Reflective Essay: Healthcare Values, Prejudices and Practice Analysis

This reflective essay explores the intersection of personal values, prejudices, and professional practice within the context of health and social care. The essay begins by examining the author's personal values, such as honesty and integrity, and prejudices, tracing their origins and potential impact on interactions with service users. It then delves into the core principles of the care value base, including equality, diversity, confidentiality, and anti-discriminatory practice, comparing and contrasting these professional standards with the author's personal beliefs. The essay highlights areas where personal values align with and conflict with professional expectations, and outlines strategies for enhancing self-awareness and mitigating the potential negative effects of personal biases. The overall aim is to demonstrate a commitment to providing equitable and effective care, while acknowledging the complexities of navigating personal and professional values.

Assignment 1 Task 1 Reflective Essay Guidance
Produce a reflective essay in which you explore current values and prejudices
comparing them with the principles of health and social care and discussing their
impact on your role.
Compare personal values and principles with the principles of support for working in
health and social care (1.1)
Assess how personal culture and experience influence own role in supporting users
of services and others in health and social care settings (1.2)
i) Identify four personal values which you feel are important e.g. honesty,
integrity, and four personal prejudices. Explain how these values and
prejudices have arisen through your background/cultural experiences and
assess how they might influence your role in supporting users of services
in health and social care (P1.1 , P1.2)
ii) BRIEFLY summarise each element of the Care Value Base – equality
and diversity, confidentiality, rights and responsibilities, anti-discriminatory
practice and effective communication – and compare these i.e. how your
personal values and prejudices compliment / conflict with these
professional values you must adopt (P1.1, P1.2).
1500 Words (as guidance only)
This entry should be written as a reflective essay, it must be organised using paragraphs.
Always ensure good grammar, punctuation and spellings by proof-reading your work.
Try to be as open and honest as possible, particularly when describing your
values and prejudices. Only your tutor will be party to the information
contained.
i) personal values and prejudices
When, discussing prejudices and values, always try to briefly analyse where these may have
arisen from (family upbringing, religious beliefs, media etc.). Consider how the prejudices
you have discussed might impact on your practice if not addressed. How do you plan to
increase your self-awareness of issues surrounding these prejudices and how you will do
this to ensure you limit their impact on your practice in the future.
i) Comparing Personal Values and prejudices with Professional Values
(Care value base)
You need to then discuss the professional values you adopt as a health and social care
worker i.e. the care values base. Describe briefly what these professional values are. Draw
out similarities between your own values and the care values.(compliment) Next discuss
how your current prejudices conflict with the care value base and the likely negative impact
they could have on your practice if they persist. Finally explain how in light of this you plan
to increase your self-awareness to address these prejudices. Describe briefly how you plan
to work on the prejudices outlined. Give a brief conclusion to round off this essay.