Lifespan Development Unit 19

Understanding a child in regression can help the service providers. This could be because they allow the child to act in the way they wish. This helps the child as they are able to grow in the way they want. The carer could help the parents cope by possibly providing a leaflet about regression for them, this could help the parent as they know why their child is acting this way, and therefore they can help the child grow the same as the care worker would. If the parent then responded appropriately to the child this would mean that the child was having a constant amount of learning in his life, rather then one thing at nursery and one at home.

Bereavement

Bereavement is where a person loses a loved one to death. This can cause mental upset and takes time and patience to come to terms with. It can often help if the bereaved person has someone to talk to. Understanding more about the processes involved in grieving for the loss of a loved one can help care workers in providing care for clients who are bereaved. This can be because the carer understands what the client is going through and therefore can be there for the client to talk to or to help known what they're going through. People can experience a bereavement reaction for other losses. This can be for a loss of a relationship, loss of a partner after divorce, the loss of a pet, the loss of a job, loss of a home (if the client has to give it up to live in a residential home). Bereavement will be at a different level of intensity for many different people, but the person will most likely experience many of the grieving feelings for some time. Having knowledge of the above can help care workers in responding to people who are coping with bereavement in many different settings, for example elderly, disabled and children.

When care staff do not understand the grieving process and how important it is to aid coming to terms with a loss they may try to avoid the bereaved person because they feel awkward. They could also pressurise the client to "bottle up" tears and feelings of sadness. If the carer does not understand the client can also try to be cheerful and not think about thinks that provoke tears or sadness. The carer may also try to say they understand how the client feels when they don't. This is because grieving is an individual process and one person can't know how it affects another. The carer could also try to chance the subject whenever the client tries to talk on anything that causes sadness. All of the above things can hinder the grieving process and make it more distressing for the bereaved person.

When care staff understands the grieving process they can listen to the client talk about their feelings and memories. They can support the client's needs if they wish to go the funeral. They can allow the client to cry and express sadness and anger about the loss. The care worker can also value the client's photographs and other mementoes.

The care worker should also respect anniversaries and what the client feels they want to do at those times; also they should respect spiritual needs, contact with spiritual advisers and attendance at their religious services.

Bowlby's theory of attachment

The theory helps children's workers understand the needs the young children for their parents or main carers. The theory states that a child needs to feel close to one person, and this helps them feel safe and like they belong.

This has resulted in the key worker system. This means that the child in a care environment has one "special friend" that they know and that spends time with them a lot. This means that they make a bond with them and they know that their key worker will always be there to be with them. The key worker system safeguards the psychological wellbeing of young children in day care. This is because they know that they are not being left alone and they are with someone that they know and that they know will care for them.