Implement person centred approaches in Health and Social Care.
Understand person centred approaches for care and support
Person centred values is a theory developed by Carl Rogers that trusted the innate tendency (known as the actualising tendency) of human beings to find fulfilment of their personal potentials. An important part of this theory is that in a particular psychological environment, the fulfilment of personal potentials includes sociability, the need to be with other human beings and a desire to know and be known by other people. It also includes being open to experience, being trusting and trustworthy, being curious about the world and being creative and compassionate.
It is important to work in a way that embeds person centred values so that a person feels free from threat, both physically and psychologically. This environment could be achieved when being in a relationship with a person who was deeply understanding (empathic), accepting (having unconditional positive regard) and genuine (congruent).
Risk taking can be part of a person centred approach as we would choose to use positive and informed risk taking which would involve building a positive view of the individual, and seeking to learn what a persons gifts and skills are and what people admire about them. In person centred thinking we also explore the consequences of not taking the risk so that these may be balanced against the consequences of taking the risk.
Using an individuals care plan contributes to working in a person centred way as this would be constructed by the client with the support of the care worker so that the client has full control over their recovery, instead of the support plan being constructed by the care worker whereby the client feels as if they have no control of their recovery.
Work in a person centred way
In order to find out the history, preferences, wishes and needs of an individual I would refer to any previous files held with regards to that person, as well as discussing directly with the client what the preferenes etc. of that person are.
I use person centred values in everyday working as I am an extremely empathic, accepting and congruent person.
Establishing consent when providing care or support
Informed consent is important to establish when providing care or support so that the client is fully aware of their responsibilities, any actions that will be taken and the consequences of either taking or not taking a particular action or decision. In UK case law it has been established that consent must be given by a person with mental ability to do so, sufficient information should be given to the individual and they should not be coerced into giving consent, if these are not met then consent is considered to be invalid.
The process of establishing informed consent will vary according to individuals assessed capacity to consent.
If informed consent can not be readily established then we must abide by the individuals wishes after explaining fully the consequences of not consenting to a certain action. If a person is mentally incapable of providing their consent then we must refer to any care or support plan or legal documentation that may have been established whilst they were capable of making an informed decision. If none of these are available then consent can be given by their next of kin, but we must involve the individual in the process as much as possible. We do however have a 'duty of care' to a person, if the persons health and safety is at an immediate risk then certain actions can be taken in order to prevent any immediate risk to that person.
Encourage active participation
Active participation benefits an individual as it recognises an individuals right to participate in the activities and relationships of everyday life as independently as possible. The individual is regarded as an active participant in their own care and support rather than a passive recipient.
Possible barriers to active participation may include, amongst others, the mental or physical disability of an individual.
Support the individuals right to make choices
I would support an individual to make informed choices by giving the individual full information with regards to the positive and negative effects of any decisions they make and respect their wish to make that decision. I would use agreed risk assessment processes so that the client was fully aware of any risks involved with regards to any decision they make and would also discuss this with my manager. A workers personal view should not influence an individuals choices as everyone is an individual in their own right and and therefore should be able to make their own choices as their interests would be different to a workers. I would support an individual to question or challenge any decision made by others by giving the individual full information with regards to that decision in an unbiased manner, if the individual wanted to make any changes with that decision then I would discuss this with my manager and use agreed risk assessment processes to enable the individual to make those changes.
Promote individuals' well-being
Individual identity and self esteem are linked with well-being as everyone has their own interests and what one person may find interesting another person may not find interesting, for example, if a person is religious and attends church they find that this is part of their identity and promotes their own self esteem as they may feel they are doing their service to God. Another person may not believe in God and find attending church boring, therefore they may feel that they are being pressured into a belief that they disagree with, therefore taking away the psychological identity of an individual. Other aspects relating to well-being may include spiritual, emotional, cultural, social and political.
Attitudes and approaches that are likely to promote an individual's well-being include listening to and treating an individuals decision with respect and enabling them to implement these into the everyday life, after giving the individual all information available in an unbiased manner, for example, if an individual decided that they wanted to attend church then no matter what my own opinions on this matter may be, I would help the individual to attend church and if necessary attend church with them.