1 Name: Zae12Mcmorrow
Case Study
Mary is a 28-year-old woman with a learning disability. She lives in a house with six other people
who have similar learning similarities. She attends a local training centre from Monday to Friday
each week. Mary always likes to look smart and dresses in a blouse and trousers when attending the
centre. She loves magazines and brochures about cars and does not like to be parted from them. She
carries them with her at all times in a brown leather bag. Dressing smartly and carrying her bag gives
her a feeling of well-being and maintains her self-esteem and confidence. One morning whilst on the
usual transport to the centre she places her bag in the aisle while she gets into her seat. The escort
removes the bag and puts it in the luggage compartment. Mary becomes agitated and asks for her
bag. The escort says that it must stay in the luggage compartment so that it would not block the aisle
and be a danger to others. Mary becomes very distressed and tries to get her bag. The escort pushes
her back into her seat and tells her not to walk about when the bus is about to move off. Mary starts
to scream. The manager of the team of support workers attached to the house hears her and gets
onto the bus to intervene.
Core principles of care
As a health professional, it is extremely important to improve your expertise and skills required to
develop professional supportive relationships with individuals and their families. Both health and
social care professionals have clear standards, beliefs and guidelines to obey. These values are
recognised as the promotion of human rights and obligations, thereby providing people with the
right kind of care according to their needs. Therefore, in order to preserve confidentiality of
information, do not disclose the information of the user, such as their address to the public or other
colleagues who do not need it. Therefore, to promote equality and diversity of people treat each
person in your care fairly without discriminating against them.
These values set out the core of professional care and set basic requirements for service providers to
operate, which can be summed up in five terms known as respect, justice, equity, privacy and
dignity. Vulnerable individuals are supposed to be treated with respect and dignity as they are at
greater risk of injury. For example, since Mary has a learning disability, she is more fragile, but she
should still be treated with respect and dignity. They should all be handled similarly, in terms of the
standard of care given, but differently in terms of the quantity of care provided. They are also
supposed to be handled equally in terms of upholding their rights and obligations as citizens,
irrespective of the assistance they seek. They can also be entitled to be handled with anonymity,
confidentiality and private space of their own. For example, when Mary has access to a support
team, it is their duty to keep Mary's details private from the public or from someone who does not
want Mary to remain confidential. This decreases the risk of abuse as individuals who seek or may
not like Mary for a reason, would not be able to find her if her data is kept by the support workers.
Methods of communication and listening
The preferred form of communication for individuals should be used wherever possible. For
example, this could include a signatory for contact with a deaf person. An interpreter can also be
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used for anyone who may not be able to speak fluent English. This decreases the risk of abuse, since
someone who may not be able to speak good English could say the wrong things that could be
perceived as offensive, so verbal abuse may occur. However, having an interpreter makes it much
simpler and thus decreases the risk of abuse. It is important to listen carefully to what people say by
using active listening skills. For example, using body language, gestures and eye contact, as well as
appropriate words.
Respect for culture, beliefs and lifestyle
An effective professional partnership requires consideration for the person for whom they are. For
example, Mary may be a Caucasian and may believe in Christianity, so it is necessary to respect Mary
and her choices, as she shows a sign of respect. Respecting an individual as a specific person means
that you acknowledge their right to be different. Another example may be that Mary may not want
to be associated with the opposite sex, so you need to be mindful of the individual's desires.
Building effective relationships
There are several differentiations between personal friendship and professional partnership, as
professionals’ function within the framework of values. Professional work often includes the
responsibility of consideration for the wellbeing of people, and also requires the establishment of
acceptable boundaries. For example, workers keep professional progress notes on the client in a
chart where as in friendship, friends don't keep notes on each other.
It is the responsibility of the practitioner to ensure that the relationship remains within the limits set
down in the law and by professional bodies. Many professional codes of practice support a person-
centred approach that puts vulnerable adults at the centre of interaction. However, this has not
always been the case acknowledged. In addition, the creation of trust between two people is an
indicator of the establishment of an effective relationship.
Recognition of needs and preferences
Knowledge and understanding are two main factors that make relationships meaningful, enabling
you to recognise individual needs and desires. People's expectations vary from their needs. Mary, for
example, may like a box of brownies. However, since she may be overweight, she's not going to be
able to have them due to her various needs, because they're bad for her health. The task of the
professional is also to help the user determine what their needs are. It also allows you to become
aware of subtle changes in their behaviour, which may signify the violations that have taken place.
For example, as Mary lives with six people, she can suddenly stop asking for food and show a form of
social isolation by not talking to anyone. She may also exhibit this kind of behaviour if someone
has physically harmed her.
Therefore, being knowledgeable of minor changes means that you can look further into the situation
as to why the person can react like this. This means that in Mary's case, they will recognise any
bruising or odd marks that have emerged without any clarification as to how they got there.
Working practices
The way that professionals work will minimize the risk of abuse, which can be achieved by ensuring
that their care activities remain focused on the needs of the user and by making use of the care
value base. Communication should also be used in a simple and efficient way. A few examples of
good working practice that provide ways to reduce the likelihood of abuse are known as:
