritional and physical care needs can be
identified.
Every day, I also check the respiratory rate, blood pressure, pulse and heart rate so that
the health status of the patient can be identified and if there are any kinds of health risk then they
can be identified on time and can be prevented. For instance few of my patients who are in the
age group 75-85 years are suffering from pressure ulcer.
Due to weakness and age factor it is almost impossible for them to make movements
periodically. In case of pressure ulcer it becomes very essential for the patients to continuously
change their position so that wounds can be prevented and treated (Kim and Park, 2017). For
such patients I provide assistance in making movements so that wounds and infection risk can be
overcome. This aspect of monitoring elderly members for avoiding their vulnerability towards
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specific risk is also one of the critical part of my job role. While making my daily assessment I
also provide assistance to patients in taking medications so that medication errors can be
neglected and old people can take their medicines on time.
Dementia people often forgets to take their medications or can event take medications
multiple time. In providing person centred care to elderly and dementia patients as healthcare
assistant I have to assure that medications errors are not commenced within Groveland. In the
monitoring and recording the health status of the patient I also check different attributes such as
patient's feet, skin, blood samples and other health outcomes (Barbosa and et.al., 2015). This
function helps me to assess the impact of various medicines or the nutritional intake on
individuals so that if there is need to incorporate any changes or improvement then the same can
be implemented.
For the quality services it is also required that care home residents are provided health
education. The people are required to educate people that how they can enhance the quality of
services and what help they can seek from the service providers (Sahlen, Boman and
Brännström, 2016). Being a health assistant I inform each of the residents that how they can call
staff members in emergency situations or in case if they need immediate care. The health
education program conducted by me is valuable and significant as it leads to equal participation
of patients in the care.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from above study that health care services are basic need of an
individual. There are several responsibilities of health care assistant. It differs from the role of
nurse. I learned many new things as assistant. I gained knowledge about how care plan is
developed, risk assessment is done, etc. Also, I learned about formal and informal way of
communication. Besides this, I analyzed different patient behaviour and their needs. As an health
care assistant I realised that communication skill is very important as it supports in identifying
needs and providing services accordingly.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barbosa, A. and et.al., 2015. Effects of person-centered care approaches to dementia care on
staff: a systematic review. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other
Dementias. 30(8). pp.713-722.
Bodenheimer, T. and Bauer, L., 2016. Rethinking the primary care workforce—an expanded role
for nurses. New England Journal of Medicine. 375(11). pp.1015-1017.
Cooke, F.L. and Bartram, T., 2015. Guest editors’ introduction: human resource management in
health care and elderly care: current challenges and toward a research agenda. Human
Resource Management. 54(5). pp.711-735.
Coyne, I., Holmström, I. and Söderbäck, M., 2018. Centeredness in Healthcare: A Concept
Synthesis of Family-centered Care, Person-centered Care and Child-centered
Care. Journal of pediatric nursing. 42. pp.45-56.
DeMarco, R. and Healey-Walsh, J., 2019. Community & Public Health Nursing: Evidence for
Practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Hopman, P., and et.al., 2016. Effectiveness of comprehensive care programs for patients with
multiple chronic conditions or frailty: a systematic literature review. Health
Policy. 120(7). pp.818-832.
Kim, S.K. and Park, M., 2017. Effectiveness of person-centered care on people with dementia: a
systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Interventions in Aging. 12. p.381.
Kogan, A.C., Wilber, K. and Mosqueda, L., 2016. Person‐centered care for older adults with
chronic conditions and functional impairment: A systematic literature review. Journal of
the American Geriatrics Society. 64(1). pp.e1-e7.
Lines, L.M., Lepore, M. and Wiener, J.M., 2015. Patient-centered, person-centered, and person-
directed care: they are not the same. Medical care. 53(7). pp.561-563.
Sahlen, K.G., Boman, K. and Brännström, M., 2016. A cost-effectiveness study of person-
centered integrated heart failure and palliative home care: based on a randomized
controlled trial. Palliative medicine. 30(3). pp.296-302.
Salmond, S.W. and Echevarria, M., 2017. Healthcare transformation and changing roles for
nursing. Orthopedic nursing. 36(1). p.12.
Stanhope, M. and Lancaster, J., 2015. Public health nursing-e-book: Population-centered health
care in the community. Elsevier Health Sciences.
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