Communicating in Health and Social Care.

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Health and Social Care Unit 2

Communicating in Health and Social Care

Introduction

For this unit I am going to gain knowledge and practice communication skills within a Health, Social Care or Early Years Setting.

The setting or organisation I am going to complete this unit is the LSU (Learning Support Unit) in a secondary school.

The LSU is committed to working with the school, parents, and students to support the learning of young people trough environments in which they can achieve physical and emotional well-being, and become productive members of their families, schools and communities. The staff in the LSU do this by providing direction and support.

The LSU provides support for clients that have just joined the secondary school, aged between 10 and 11, which have learning difficulties, these difficulties include:

  • Clients with emotional and behavioural difficulties; many clients with emotional and behavioural difficulties have poor literacy skills as a result of their inability to maintain concentration and stay on task.
  • Pupils with communication difficulties; many pupils with communication difficulties face particular challenges with literacy.

These clients will be working well below national expectations for their age groups. Some of the client’s vital foundation skills are missing, and even where clients have achieved a particular level in literacy; they may not be able to transfer those skills across all subjects.

To find out if clients need Learning Support they have reading and spelling tests when they first join secondary school, this ensures the clients in greatest need are identified immediately.

The clients who have specific needs are given counselling each week to draw up Personal Support Plans. They also have drama therapist.

There is also a ‘Social Skills Base’ that is staffed by an experienced SEN teacher and an LSA to teach pupils strategies and support them when they have problems.

The LSU has two members of staff; this makes the organisation all the more supportive and close knit. The LSU is also somewhere for pupils to go when they feel they are unable to cope in a lesson or if they are concerned that they will disrupt the lesson they can choose to go to the LSU. The LSU also provides these clients with a stable learning environment.

The LSU is funded by the government, it has the same government funding as the secondary school its in, it also gets some of its funding from the local authority.

How Client confidentiality is maintained at the LSU

Confidentiality is important for clients in need of a supportive setting. Confidentiality refers to the protection of personal and private details about the client’s situations or conditions. Within care settings, the principle of confidentiality plays a vital role in creating and maintaining the trust that successful and effective relationships depend upon. It is also important because:

  • Clients may not trust staff if they do not keep information confidential.
  • Clients may not feel valued or develop poor self-esteem if their personal and private details are shared with others.
  • Client’s safety may be put at risk if details of their property or their habits are widely known.
  • A professional service that maintains respect for individuals must keep private details and information confidential.
  • There are legal requirements to keep personal records confidential.

Confidentiality is an important value that should be a constant consideration for health and social care workers in their interactions with clients.

The clients in the LSU are often vulnerable and anxious about their situations, because of this, staff must be able to establish suitable relationships and communicate effectively. Confidentiality is given a high value by health and social care workers, because it is seen to be a foundation on which they build a relationship with the client. If the client does not have confidence in the staff they will never be able to trust them enough to establish an effective relationship. Trust is very important, with this in the relationship the client will feel more able to tell the staff what they really think and feel. Self-esteem is also involved in maintaining client confidentiality, because if the helper is able to keep information confidential, it shows that your client matters.

The LSU is generally given four different types of information about each client, which makes up the clients record:

  • Identification information, including name, address.
  • Medical information, including details of disease, extent of disease, treatment and past history.
  • Social information, including details of housing, family situation, ethnic background, problems at home.
  • Psychological information, including details of stress levels, emotions, learning, communication and behaviour problems.

To keep all of this information confidential it is stored on the computer, which is double password protected, and only three members of staff have the password, so access is very limited. Also when the client’s records are displayed on the computer screen, the staff must make sure the computer is shut down when they leave the room. The classroom is also kept locked when it is not in use. Information and details about clients is also kept securely and privately in locked filing cabinets. If it is only shared within the strict boundaries of the staff team and is only used for the purpose for which it was given. The LSU has a shredder, so any pieces of paper or notes from meetings or phone calls can be destroyed as soon as important information is recorded.

The client and their parents generally consent to this information being made available to a restricted group of care professionals on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, for example the head of year as this reduces access. In this unit because there are only three members of staff this helps to minimise the risk of breaches of confidentiality when disclosing information.

The clients (and parents) also expect that workers will respect the limits they place on the disclosure of information outside of the LSU for any reason that is not related to their care. The staff should not break confidentiality in situations in which the client has a right to privacy such as their comments or behaviour that do not cause anybody harm or break the law.

Disclosure of personal details or information about a client’s situation must only be made with their (and parents) explicit consent. It is important to know what a client wants to be confidential, they may not wish their relatives and friends to know, wherever possible, the LSU discuss what they can and cannot pass on to other people. Information should only be given to people who have a ‘need-to-know’. They have to be careful what they say and to whom they say it. I realise that it is very important that what I heard in the classroom I did not reveal elsewhere. Although it was possible for me to discuss issues that have arisen with the staff in the LSU, whilst being careful not to disclose specific details that may identify the client, this ensured that client confidentiality was maintained.

The law protects client confidentiality, as it is a basic human right. The Data Protection Acts of 1984 and 1998 mean that information must be kept securely and not passed to any unauthorised persons and they give the client the right to have any access to any files kept about them with very few exceptions.

All records about a client that are filed will be seen as data, whether they are held electronically or on paper.

The 1998 Act provides individuals with a range of rights including:

  • The right to know what information is held and to see and correct the information if necessary.
  • The right to refuse to provide information
  • The right that data should be accurate and up to date.
  • The right that information should not be kept longer than necessary.
  • The right to confidentiality – that the information should not be accessible to unauthorised people.

Disclosure of confidential information without consent can, and in some cases must be made, such as when the information is required by a Court Order, or when one can justify that the disclosure is necessary in the wider public interest or the clients safety.

There are times when care workers have to reveal what they have been told or seen to a more senior person (deputy head). A client’s request that you keep what they tell you confidential can be overridden if:

  • What they reveal involves them breaking the law or planning to do so.
  • They tell you that they intend to harm himself or herself or another person.
  • They reveal information that can be used to protect another person from harm.
  • The client may be in danger.

Staff should never promise a client that what they say will be absolutely confidential. They should explain that, depending on what they are told or observe, there are times when they may have to share the information with their colleagues and other authorities.

Communicating in a Health and Social Care Setting

Effective communication in care work is essential in order to improve the quality of people’s lives by addressing a range of needs, to create a safe, welcoming and valuing environment. Effective communication is vital if staff are to foster peoples equality, diversity and rights.

Health and care work involves constant communication with others. Even when staff are not taking, their body language will be influencing other around them, this is called informal interaction. The way care staff undertake informal communication is very important, they should make their clients feel respected and valued. Formal interactions require care workers to work within appropriate verbal and non-verbal skills. Some situations also require emotional skills or special skills in working with people with communication differences.

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The effectiveness or success of communication in health and social care settings is influenced by a number of interpersonal and environmental factors. Some of these factors enhance, or help, communication, whilst others inhibit, or reduce, its effectiveness. Health and social care workers can often overcome interpersonal and environmental barriers to effective communication by:

  • Being aware of possible problems and solutions associated with each factor
  • Adapting their interaction approach to take account of each factor
  • Making simple modifications to the physical environmental of a care setting.

I am going to consider a number of factors when doing ...

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