Care and support plans are extremely useful for supporting person-centred values because it contains a plethora of information about an individual’s needs and preferences. It explains in detail exactly how the individual wants to receive their support so that is in line with their wishes.

It is a working document so can any changes to an individual’s situation or their preferences can be documented and their support altered accordingly.

As it is written in collaboration with the individual, it documents their own choices as well as advice from health and social care professionals that work in partnership to produce a plan that is bespoke to the individual.

Care and Support plans are working documents and should be updated regularly to fit in with the changing needs of the individual.

Each individual has constantly changing needs and wishes so their care plan should be flexible. For example, an individual may decide that they want to go out clubbing until the early hours every Saturday, which could result in changes to their support workers shift patterns – perhaps they need more hours so that staff can accompany them to clubs or less hours because they go to the clubs with friends and support is not required for that time period.

All individuals have the right to live their life as they choose and their decisions must be respected by the support staff.

In my setting, support plans can be changed by any member of staff as and when the needs of the individual changes. They do this by writing in the support plan. In addition, every three months, the support plan is reviewed by senior staff members and any changes that have been made over the quarter are typed up as well as any new information added. This is done in collaboration with the individual and, where necessary, their family and other health and social care professionals.

Only by keeping the support plan updated and by regularly reviewing it can an individual get the correct support they need for their current needs and preferences.

To create a good Care & Support Plan, it is essential to gain as much information as possible about the individual. This can be gathered from their friends, family, other relations and health professionals, such as their doctor, psychologist and social worker. However, the most important person to converse with is the individual themselves as they are the experts in their needs, wishes and preferences.

All individuals have the basic rights of choice, dignity and respect so understanding the person means that you can develop a support plan that is tailor-made to their requirements.

If you do not take the time to really get to know the individual and have them actively contribute to their own care plan, it is unlikely that the support you provide will be useful to them. Individuals will be much more likely to accept and adhere to a care plan that they have had an active role in creating.

By knowing about an individual’s history, you may be able to identify the causes or triggers of previous incidents and add safeguards/interventions to the care plan to prevent the issues re-occurring.

Write a reflective account detailing an example of how you have, or could have, used a person centred approach in a sensitive or complex situation.

The account must contain a description of how person centred values were or could be put into practice in the situation.

I was supporting a young adult with a learning disability in his home. His girlfriend was visiting and they were watching a movie in his lounge and had been asked to be left alone together, so I respected their wishes and went to bring the laundry in from outside. The client’s lounge is joined to the conservatory via a pair of french doors and many windows and when I came back inside, I saw that he and his girlfriend were both topless and kissing in his lounge.

This was a sensitive situation because although I respected my client and his girlfriend had the right to intimacy, there was a problem with privacy because the conservatory was a thoroughfare for both staff and my client’s housemate as well as his housemate’s friends. The windows also meant that they could potentially be viewed by neighbours. This could lead to future embarrassment, complaints by neighbours or even a complaint to the police, which would all heighten the anxiety of both individuals. It was also the first time that they had displayed sexual intimacy towards each other so it came as a surprise.

I went around to the other door (that didn’t have windows), knocked and apologised for disturbing them but explained that I needed to come in and talk to them before they went any further and to put their tops back on. When they were dressed I entered the room and explained my concerns. My client was upset at first because he thought he’d done something wrong but I told him that it was not my place to stop consenting adults from being intimate (and then I checked that they were both consensual) but it was my job to ensure that they were protected from the potential implications of them having sex where others could see them. I then suggested that they go up to his bedroom and reminded them that he had condoms in his bedside drawer and that he should use one. They went upstairs to continue in private.

In this situation, I took into account my client’s right to privacy, despite me having to disturb him to ensure he had privacy from others. I respected my client and his girlfriend’s right to choose to have sexual intercourse (knowing that they both had capacity to make the decision) and tried to behave with dignity and respect in a sensitive situation.

Your work is running a campaign to improve staff understanding of all aspects of person centred care.

You have been asked to create the following materials

[Av] A guide for social care workers which:
a)    Describes ways they can ensure the environment promotes well-being;
b)    Explains why it is important to support individuals in a way that promotes their identity, self-image and self-esteem.

A Guide for Social Care Workers

Introduction

This guide was created to be read by social care workers and will help you to ensure that well-being is promoted in your environment and that the way you support individuals promotes their identity, self-image and self-esteem.

Ensure an Environment Promotes Well-Being

Some factors which can affect an individual’s well-being are their physical health, positive social interactions, having their cultural, spiritual, religious and political views respected and being able to contribute to their care and support package.

You can ensure that the environment you work in promotes well-being by ensuring it is kept clean and free from hazards. Individuals can be encouraged to eat healthily and get regular sleep and exercise as well as have the opportunities to partake in activities that they enjoy and socialise with friends and family in accordance with their preferences.

An individual should feel safe and comfortable in their environment. This could mean dimming the lights, adjusting the temperature or minimising noise levels depending on their needs.

Individuals should be given the opportunity to contribute to their care and support and their wishes and preferences should be respected and included in their care & support plan. Similarly, an individual’s cultural, religious, spiritual and political views should be respected.

Why You Should Promote Identity, Self-Image & Self-Esteem

An individual’s identity is all the traits that make them unique and the roles that they play in society. This includes their intellect, likes/dislikes, goals, achievements, skills, talents, beliefs, emotions and behaviours. An individual’s self-image is how they see themselves and how they believe that others see them. Their self-esteem is the evaluation they make about their identity and self-image, which can either be negative (low self-esteem) or positive (high self-esteem).

It is important to to try to promote the positive aspects of an individual’s identity and encourage them to have a positive self-image because this will, in turn, help them to develop a high self-esteem.

This means being complimentary about the positive aspects of their identity, but being careful to remain truthful and not sound patronising. Building a  rapport with an individual by asking questions about themselves is a good way to get them to think about themselves. When they talk about something good in their lives, you can reinforce this in positive ways, by giving praise for example.

With continued positive reinforcement of an individual’s identity over the long term, their self-image will improve and their self-esteem become higher. This will result in the individual having more confidence and a generally happier outlook in life.