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unit 12 supporting individuals with additional needs AimC
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unit 12 supporting individuals with additional needs health and social care level 3 aim C assignment grade distinction
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Unit 12CInvestigate current practice with respect to provision for individuals with additional needs.
Professionals involved in supporting individuals with additional needs
Many professional services are involved in supporting people with additional needs. Each
profession has entry qualification requirements and training standards that must be met by
people working within the support system.
Community learning disability nurse
The role of the community learning disability nurse is specifically about supporting people with a
learning disability to meet their full potential. The role involves helping
a person to be physically and mentally healthy, working with them in their home, at their
educational setting, in their workplace or in a community or residential home. The nurse also
supports people with a learning disability to access healthcare services and acts as their
advocate; the nurse explains what is happening if they are confused, and helps other healthcare
professionals to understand the individual’s support needs.
Occupational therapist
Occupational therapists (OTs) support individuals in carrying out everyday activities. Individuals
may require support with daily living activities if they were born with a disability, such as cerebral
palsy, or acquire a disability, such as weakness or paralysis following a stroke or they are
recovering from an illness or injury. OTs advise people how to carry out tasks, which may
involve using supportive equipment or assistive technology, or helping them to adapt to a new
way of doing a task. OTs may work
in a hospital, in a person’s home, at a GP practice, at a person’s workplace or in an education
setting.
Physiotherapist
Physiotherapists work with people who have a physical difficulty as a result of illness, ageing,
being injured at work or playing sport, or following a stroke. Physiotherapists devise treatment
programmes of manual therapy, therapeutic exercise or ultrasound, to improve movement and
functioning, as well as general health and wellbeing. They may use other techniques, such as
exercises carried out in water (hydrotherapy or aquatic therapy) or acupuncture.
Physiotherapists mainly work in a hospital or specialist rehabilitation setting, but may visit
people in their homes.
Psychiatrist
Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have undergone additional training to specialise in the
diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders. They support people with conditions
such as depression, bipolar affective disorder, learning difficulties, anxiety, eating disorders,
schizophrenia, dementia, and drug and alcohol abuse. A psychiatrist may further specialise in
adult or child care, to work with adolescents, old people, people with a learning disability, or in
forensic, medical and liaison psychiatry. A psychiatrist may work in a medical setting in a
general or an acute specialist hospital, or they may visit people in their homes.
Psychologist
A clinical psychologist will have gained a degree in psychology and further studied for
,a doctorate in clinical psychology. Clinical psychologists support people with a wide range of
mental health problems including depression, eating disorders, harmful thought patterns and
addiction, children with behavioural and emotional difficulties and young offenders. They are
interested in their patients’ psychological rather than physiological condition, and use therapies
such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Psychologists normally work in NHS settings in
hospitals and health centres as part of a mental health team. They may also work in social
services, in educational settings and in prisons.
The difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist:
Psychiatrists and psychologists have different approaches to solving mental health problems.
They are both trained in psychotherapy – talking with individuals about their problems. However,
psychiatrists are medical doctors whereas psychologists have a doctoral degree in an area of
psychology, and they are not medical doctors.
As they are medically trained doctors, psychiatrists can prescribe medication to treat their
patients. They will investigate whether there is an underlying biological or neurochemical
problem causing their patients’ symptoms, such as a vitamin deficiency or thyroid dysfunction.
Psychologists study their patients’ behaviour, their sleep patterns, eating patterns and negative
thoughts and work with the patient to change or modify these
Social worker
Social work involves a wide area of work and many specialisms. A social worker supports
people and their families through difficult situations, and in improving their current lifestyle. They
work with vulnerable people, helping to protect them from abuse or harm. They support people
to live independently. Their client groups can include elderly individuals, children and adults with
physical and learning disabilities, young offenders, people with mental health problems, people
with addiction problems, refugees and asylum seekers, foster carers, adopters and families who
are potentially breaking up. Social workers may work in a hospital, a local authority setting,
young offenders units, special clinics and prisons. They also visit people in their homes. Social
workers are usually part of a multidisciplinary team working with a variety of other professionals,
such as doctors, nurses and police officers, to support their clients.
Speech and language therapist
Speech and language therapists support people who have difficulties in speaking and
communicating, eating, drinking and swallowing. They work with people with a range of speech
and language difficulties including language delay, voice disorders, stammering, language
impairment and selective mutism (an anxiety disorder that prevents an individual, usually a
child, from speaking in certain social situations). These conditions may be caused by a stroke, a
head injury, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, throat cancer, learning difficulties, mental health
issues, hearing impairment or other physical disabilities. Speech and language therapists mainly
work in hospitals, educational settings and community health centres; they may visit a person in
their home.
Special needs teachers
Special educational needs teachers (SENs) specialise in working with children who have
specific needs such as physical difficulties, sensory impairments, speech and language
difficulties, learning difficulties or a variety of other physical, social or emotional needs. The
person coordinating learning support is known as a SENCO. In an educational setting, SENs
and SENCOs are assisted by teaching assistants who look after children’s physical needs and
provide additional support for learners, for example helping them understand instructions, and
providing comfort and reassurance when children are frustrated or upset.
, Some children with learning disabilities may have more than one disability such as auditory and
visual impairment, which makes communicating difficult. Children
with multiple learning difficulties need specific learning strategies to support their educational
needs and the SEN’s key role is to identify and support their individual needs. SENs create
safe, stimulating and supportive learning environments in which they deliver individualised
teaching programmes to develop the children in their care to their full potential.
Support and adaptations for individuals with additional needs
Equipment and adaptations
Special equipment and communication aids are important to enable people with additional
needs to carry out daily tasks, live independently and feel included in society.
Mobility aids
Mobility aids help an individual with a physical disability to walk. This, in turn, enables them to
perform a range of tasks such as preparing and cooking food, and dressing and going to the
toilet. They also help them to go to work, have hobbies and take part in activities. Examples of
mobility aids include motorised scooters, wheelchairs, walking frames, stairlifts, adjustable beds
and chair raisers.
Daily living adaptations
There is a vast range of equipment available to assist people with everyday tasks, such as
making a cup of tea. Occupational therapists will assess individual needs and supply
appropriate equipment based on that assessment. Adaptive equipment for everyday use is
available for all areas of the home and workplace and includes items such as perching stools,
food trolleys, kettle tippers, support and grab rails, raised toilet seats, commodes, shower
chairs, fall monitors and flashing doorbells.
Paraplegia is paralysis (complete loss of functioning) of both lower limbs, usually caused by a
spinal cord injury below the level of the first thoracic vertebra, or in some rare
cases by an illness. Individuals may also experience a range of other changes such as
incontinence of urine and faeces, issues with body temperature control and chronic pain.
Following the accident or illness that caused paraplegia, an individual will initially be cared for in
a hospital setting. However, in the longer term, people with paraplegia are usually cared for in
their own home. A variety of assistive equipment is available to support their care, including
pressure relieving mattresses and pads, hoists and other transfer aids to assist moving position,
powered or manually operated wheelchairs, ramps, incontinence pads, reachers (to help pick up
small items) grab rails and aids to help with dressing
Communication aids
Communication aids may be used by people with a speech, visual or hearing impairment to help
them interact and exchange ideas and information with other people. Aids range from simple
communication boards to sophisticated electronic equipment.
-Assistive technologies are available such as software to convert text to speech, or to enable
operation by eye gaze or voice recognition, and computer switches for easier internet access
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