National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)- 1999, an institute set up to guide
individuals to live healthier. Related to the DH, however its an independent organisation
based in England.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)- Responsible for overseeing keeping up the standards for
work-related health, safety and illness. It helps to reduce work-related death and injuries
and influences the laws, regulations, policies and research.
Legislation
Legislation is the term used to describe the laws that parliament makes or changes. Legislations
protect a range of rights for individuals and practice legal guidance in health care settings.
Human Rights Act 1998- This legislation sets out the rights and freedom for everyone to
adhere to. E.g. the right to: vote, live, be protected from discrimination.
Mental Capacity Act 2005- Aids to protect those who lack mental capacity and fail to make
their own decisions and health plans individually. It usually applies to those who are 16 years
or older. These individuals are gifted with the support to help make decisions whether
they’re serious or not.
National Health Service Act 2006 section 140- Section 140 of this legislation explains how
provision can be made for primary carers to provide financial assistance when doing
preparatory work.
Equality Act 2010- This act protects every individual against discrimination and injustice in
the workplace and in the rest of society. People’s characteristics can be protected e.g., age,
disability, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and many more.
Care Act 2014- The 2014 Care Act supports people to improve their wellbeing and
independence (mentally, physically and emotionally), this applies to the service user but also
their carer.
Learning Aim C
Individuals caring for others, especially those who are vulnerable, need to be equipped and ready to
handle the different types of challenges that are common (especially when the service user is an
older patient).
1. Awareness and Knowledge- An older patient may find it difficult to understand the
treatment and needs they require in order to get better. Explaining to the individual the
options and help they are entitled to can help e.g., letting them know the process and
funding aid they can get when moving into a care home. Like Aisha, her vascular dementia
may make it hard for her to understand her condition and how she is better off living in a
care home. Therefore, she may find it overwhelming when setting out her care plan.
2. Practical challenges- Challenges such as cleaning or cooking for themselves. Practically,
Valerie’s obesity will make it harder for her to get around and do these everyday tasks.
3. Skills challenges- As technology is as dominant as it has ever been, teaching the older
generation how to use the internet and practice IT skills is useful. This can help with booking
hospital appointments, ordering items or just for research. As Valerie is unemployed, she
might lack IT skills that are learnt at work, she also might lack other skills (such as social and
friendship skills).
4. Acceptance and belief challenges- Getting older may mean that for some people, they lose
their independence and cannot look after themselves anymore. Accepting this may be hard
however people with different beliefs may find it easier to deal with e.g., Christianity (going
, to heaven). Aisha is a Buddhist and as she’s getting older, she may forget the practices and
rules that come with her religion (praying and her diet).
5. Motivational challenges- motivating an older person to maintain a healthier lifestyle
(smoking or over-eating) may be challenging. On the other hand, service providers don’t
always feel the need to encourage the change and improvement for their service users.
Valerie would need this motivation for her weight loss and change of lifestyle in order to
improve her way of life.
6. Communication challenges- Communication deteriorates when you grow old, which is why it
may be difficult when communicating with an older person (hearing, speaking etc.). Valerie’s
hearing impairment will make it harder for her to understand people and communicate with
them.
Methods of identifying challenges
Within healthcare, there are many ways of identifying these challenges and finding ways to
overcome them. Especially when working with vulnerable patients, taking the right steps is
important.
Observation- Observing a patient is crucial when looking for any issues or problems that you
may see. Spotting a health issue early on will potentially save someone’s life if its serious or
just bring awareness to the situation.
Focus groups- Focus groups are regularly seen in healthcare who gather round to solve
issues e.g., spread of Covid 19 in Care homes and share ideas to overcome these issues. The
group usually involves a small amount of people who provide feedback and a
moderator/assistant in charge of the group.
Talking to individuals informally- Using formal and complicated words to liaise with patients
about important information may be confusing and overwhelming for them and a serious
conversation may need to be taken from a different approach. Using common speech and
easy to understand words can ease a patient into speaking freely about their concerns and
makes it easier to gather information off them.
Using questionnaires- Questionnaires are a reliable source of gathering information about
certain topic e.g., asking service users how comfortable they feel in a specific health care
setting. They are also representative meaning it reflects the general idea from a large
quantity of individuals. Although they are trustworthy, questionnaires usually provide closed
questions and stops the person from developing their answer.
Aisha
Observing Aisha Is an important skill for professionals as they must monitor her vascular
dementia to see if she is getting better or worse. For example, slowing down, changes to her
mood, balance difficulty and tremors are all signs of vascular dementia which may show her
condition to be declining. Monitoring this will give her the correct treatment she needs. A focus
group might be seen when talking about Aisha’s case as they might discuss if it is safe enough for
her to go back home after suffering with pneumonia into a dirty house. They will gather their
opinions on whether it may be more suitable for her to reside in a care home instead.
Additionally, her delusions and confusion from the dementia might affect her ability to
communicate well and because of this talking in simple term will help and allow her to sort any
challenges.
