Unit 17

Unit 17: Working in the Social Care Sector Investigate Potential Careers in Social Care M1: Assess how a care worker can contribute to providing a positive experiencing for uses of social care services Case study Jean is a care worker in a residential care home. Her job is to provide care for the physical, social and emotional needs of the residents she works with, as well as liaising with a variety of people who are linked with the residents.

Mary is 86 and recently widowed, at which time she moved into the care home where Jean works. Mary has a large family who visits regularly and play an active part in her care plan. She suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and is a little hard of hearing. She had an active life whilst her husband was still alive. She loves to read, watch the soaps on television and listen to music. She also loves to sew and knit but struggles because of her medical condition. Jean, Mary’s care worker, will need to work with doctors – a specialist with arthritis, physiotherapy and occupational therapist.

All these things will help Mary positively because it will help her with her arthritis. Jean will also need to work with a grievance counsellor so that Mary can talk to someone about the death of her husband, Mary may feel even better that the person she’s talking to is a professional so she/he will maintain client confidentiality and will help her. Jean will need to get in touch with the care home community – people who teach dancing lessons, exercise and if possible entertainers because Mary had an active life when her husband was alive, Mary is in a care home but that doesn’t mean that she should be disengaged from society. Jean will need to know about Mary’s diet and will also need to work with the chef of the care home so that Mary can eat because if Jean just gives her anything to eat Mary may not eat it and will go to bed hungry. Jean will need to make sure that in a clinic or a GP Mary will have the same nurse all the time and that in the care home most of the people that work with her are the same people.

This will help Mary build relationships and trust with the people she works with and to feel comfortable to talk to someone and if she is being abused she may feel comfortable to tell another staff at the care home. Jean will also need to work with Mary’s family and friends so that when they want to visit Mary they will know what time to come, when visiting hours are and on which days they are longer. Mary is Jean’s patient so it is important that she knows what Mary enjoys doing in her spare time, communication is a very important skill because Jean is going to need to understand Mary, so that she can make her feel like she’s in important in the care home. Jean will have to think about what Mary likes to eat – if she’s a vegetarian, if she has any allergies, if she needs to eat halal or kosher food. Jean will need to know if Mary has any religious beliefs, if she’s a Christian she may need a Bible in her room, if she’s Muslim she may need a prayer mat, it will be very important that jean learns about Mary’s religious beliefs and her culture so that Mary can feel comfortable and relaxed in the care home.

Putting a TV in Mar room, putting a TV in everyone’s room, would stop arguments with the people in the care home and she would probably put on subtitles which some people may not like. Jean will also need to get a hearing aid for Mary; this will improve Mary’s hearing. Even though Mary is in a care home not everything is brought directly to her so some arrangements will need to be made.

The practical arrangements that Jean will have to do for Mary will be to see a grievance counsellor possibly every week, do her shopping every week and to arrange for her transport whether she’s going to take public transport, because if so she will need a over 60’s free bus pass but if Mary isn’t going to take public transport then Jean will have to arrange for a bus maybe for her and some other people in the care home as well. Jean will also have to arrange Mary’s appointments at the GP or the clinic or with her physiotherapy. Jean will have to think about items Mary may need – laptop, telephone, TV. Mary could use her laptop (Skype) and a telephone to communicate with her family and friends, who could possibly live out of the country.

Jean could provide a positive experience by teaching Mary, in her own spare time, how to use the latest gadgets (which could help her communicate with her family and friends better) and just by being there and interacting with Mary and being there for her and keeping her safe will make it a positive experience. Care workers that are patient, caring and empathetic will help make a positive experience for everyone because by having these 3 things this could help you have a better understanding of their lives and may feel more sympathetic towards them and when people understand people better they are, most of the time, less likely to abuse them. If the patients are being abused in the care home, having someone that the patients can talk to and trust in the are home can help them confined in them and tell them that someone is abusing them and it can be stopped. Having a care worker that is meeting an individual needs can be very helpful to their patients because this will make them feel very important and it could boost their self esteem.

It is very important to have good communication skills in a care home because this could help build relationships and trust however there may be some barriers but that shouldn’t stop a care worker from trying to communicate with their patients.