What can carers and care workers do to help make transitions in care a
positive experience?
In this essay, I will answer the question 'What can carers and care workers do to help
make transitions in care a positive experience?' I will do this by providing examples of how
care workers can make transitions in care easier for the individual involved.
The term 'transition' means 'the process or a period of changing from one state or
condition to another.'
Transitions in care can be traumatic and people can sometimes find them difficult. There
are many reasons for this, ranging from switching from being a householder to a resident
to the feeling of losing control of their lives.
Leaving your home is just one of the types of transition that could cause emotional distress
for the individual involved. This is especially true when the move is to a residential care
home.
Hopson et al describes the transition curve, which involves seven stages. This explains the
changes in someone's self esteem as they come to terms with this big change.
An example of this would be Ann (Activity 10.1). Ann is described as feeling sad at the
thought of leaving her home and experiencing feelings of anger. Eventually, she came to
terms with the change and started to feel more at home. This example, although all seven
stages were not demonstrated, clearly shows that Ann experienced denial and depression
due to her situation before coming to terms with it (the second, third and fourth stages).
“Adjusting to a new life takes time and effort. The person making the transition needs to
build new attachments and may need to take time to come to terms with the change.” This
applies to everyone, from young people leaving care to older people moving into
supported living accommodation. It also requires a lot of planning and preparation.
In Managing Transitions (2009), Alison Petch analysed research about young people
leaving care, people with learning disabilities and older people transitioning into supported
accommodation.
From this research, she compiled a list of ways professionals can help these individuals
adjust to change. These themes, including discussing finances and personal budgets and
recognising personal history, are good examples of the planing and support that care
workers can provide. Planning ongoing support, discussing dealing with finances and
letting the individual know that you recognise personal preferences, lifestyles and culture
helps make transitions easier.
As well as care workers providing planning and support, it is necessary for care settings to
be designed to support people through transitions. “Good design features can have a
beneficial effect on health and wellbeing...”
A welcoming physical environment combined with valuing experiences for the service
users can have an immeasurable benefit on their psychological wellbeing. The smallest of
things can make the biggest impact, such as people to talk to and information being
available to the service users.
An example of a welcoming physical environment would be Maggie's centres. These
centres are designed with making transitions a positive experience in mind. They have
good architectural design and although they are considered as low-cost, they demonstrate
the most valued aspects of a care setting. An example of a care setting that does not
demonstrate acceptable care standards is the psychiatric ward in Cathy Weild's book, Life
After Darkness, (Activity 10.6). This ward was described as being unwelcoming in a
multitude of ways and having staff that were weary and 'burnt out'. The author's views of
the ward could be reversed if the ward environment was improved and made more
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