Learning Aim C – Investigate the principles behind enabling
individuals with care and support needs to overcome challenges.
P4 – Explain different strategies and communication techniques used with individuals,
different needs to overcome different challenges.
P5 – Explain the benefits of promoting personalisation when overcoming challenges faced by
individuals with different needs.
M4 – Assess the strategies and communication techniques to overcome different challenges
faced by individuals with different care and support needs.
D2 – Justify the strategies and techniques used to overcome ethical issues and challenges
experienced by individuals with different needs when planning and providing care.
Enabling individuals to overcome challenges:
Awareness and Knowledge:
Within health and social care, individuals receiving care and support needs may experience a
number of different challenges from the setting that they are receiving care from. These
challenges include awareness and knowledge, practical challenges, skills challenges, acceptance
and belief and communication challenges. Firstly, awareness and knowledge is when an
individual may not be aware of the support that is available for them. It is important that service
providers ensure that service users are aware of all the information necessary e.g. cost of
treatment. As well as this, it is also important that service providers are aware of all the latest
guidance, as they will not update their way of working if they are aware of this, therefore
resulting in those receiving care from them not benefiting at all.
Practical challenges:
Another type of challenge that could be experienced by service users are practical challenges.
These are challenges that a service user may face because they are less mobile. For example, an
individual who is bound to a wheelchair may find it difficult to maintain their personal hygiene.
Being bound to a wheelchair may also affect a service users’ ability to access care, therefore
affecting the help that they should be provided with in order to improve their overall health and
,wellbeing. For example, the service that the wheelchair user is seeking care from may not have
the resources available that are needed. Examples include a ramp for the wheelchair user, as
they will not be able to climb stairs.
Skills challenges:
Skills challenges refer to the idea that an individual may wish to access a health and social care
service, however they do not have the skills nor the ability to do so. For example, an individual
who is suffering from a physical disability will not be able to access the healthcare services. This
is a major challenge, as it is important that the service user is able to gain access to the service
in order to meet their needs and whatever issue they may be going through. Elderly service
users may also not be able to gain information through ICT, as they do not have the skills that
require them to find the information. Due to a lack in these skills and equipment, an individua
may struggle to obtain the necessary information that they need to support them. In order to
help them, service users could ask another person to help them access the information that is
online, or they could book a home visit for them, where a healthcare professional could conduct
a brief assessment for the healthcare professional, before taking the next step.
Acceptance and belief challenges:
Another type of challenges that service users may have to deal with when receiving care and
support is acceptance and belief challenges. This is when, for example, an older person who has
lost most of their independence struggle to accept it. They may also find it hard to accept that
they are unable to manage a number of things, such as their personal hygiene. This will have a
significant effect on the mental health of the individual, as they will now be dependent on
another person. Another type of challenge that may be faced by service user’s is belief
challenges. This is when a service user finds comfort in religion, which makes the approach
easier to deal with. In addition to this, another type o challenge that may be face is motivational
challenges. For example, an individual who is morbidly obese may struggle to find the
motivation to start, as they may overthink that the process of losing the weight and getting
healthier is far too long. Lastly, the last type of challenge that may be faced is communication
challenges. This is when an individual may struggle to communicate with others, due to speech
impairment; this will act as a language barrier, as the individual will be unable to communicate
with the service provider effectively, therefore resulting in them not being able to provide the
service user with the appropriate care that they require.
, Methods of identifying challenges:
It is extremely important that individuals who are suffering from care needs are able to identify
any challenges that they could potentially be going through. There are a number of different
methods which can be used to identify these challenges, which include observation, focus
groups, talking to individuals informally and using questionnaires.
Observations:
The first method to identify challenges is through observation. This is a key skill that all service
providers must possess when working in healthcare. Having good observational skills will mean
that a healthcare professional will be able to quickly identify any problems, so that they can be
addressed and quickly resolved, before the situation worsens. When a healthcare professional is
observing a service user’s behaviour, they should pay attention to any change in their behaviour
such as their body language and any signs of abuse/neglect. This method is effective in
identifying challenges, as services can be monitored, as well as identifying any challenges that
service users are going through and how to successfully overcome these.
Focus groups:
The second method that can be used to identify challenges is through focus groups. This usually
revolves around a small group of people (usually 6-8), where ideas are shared with each other
ad issues are explored. The main aim of the group is to engage in constructive debate, rather
than reaching a particular decision. The information gathered is the used to identify challenges,
as well as clarifying any situations if necessary. Once these challenges have been identified,
health and social care services can provide the services needed in order to overcome these
challenges.
Talking to individuals informally:
The third method that can be used to identify challenges s by talking to individuals’ informally.
This refers to how it is important to use plain language when talking to service users, rather than
using terminology that they will not understand. This will allow healthcare professionals to
identify any challenges that a service user may be experiencing without them feeling as if they
are being questioned. This could be used to gather a wide range of opinions, as service users will
feel comfortable and as if they can trust the healthcare professional.
