HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE

Principals of Health and Social Care

Principals of Health and Social Care

1.1

The principles of support and care plays pivotal role in the social and health care practice designed for an individual. This support and care are the basic necessities of an individual who has been suffering from physical, mental or social troubles. These individuals need specialized support to improve the quality of their lives. This care is provided by the experts of health and social care.

The term principles of care refer to the set of specialized principles that are designed to care and support individuals in a proper manner. These principles are basically the guidelines provided to ensure patient safety and support. The principles are formed on the patient centered care approach and their adoption in the care process is essential for all the health and social care workers. These are the moral values that have to be espoused in practice. The chief principles of support and care include the following

Age sex and racial background

The factors like age, sex, racial or ethnical background should not become an obstacle in the provision of care and support services. Every individual should be treated and be taken care of equally. Discrimination should be completely avoided in a care setting.

Privacy and confidentiality

The privacy and confidentiality of the patient information should be maintained by the health care and social care professional

Access of information and patient involvement

The service users hold the complete ethical and legal right to have a complete access to their information. The care professional should involve the patient and seek his acceptance before taking any major decision for him.

Patient dignity

Every service user, regardless of their age, financial or mental status, should be treated equally with the maintenance of their dignity and given a separate entity in an organizational setup.

Protection of the patient

The protection of the patients is the duty of care professionals. The patients, like elderly or those who are dependent in terms of mobilization, should be prevented from falls and injuries in a setup.

The principles can be concluded as the set of guidelines that highlights the basic needs of an individual, in terms of care and support, and incorporates the vital elements of a quality care process keeping the requirements of service users as the main focus point.

1.2

Protecting Clients/ Service users and Colleagues from Injuries and Harms

The protection of patients from harms and injuries is the basic duty of care professionals. The harms are usually dependent on the patient's age and the underlying disease state. the harms might include physical harms like falls and injuries, or ethical harms like violating the patient's beliefs. Other harms might include sexual harassment, physical abuse negligence, and psychological stress. The harms are not limited to patients or the service users, but the colleagues are also involved in this category. Unintended needle pricks, aggressive behavior of the psychologically ill or violent patients, or any other substantial mishap might harm the care ...