They provide programmes for service users to gain skills and qualifications to help get them started with their career or life choices.
A different range of service users would use the services provided by the Cedar Foundation, the different services provided would be Kids and Teens, Employment and learning services, Brain Injury services, Living accommodations support. Each of these services help service users get the rights and help they need, the rights are also linked to the care value base, as both promote the rights and needs, and can also help care practitioners.
For example the Cedar Foundation would work closely with employers and by encouraging and supporting them to provide job placements for services users to be avail of. Another example would be that they aim to help get service users that have suffered from a brain injury back on with their life and help them achieve their goals and having a good life.
Again the service users rights are similar to The Care Value Base, they offer a range of rights that service users expect in a positive care environment.
There are a range of rights that service users would expect and hope to receive within a care environment, and The Cedar Foundation promote these to service users by giving them their rights in the following;
Confidentiality – means that whatever information you tell to a service, person or care practitioner will not be passed on and the person you see won’t tell anyone that you’ve been to see him or her without your permission.
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My explanation of confidentiality is giving someone privacy and gaining their trust that they are able to keep your information in confidence and not tell anyone without you knowing.
The Cedar Foundation promote confidentiality by not passing on any information they have been given by service users to any other organisations, and that information will be stored follows the legal rules by The Data Protection Act 1998 and is treated as confidential. The Data Protection Act 1998 is a United Kingdom Act Of Parliament and defines UK law on the processing of data of identifiable living people in the UK and protects any data or information stored on any person living in the UK.
There may be occasions when the worker would need to divulge a service users information. These occasions could be linked to issues of child protection or vulnerable adult concerns. Any information given to the worker would be shared through the Cedar Foundation policy and procedure guidelines. This information may need to be shared to the police if indeed the service user is in any danger.
Effective Communication – means that we are able to express ourselves both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. To gain effective communication the “communication cycle” would also be used which takes into account the way information is being received by the other person.
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I personally think effective communication is important within a positive care environment as communication is a two way process and each person needs to be able to receive and understand the message given by each person.
The Cedar Foundation help promote effective communication as they make sure that they communicate with every service user in different ways including sign language, braille and computing technology . They have trained staff in sign language to be able to give effective communication to even those who have hearing impairments which shows they are a positive care environment.
Also another organisation that engages with their patients is The Southend Estuary Clinical Commissioning Group is one of many CCGs committed to patient-centred working and putting patient and public engagement at the heart of their organistaion.
‘If you embrace patients and the public right from the start, that will lead to better outcomes in the commissioning you do’ – Dr Paul Hasselbee, CEO Southend Estuary CCG.
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Anti-discriminatory practice – a service user has a right not to be discriminated against.
I personally think that anti-discriminatory practice is important in a positive care environment as nobody should be discriminated against because of their disability and they have a right to stand up for themselves.
But also the Cedar Foundation help service users with anti-discriminatory practice, as employee’s are trained not to discriminate against any of the service users and that they are there to get their rights and choices respected and gained.
Empowerment – When someone empowers the other person and takes control over something or someone.
I think personally that no care practitioner or worker should take control of a service users decisions about their lives, and that the service user has the right to decide what they want to do. Care practitioners or health workers should work closely with the service users and help them decide but not to make the decision for them.
The Cedar Foundation follow this procedure of empowerment by helping them express their issues and one way they did this was by letting them express their views and feelings by writing a magazine called “Branching Out”. The organisation is letting the service users be in control and supporting them and helping and learning from the experience.
Direct quote: Claire McCambley, speaking on behalf of the group said: "This is a great opportunity for a group of young people with disabilities to express our issues and provide a platform for other similar young people. It's also providing us with a new range of skills and experience which we'll all benefit from in the longer term. We can really say that we're all branching out." Source:
The organisation also promotes independent living and support for service users that are living alone or are deciding to live alone. They enable individuals to have more control of their lives. And create an individual support plan detailing the expectations and responsibilities of all involved in the process.
It also takes service users on visits and outings to different places, they have an Outlook Team which can collect young children or teenagers from school and take them on outings to the cinema, bowling or shopping or any choice that the service user may want to do. They also provide support and care for the parents or carers of the service user, for example if they wanted a short break from caring, they could take a break away, and the outlook team would provide care for the children or service user.
Respect for individual choice, identity and beliefs – To respect and individuals choice and what they want to do, and their different beliefs and views are respected.
The Cedar Foundations services are person-centred and allows individuals to design their own programmes around their needs. This helps them build up a programme of their choice and pace, as they gain confidence, and that they are there to help and support the service users issues and concerns.
They also provide choice, for example if they were taking a service user on an outing they would provide them with choice on where they wanted to go. They also provide choice in living support, you can choose to have living support or housing support where they can provide facilities within your home to help them live better. Or they can help them find somewhere suitable to live and where their needs can be met.
To summarize how the Cedar Foundation promote equality within its organisation, it works closely with its service users and helps them with their needs and rights, and provides them with choice as in living options or different services they may need use of. They are positive organisation which strives to meet the needs of service users and do not empower or take control of decisions. They offer a wide range of activities for young people to do, and also help the parents or carers of the service users. From personal experience, I personally think that the Cedar Foundation are an excellent organisation which puts their service users first and provides fantastic services for people with different needs or disabilities.