Understanding Specific Needs

LO1 (1.2)

As workers endowed with the skills to provide health and social care services, we are concerned with satisfying the varied needs of people with specific preferences. It is a major objective, and it needs to be accomplished in order to enhance quality of services. Therefore, it is imperative that we be aware of the ways in which services are aligned to the nature of these demands. This report is based on understanding the specific needs and will look into the perceptions of health, disability, illness as well as behaviour in health and the social care context.

It will look into details and explain all the attitudes of individuals who have specific needs and perceptions of the needs that differ between cultures and change over time. There will also be an analysis of the manner in which legislation, culture, society, and social policies interact in an effort to influence attitudes towards the development of services for individuals with special needs.

Going with the sentiments of the world health organization (WHO, 1946), health is the stable state of physical, mental, and social well-being. It is not only the absence of medical conditions or the concepts of infirmity that are related to social and healthcare that are used to define health and disease (Cunningham, 2005). The above-mentioned concepts may sometimes face distortion of meaning through the definition of individuals who do not understand the term. In order to turn into a competent or a professional social and healthcare practitioner, one should understand the correct definition and hold the perceptions that are correct regarding health, disability, and wellbeing (Richard &Miller, 2000). If this were not the case, there might be an instance of offending individuals who are under the tutelage of the professionals without the intention of hurting them. As per the definition and explanations of WHO, it is sometimes very difficult to find the correct definition of impairment and disability, but the organization goes ahead and describes impairment as any abnormality and loss of psychological, anatomical, or physiological structure (WHO, 1946).

Over the years, the perceptions towards people with specific needs have drastically changed. In earlier days, people who had special needs were discriminated against and were seen as outcasts in society (Franzen, 1990). There was no instance whereby they were considered normal members of the community, and such an attitude limited them and denied them the opportunity to become creative and take part in the activities of societal development (Richard & Miller, 2000). For instance, cultural factors usually prevented leaders from being recognized as leaders in a certain proportion. However, these perceptions have changed over time. The disabled and all the people with special needs have been embraced and accepted back into the community. Some people with special needs have assumed leadership roles and taken part in the development of society in the same capacity as those who are healthy (Cunningham, 2005).

Due to the fact that many people who have specific needs are potential victims to be limited differently due to their state, they need to be accommodated to specific homes and special needs centres in order to give them care according to their needs (Forlin, 1995). This will ensure that they can become integrated into the community if their condition becomes better or they can remain there if old age has caught up with them (Barker et al, 1953). The bottom line is that they are going to have professionals take care of their needs and satisfy all their requirements. Bearing this in mind, one can see obvious that Mr. Park will be in safe hands, and his family members need to relax. The care that the is going to receive at our care home will not be discriminative, and he will be taken as another new member of the community that is only looking for care and a sense of belonging. The members of this home are professionals who clearly understand all the concepts of health, disability as well as illness and behaviour in respect to users of health and special needs (Richard & Miller, 2000). Thus, Mr. Park will perfectly fit into the home as the care that will be given is going to be professional in nature.

There are various impacts of the past and present legislations, social policies, society and culture in the manner in which services are available to individuals with specific needs. The health and social care Act of 2012 directed the formation and introduction of provisions that would be used to regulate health and offer social service care to the disabled and the elderly in the community (Amoak, 1975). This includes the introduction of a program that offers scrutiny of health matters and all other related issues in care homes that accommodate people with special needs. In this respect, it is evident that the Act was a stepping-stone for the improvement of healthcare services that many people in society used to lack (Cunningham, 2005). Society and culture have also changed their perceptions about people with specific needs, and they have embraced them as members of society.

Task 2: LO2: 2.1

There are various healthcare needs and health costs that accrue to all people who have special needs or those with health challenges. In the case of Mr. Park, he is visually impaired, and he has hearing impairments, exhibits challenging behaviour and exists in the early stages of dementia. Thus, his family needs assurance that our care home is capable of handling him and giving him the comfort that he deserves (Richard & Miller, 2000). This will be done through a detailed explanation that will help them understand the manner in which the care home, as well as the available systems, will support him and his special needs.

One type of the special care needs that is given and that is available is personal care. In this case, the care home ensures that there is assistance with a safe bathing environment (Cunningham, 2005). Additionally, there will be assistance in eating such that the diet provided will be monitored to ensure that the people with special needs take a balanced diet. This will lead to a situation of comfort and health well-being.

Another care need that is available in our special care home will be companion services. This will involve providing an environment whereby companionship and conversation are facilitated. This will ensure that the people with special needs will not experience boredom, or grow lonely at any instance (Cunningham, 2005). Medication reminders will also be offered due to the fact that the main aim of the home is to ensure that all these people have recovered from their different conditions. The other available service is the arrangement for medical, dental, and any other professional appointments.

Finally, there is a care need that involves the offering of skilled services needs. One of the major systems in this field includes information and assistance. In the care home, we use coordinators to spend time with the person with specific needs and allow them to build networks with other people who have similar needs (Gellman, 1959). The other approach is that there is an individualized funding for all the people in the home.

Finally, there is the supported self-assessment, and it is usually offered in the care home as a special package (Birch & Johnstone, 1975). This means that the individuals can perform their self-assessment in their own time and at a pace that suits them best. The new tool ensures that there is nothing to trouble the development of the person with special needs and makes sure that every need at hand is taken care of promptly.

Task 3: LO3: 3.2

In the case of Mr. Park, various approaches and interventions were employed in order to support his needs and those of other service users in the care home (Amoak, 1975). Firstly, there was the instance of learning about various disability paradigms as well as models and their implications for the provision of the services. For instance, in the case of Mr. Park, there was proper understanding of all the underlying conditions in his wake and an understanding of the conditions that he was suffering from (Cunningham, 2005). This way, it became easier to handle his special needs and handle him in a professional manner after understanding the concepts of his health status. Another approach that was useful in handling Mr. Park and all the other people in the facility included striving to comprehend both the ordinary experiences shared by the disabled individuals and the issues that had an impact on the individual’s experience regarding personal disability. This was helpful for finding out proper handling and interaction with Mr. Park and others in the facility. Finally, there was the approach of trying to understand the strengths and challenges of the disabled person (Richard & Miller, 2000). Understanding these features has allowed the care home to know all the factors that directly affect the people accommodated in this institution.

On the other hand, the undertaken interventions include recognizing that there is a wide range of individual responses to disability and collaborating with the clients with the special needs. Additionally, there was coming together with Mr. Park’s family when appropriate to enhance planning, developing, and implementing psychological interventions. Another intervention that took place was that there was striving to recognize that interventions with people with special needs focused on enhancing strengths and well-being as well as reducing stress and ameliorating skill deficits (Cunningham, 2005). Additionally, there was striving to recognize and address all health promotion issues for Mr. Park regarding his special needs.

3.3

The intervention strategies used for Mr. Holland were effective in many ways. Firstly, collaborating with the challenged people ensured that there was understanding between the caregivers and the clients. This offered a chance for the people with special needs to recover and live a comfortable life. Aiming at comprehending the strengths and weaknesses of people with specific needs was an effective intervention in ensuring that they understood each other and managed to live in harmony.

The emergent developments in the area of service users with specific needs include the fact that there are legal frameworks as well as common laws that have been put in place to assist them. They will be used to ensure that there is prevention and management of challenging behaviour. Additionally, health professionals will have the responsibility of taking reasonable steps in order to avoid acts of omission that can cause harm to individuals (Cunningham, 2005).

Finally, the potential impacts of the emerging developments include the fact that there will be safeguarding of the rights of all people with challenging behaviour. There will be provisions ensuring that the law is on their side because their conduct is not deliberate (Cunningham, 2005). Thus, any harm or destruction they cause will be overlooked as it has not been done by a person with a straight mind set.

Tasks 4: LO4: 4.2

There are various impacts and effects of challenging behaviour on health and social care organizations. One of the impacts is that the challenging behaviour is that it presents danger to an individual himself and others. In this case, the social care organizations are always wary of the fact that the individual can attack them any time due to mental disorders (Amoak, 1975). They are also worried that some individuals might attack others, which may lead to a situation of harm or loss of life. The individuals who are victims of challenged behaviour are also a threat to themselves. They can sometimes exhibit behaviours that can lead them to self-injuries and sometimes cause death (Cunningham, 2005). Another impact is that there can be inability of the social care organizations to meet their legal duties in an attempt to protect the staff and vulnerable individuals.

There is also another impact showing that there may be inability of an organization to meet all legal duties to protect all the staff as well as vulnerable individuals (Amoak, 1975). The people with challenging behaviours might not exhibit similar characteristics, and it would be difficult to recognize the ones posing potential threats to the social care organization as well as the community in general.

Depending on the conduct of the people with challenging behaviours in a social care organization, there are sometimes instances of organizational diminishment of reputation as well as negative publicity. This might occur in a situation whereby the people who have been accommodated in a social organization hurt society or exhibit unacceptable conduct (Cunningham, 2005). The number of complaints that comes from external sources regarding the conduct of the people with challenging behaviour also determines the reputation and the name of the organization.

Challenging behaviour can have a harmful impact on the ways of living of both the individuals suffering from the situation and also other people living and working on the individual (Amoak, 1975). Therefore, it is a vital fact for the practitioners in the health and social care field to deal with challenging behaviour in a manner that is appropriate. The manner that the issue can be dealt with is supposed to be supporting the well-being and safety of the individual, the practitioners themselves as well as other people in the environment.

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