Describe about the Health and Social Care For Older Adults ?
Promoting effective communication and relationships
Promoting anti-discriminatory practice (including policies and codes of practice)
Maintaining confidentiality of information
Promoting and supporting individuals’ rights to dignity, independence, empowerment, choice and safety
Acknowledging individuals’ personal beliefs, and identity and respecting individuality
Protecting individuals from abuse
Providing individualized care
One of the major departures from the principles of health and social care practice is the inability to protect individuals from abuse. Not only was abuse taking place at the institution, steps required to stop such behavior of the care staff even before it began were not taken. When the alleged cases of abuse for example, the appearance of unexplained bruises on the resident’s body were observed and were not investigated with required seriousness. There were not enough systems in place to prevent use of unrestrained behavior against the vulnerable residents. Regular training sessions for staff were not held causing misery to the residents. Unethical treatment against the very people for whom the care home was established points towards irresponsibility and lack of professional integrity.
Individualized care was not provided to the residents and they were at the mercy of inefficient staff for their basic needs that include taking medicines vital to the maintenance of their health conditions. The fact that staff were unable to give required doses of medicines shows that rather lack of training the callous attitude was the reason for this misdemeanor.
According to the Oxford dictionary ‘harm’ is defined as injury that is inflicted deliberately. Other meanings are: ill treat, maltreat, abuse, handle/treat roughly.
Vulnerable residents of the ABC care home were not in safe hands since they often had to face adverse behavior from their care givers. Underfeeding of the residents was one such reported act that led to considerable harm and the residents felt ill treated. Another example of irresponsible action that could leave a person with complex health problems in potential danger was when overdose of prescribed medicines was administered to a resident patient. A bad case of neglect occurred when an aged patient was left in a soiled bed and had unexplained bruises. A shocking lack of ethics, professional behavior and lassitude pervaded the work atmosphere of the care home.
If I were to take over as a manager of the ABC Care Home, I would implement the following practices to safeguard the interests of the residents.
A training program for newly recruited staff would be made mandatory. Upon induction the staff will have to complete training programs in order to sensitize them to the various guidelines issued for ensuring proper and ethical care of the residents that need to be based on compassion and the right to dignity of patients should not be compromised. Constant monitoring of staff activity will be done through CCTV cameras, feedback from residents and their family members will be taken constantly. While making staff recruitments it shall be ensured whether Criminal Records Bureau/ Disclosure and barring service records of the new staff are cleared. Risk assessment of the service users will be done regularly.
Person centered approach focuses on the person receiving healthcare and not exclusively on their health (Kim Manley, 2011). Care staff such as nurses can provide adequate care to patients that can help maintain their rights to dignity, humanity and equality. (Jackson A, 2011).
There are several benefits to be accrued from person centered approach to care. It is empowering for the service user whose voice is heard and preferences are accommodated. Relationship between service user and care giver is better. PCA advocates autonomy of the patient and this impacts their overall well being. There is greater focus on the service user and their dignity is maintained. The focus is on developing a service that suits the user and where the service user has a say in how the treatment is managed, knowledge about available care and treatment options is shared and an opinion is sought from the patient. An action plan can be devised and preferences of the service user can be incorporated, this leaves ample scope for improvement in service and the quality of care received.
At the ABC care home the staff needs to be trained and sensitized to the needs and preferences of patients who may have intellectual disabilities and their requirements for communication may be complex. Patients with challenging needs have to be dealt with without using restraint and no compromise should be made in respecting their needs by the staff.
The major barriers in implementing person centered approach are lack of properly trained staff, deficiency of funds, insufficient number of trained staff, barriers of language or poor communication skills and the lack of time.
An ethical dilemma comes into play when choice A is right for safety of a patient but it compromises the patient’s autonomy and the right to make a choice.
Mrs Y was an Alzheimer’s patient and an ex dance teacher, restraining her with straps when moving to a chair to prevent a fall is a necessary precaution but from her perspective it amounts to physical restraint and a loss of autonomy and ability to make a choice (Sabine Goethals, 2012). In such situations it is important for the nurse to balance safety issues with ethical issues. Meeting ethical requirements is a tight rope walk because there is a thin line between absolutely necessary actions for the sake of safety for example, straps in the aforementioned case, on the one hand and the patient’s rights and humanitarian issues on the other. The decisions taken by the care home staff may be necessary and the patient may not be in a challenged condition and therefore unable to voice preferences and choices. Other than ethics, the nurses’ behavior and morals and attitude towards patients and their kin have an impact on the sense of well being of the patient. (Lise-Lotte Jonasson, 2011).
Guidelines for managing medicines in care homes have been have been formulated by National Institute of Care and Health excellence (NICE) and it is applied in health care and social care. The scope of the guideline guarantees availability, safe and regular intake of prescribed medicines. In case a resident requires help with medicine administration it is provided by the care home staff.
The specific case where a medicine was wrongly administered to a resident is a serious departure from the guidelines and should have been promptly reported to the CQC.
Most of the shortcomings that were noticed at the ABC care home were due to a shortfall in training the staff and remuneration of the care assistants might be too low. The person/s responsible for supervision was callous in their approach probably due to low motivation among the staff. Rather than fixing blame policy makers need to device a framework which will empower the staff with sufficient skill, number of care givers hired may be increased depending on the workload, supplies and quality of material required should be provided to the team. ‘This is me’ patient passports should be provided for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Studies made on successful models of geriatric care should be employed for framing policy (Boult, 2009).
In order to implement policies and guidelines determination of gaps in training among staff is required. The Manager should be involved and committed on an everyday basis and present a good role model for the care staff to follow. Shortcomings in attending to the patients must be recognized quickly and corrective action should be advised before a major lapse as reported above can occur. Requirements of staff should be heard and solutions found to problems if any.
Several national policies exist and cater to different aspects of regulation pertaining to care homes. As the number of people in care homes increases new areas have been identified that need policy framing or updating the existing policies becomes necessary. The ABC Care home has several areas where services are found to be deficient. Administration of wrong medicines in case of ABC care home is a serious lapse and a matter of serious concern for all stakeholders. Corrective action can be taken by training staff adequately and addressing gaps in training and education. Additional checks should be made at points before the error happens so that remedial steps can be taken before serious errors are committed by staff. Studies point at a need to revise and implement changes in policy as medicine costs increase and so does the use of psychotic drugs. (Carmel M. Hughes, 2008).
The need will be assessed and best practice will be researched. National legislations and policies wil be consulted for developing a local policy with regard to medicine administration. A plan to draft policy will be made which shall be edited. Approval will be obtained from local authorities for implementation. Communication and education about new rules shall be done. Review and revision of policy will be done when required.
The need to frame policies regarding care arose in order to provide a systematic approach and functioning of care homes where residents can live in a safe and healthy environment. The impact of policy, regulation and codes of practice on care homes is that regular inspections and reviews of the quality of care provided help to identify lacunae in the process as in the case of ABC care home. On the other hand some care homes may be identified as examples of superior management where there are lessons to learn for all stakeholders.
The adherence to policies makes it possible for care homes to form a functional framework and chances of mistakes are reduced. Several projects that have ideal care environment are a demonstration of the standards that can be achieved by remaining in tune with policies.
Actions of one person cannot have negative impact on the others. Professional and care become associated with workers when policies are followed. Measuring doses correctly and keeping time schedule of medicine administration and maintaining records of administered medicines meticulously may appear to consume more time but mistakes are avoided. Other benefits include efficient operation of care home, uniformity in procedures is ensured. Actions are consistent with laws regarding the action. During meetings new issues that crop up can be solved based on existing policy. Handing over of charge and responsibility from one person to another happens in a smooth manner. A framework is available when making future plans. Performance can be assessed and accountability of staff is established with ease. Functions and roles are clarified with ease.
Psychosocial aspects of social and health care are aspects that impact the residents and the challenges healthcare workers encounter in care homes. The immediate social setting in which a person lives greatly affects the health of an individual (Revenson, 592). Residents of care homes may be frail and ageing and their well being may be affected by the kind of environment that is provided to them. The transition from their home environment to the care facility may prove to be difficult in many cases. Mental health, physical disability and chronic disease are some challenges faced by the residents.
The support of the care providers at the ABC care home is vital to their sense of well being. The reassuring presence of an efficient care giver who understands the changed social surroundings of the residents can help them to readjust to the new setting. For example a patient with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia could be helped to cope in new surroundings by understanding their needs through communication with their family.
The social process that involves forging of a relationship between the care giver and the service user determines the quality of care provided to the care home residents to a large extent (Malley, 2010). The fact that the quality of care depends on the extent of collaboration between the two means that the outcome of services provided include the facilities, the tools used in care giving and the quality of interaction between the care giver and the resident.
A relationship of trust could not be established between the care givers and the residents at the ABC care home. The feeling of inadequate service was experienced when a patient did not want to be strapped. The problem could have been resolved if relevant social process had occurred between the service provider and the resident.
Subjecting a resident to searches may have been important for safety but a sense of social bonding between the two would have made the task of convincing the resident easier.
The term inter professional working implies that a multidisciplinary team works or meets towards a common goal, mission of providing best care to care home residents. The complex healthcare needs of the patients can be addressed when people trained in actual care giving can communicate with experts such as a psychiatrist and find solutions to a patient’s mental health problems. Experts in the areas of physiotherapy and podiatry can solve difficulties related to their expertise (Diane R. Bridges, 2011).
The demands of healthcare provision are diverse and only a collaborative effort between members of a team with different expertise can fulfill the requirements of providing complete care. Physical health, mental health and general well being are aspects that have to be provided by care home facilities. Human resources can be deployed optimally.
Through mutual respect members of an inter professional team can exchange ideas, deploy available skills and this can result in a favourable outcome for the patients in their care. Responsibility is shared and workload becomes manageable.
There is however the problem of deciding issues related to liability. Conflict may arise between different opinions and difficulties in finding a common time slot for people from diverse areas of expertise to meet and take decisions.
But it is possible to resolve difficulties by increasing awareness about other professions, developing respect for other professions, be aware of responsibilities of other team members, share knowledge, regular contact between team members.
A healthcare manager needs to supervise, lead and coordinate the staff at a healthcare facility. The several roles of a healthcare manager include staff recruitment and training, acquiring appropriate tools and technology, service additions and managing the financial resources in the internal domain. The manager has to understand extent of need, certifications, and reimbursements from insurers and so on.
The responsibilities of the healthcare manger are to ensure technical and interpersonal objectives are met. The patient must receive the best possible care as a result of the managerial functions. The coordination between the various specialized departments in order to ensure effective services to patients is the responsibility of the manager. Ensuring that sufficient financial resources are available for taking adequate care of residents is a task for the manager.
Evaluation of a healthcare manager to the development and implementation of organizational policy can be done by getting feedback from the patients and their families about the services received. End user feedback is an important aspect of whether expectations were met and whether the outcomes for the patient were favourable or not.
Setting up of reporting procedure in place for any eventuality where shortfall in service is observed.
All lacunae in providing care to meet individual needs of patients would be met.
Assessment and monitoring of quality of services would be done.
All steps to ensure safety of patients would be taken.
Patient feedback would be taken and acted upon.
Proper selection of personnel at the time of recruitment would be taken.
Appropriate training, supervision and monitoring of staff would be taken care of.
Staff would be trained in appropriate and professional conduct when dealing with the patients.
Contribution of the manager is important in ensuring that all the systems that are set up be followed diligently. Constant monitoring anf feedback would be required to meet patients’ needs.
Recommendations for meeting good practice requirement in ABC care home are:
To develop tools for measuring how good the quality of care is
To develop systems foe management of care
To find ways for continuous improvement in the quality of service provided.
The four major areas where quality of care will be assessed include prevention of pressure ulcers, catheter acquired urinary infections, venous thromboembolism and prevention of falls. Other areas where safety will be constantly monitored include patient safety and managing risks, performing analysis of underlying causes when patients safety is found to be compromised. Strong systems for obtaining patient consent particularly where some some of restraint or searching is involved. When giving medical treatments patients should understand the risks the treatment can expose them to.
References
Boult, C. G. A. F. B. L. B. P. J. T. S. C. &. L. B., 2009. Successful Models Of Comprehensive Care For Older Adults With Chronic Conditions: Evidence for the Institute of Medicine’s “retooling for an aging America”. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 57(12), pp. 2328-2337.
Carmel M. Hughes, P. E. R. P. a. N. K., 2008. Improving Use of Medicines for Older People in Long-Term Care: Contrasting the Policy Approach of Four Countries. Healthcare Policy, 3(3).
Diane R. Bridges, R. A. D. P. S. O. I. V. M. a. J. T., 2011. Interprofessional collaboration: three best practice models of interprofessional education. Medical Education online, Volume 16.
Jackson A, I. W., 2011. Dignity, humanity and equality: Principle of Nursing Practice A.. Nursing Standard, 25(28), pp. 35-37.
Kim Manley, S. M., 2011. Person-centred care: Principle of Nursing Practice D. Nursing Standard, 25(31), pp. 35-37.
Lise-Lotte Jonasson, ,. P.-E. L. P. B. W. M. C. B., 2011. Corroborating indicates nurses’ ethical values in a geriatric ward. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well Being, 6(3), p. 10.
Malley, J. a. F. J.-L., 2010. Measuring quality in social care services: Theory and Practice. Annals of public and cooperative economics, 81(4), pp. 559-582.
Revenson, R. J. M. a. T. A., 592. Applying Theory across Settings, Behaviors and Populations: Translational Challenges and Opportunities. Health Psychology, 32(5), p. 596.
Sabine Goethals, B. D. d. C. a. G., 2012. Nurses’ decision-making in cases of physical restraint: a synthesis of qualitative evidence. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(6), p. 1198–1210.
Windel, L. A. L. &. K. T., 2011. Transforming primary care: Improving on the medical home model. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 25(4), pp. 305-307.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download