Comprehensive Report on Principles of Health & Social Care Practice

This assignment provides a detailed overview of the principles underpinning health and social care practice. It begins by exploring the benefits of a person-centered approach, emphasizing patient rights and individualized care, while also addressing ethical dilemmas that may arise. The assignment then examines the implementation of policies, legislation, regulations, and codes of practice at both national and local levels, highlighting their impact on organizational policies and procedures. Furthermore, it delves into various theories that underpin health and social care practice, such as human development theories and motivational theories, and evaluates the effectiveness of inter-professional working in improving the quality of healthcare services. Finally, the assignment discusses the roles, responsibilities, and duties of healthcare professionals, their contribution to organizational policy development, and recommendations for enhancing their contributions to meet good practice requirements. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

UNIT -2
PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL
CARE PRACTICE
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................2
LO1......................................................................................................................................3
1. 3 Benefits of following a person-centred approach with users of health and social
care service.......................................................................................................................3
1.4 Ethical dilemmas and conflict that may arise when providing care, support and
protection to users of health and social care service........................................................5
LO2......................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Implementation of policies, legislation, regulations and codes of practice...............7
LO3......................................................................................................................................9
3.1 theories that underpin health and social care practice...............................................9
3.3 effectiveness of inter-professional working.............................................................11
LO4....................................................................................................................................13
4.1 Role, Responsibilities And Duties Of Health And Social Care...............................13
4.2 Contribution To The Development And Implementation Of Health And Social Care
Organizational Policy.....................................................................................................14
4.3 Recommendations To Develop Own Contributions for Meeting Good Practice
Requirements.................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................17
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INTRODUCTION
There are certain principles in a health and social care system that creates an
understanding of health and support services that are provided by the staff and social
workers to ensure healthcare of the individuals.
The first part of this assignment will deal with benefits of a person-centred approach. It
will also include the ethical dilemmas faced by the caretakers and social workers during
taking proper care and giving support to the individuals while providing protection to the
users against neglect, abuse or ill-practices. Various policies and procedures have been
made by the government to provide patient education and to safeguard them.
Government at the state and local level has laid down policies and regulations that have
an impact on codes of practice in a social and healthcare which guides the rules and
policies of organizations.
The second part of this assignment will deal with local policies and procedures and the
impact of legislation, codes of practice and regulation on policies and procedures of the
organizations.
The third section of this assignment will help in understanding the theories that
underpin social and healthcare practice. To improve the quality of healthcare services
various professionals collaborate to form an inter-professional working system.
In the fourth part of this assignment we will further evaluate the efficacy of this system.
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Our responsibilities, duties towards our employees in and outside the healthcare system
will also be discussed. Evaluation of our contribution towards the growth of the
healthcare system and application of organizational policies will be done.
LO1
1. 3 Benefits of following a person-centred approach with users
of health and social care service
In a health and social care service, person-centred approach stands for putting the
patient's rights, interests and desires at the centre of decision making and treatment
planning. The staff and organization's prime objective is to care and support for patient's
individuality, privacy, rights and dignity. The staff is trained to carry out caretaking
procedures according to the requirements of the individuals. The staff of the
organization not just work to provide pre-existing services to the patients but they adjust
to the requirements of the care receivers and strive to provide better services. A person-
centred approach has a broad spectrum of actions that are to be taken into
consideration which includes strategic planning using tools and resources, service design
and delivery, person-centred thinking, community services and communication.
Person-centred approach runs on the principles of considering the values and supporting
personal perspectives of the patients. It creates an understanding between the caretaker
and the patient and helps in building healthy relationships. It also helps to carry out
supporting procedures. Patients are given a benefit of choice to strategize and plan their
treatment according to their suitability so that they can be treated with respect and
dignity. Respecting patient's privacy and taking well-informed decisions is of paramount
importance. Any personal information of the patient should not be shared with the staff
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or other agencies without his/her consent. Patients are also motivated to take an active
part in shared decision making and treatment planning in order to extract best possible
outcomes. (Miles and Asbridge, 2017)
Self-management support can motivate people suffering from chronic conditions to
participate actively in their health care procedures hence improving clinical outcomes. it
is essential to provide education and training to the staff as well as the patient to carry
out support procedures and help them work as a team. Patient's heed the morale of the
staff and brings a sense of triumph to them. These approaches however reduce the
manpower and hence the treatment becomes cost-effective. Staff experiences more
empowerment and job satisfaction with patients who are aware and take active
participation in care and support procedures. (Eaton et al, 2015)
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1.4 Ethical dilemmas and conflict that may arise when providing
care, support and protection to users of health and social care
service
Care workers follow organizational policies and procedures to provide care and
wellbeing to the patients however sometimes staff may encounter situations which may
put them in a conundrum for implementation of these policies and procedures. Certain
situations may arise where the demands of the patients are ethically wrong but the
caregiver has to respect patient's right to choice. Such situations may lead to a
disagreement between the staff and the care receiver. These conflicts result in
deterioration of the quality of the treatment outcome and the care provided. In these
situations certain factors must be considered before making a decision such as laws and
policies provided by the government as well as the organization, professional
responsibilities of the staff and caregivers and individual risk factors.
Individual rights of the patients must be preserved and their independence must be
respected by the organization and the caretakers. Disabled patients residing in a
residential or health care home require personal assistance with their daily needs.
Sometimes they may require their personal space for their private needs. It is the duty of
the caretaker to respect their private needs and individuality and they must be given
their personal space as and when needed. However regular monitoring is foremost to
secure the patients and care must be taken to protect them from injuries but the staff
must be mindful of their privacy.
A middle-aged individual diagnosed with a terminal illness who has been under hospital
supervision since 9 months persist to get a discharge from the hospital and live with his
family at home. He was instructed to stay longer in the hospital and undergo certain
medical tests before they could be sure of his condition but because of constant protest
of the patient he was advised to move to residential or nursing home care. But he
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refused to seek any professional help and desired to terminate the treatment. Here the
ethical dilemma arises whether the patient and his family should be counselled and
being a professional caretaker they must not be discharged or his right of decision must
be respected and he should be sent home. ( Chooljian et al, 2016)
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LO2
2.1 Implementation of policies, legislation, regulations and
codes of practice
To provide the best facilities and care to the service users in a health and social care
practice it is essential to follow the national and local guidelines implemented by the
government. On organizational and community level certain rules and policies are
established to guide the staff and social workers about their duties and responsibilities.
It is essential for the management board to make sure that high-quality healthcare
services are provided as per the organizational policies. According to the data protection
act and right to privacy, patient's rights should be preserved. It is necessary to make sure
their personal information is not breached out to other individuals, staff or agencies
without their consent to protect them from harm and distress. If a person is unable to
take decisions on his own, his relatives or members of the family should be informed and
consulted.
The codes of practice list down the standards that are to be practised by the caretakers,
employees, service users and carers. These codes promote the establishment of a sense
of trust and belief between care receivers and the service providers. Each person's
individuality should be respected where their views, opinions, wishes and desires are
taken into consideration. Policies must be followed to educate the patient and the
caretaker of their right to report any incidents of danger, abuse (emotional, physical or
sexual) or discrimination. These reports can be made to the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) via telephone, email or in person. The HSE social worker can also be consulted in
order to discuss the case. The social worker then finds out the severity of the dangers
involved.
Care receivers are given a right of choice to decide the services they wish to receive and
they are involved in treatment planning. Staff is trained to firmly follow policies laid
down about giving and accepting gifts or offerings from the patients. Risk assessment
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policies enable the caretakers and receivers to know the potential risks and how to deal
with them. The risks are managed in accordance with the guidelines given by the
organizations. Risk assessment procedures include identification of potential risks by the
staff and the patients, assessment of the risk which defined the level of involvement,
identification of methods to control the risks and it's effectiveness and communication
and reporting the risk to HSE. (Blank, et al, 2017)
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LO3
3.1 theories that underpin health and social care practice
All the treatment procedures in a health and social care system are carried out as
directed by various theories. Theories can be explained as a set of ideas and logical
statements intended to explain about a subject. These theories benefit to assess
response to illness and treatments.
It is important for the social workers and caretakers to thoroughly understand these
theories and practice their efficient implementation. However, these theories cannot be
applied precisely and it varies from person to person.
Development of humans can be in terms of physical, biological aspects, social and
cognitive aspects. Improving understanding of human growth in all these aspects will
help caretakers and staff to apply this knowledge while taking care of the patients.
Human development and growth theory explained by Erick Erickson as the psychological
theory is related to health and social care. It includes eight stages of development. This
theory has divided the psychosocial development of humans into eight stages as infancy,
early childhood, late childhood, school age, adolescence, young adult, adulthood and
maturity.
Piaget's theory of cognitive development is related to health and social care of children.
It explains nature and development of human intelligence. It is explained in four stages
as sensorimotor (0-2 years), preoperational(2-7 years), concrete operational(7-11 years)
and formal operational (11-adulthood).
Maslow's motivational theory has categorized human needs as basic needs, safety
needs, belonging needs, ego-status and self- actualization needs.
Skinner's operant conditioning theory suggests that with development humans tend to
acquire new habits and behaviours which may be learned or managed by other stimuli.
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Vygotsky's cultural theory explains the psychological process and use of speech and
interaction in problem-solving.
Social learning theory is based on learning through modelling and observation to provide
high-quality service to the patients of varied cultures and backgrounds and empower
them. The theory of social care gives the service provider the power of reward,
legitimate power, coercive power and referent power.
Humanistic theory is based on patients individuality, rights and desires. People's
individual needs are met and personalized care services are designed. Informed
decisions and treatment plans are made considering their privacy and rights. This theory
accounts for a person-centred model.
Anti-oppressive theory deals with the duties of social justice and individual rights and it's
importance.
The anti-discriminatory practice serves varied huge population with different ethnic
backgrounds. (McCormack and McCance, 2016)
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3.3 effectiveness of inter-professional working
Interprofessional working has become a major component for professionals in the field
of education and practice today. Interprofessional working in the collaboration or
partnership of working professionals to produce a high-quality outcome. Different roles
are performed by various professionals as a team to improve the service quality. The
interprofessional team within a health and social care system would comprise of the
appointed doctor, nursing care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychiatrist,
medicine, social workers. Good work process and outcome boosts the morale of the staff
and they are motivated to learn from fellow employees, care receivers and service
providers. Employees undergo regular training sessions and educating discussions and
meetings to create a better understanding within the group which will help them
perform tasks as a team. Interprofessional working can be a collaboration of more than
one person, agency, organization or government who share a common interest and work
together to achieve a common goal. A patient-centred healthcare model is followed.
This model has raised the quality services. However, the inter-professional working
environment may involve certain difficulties such as reduced manager support. Also,
these organizations try to benefit themselves individually from this arrangement
ignoring the ill effects on health and social care system. (Martin and Manley, 2018)
The most significant advantage of inter-professional working is overcoming professional
limitations and traditional and cultural boundaries. Various work professionals or
organizations collaborate together with similar or different skills and knowledge to
provide highly coordinated health and social care services and share responsibilities and
perform complex tasks efficiently. Effective delivery of health and social care services can
also be provided by pooling of different resources by various professionals or
organizations.
To work in a partnership, the organizations must be synergic to empower each other.
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