Health and Social Care †Service User Needs Essay

Individual service users have a range of needs, which must be met, including physical, intellectual, emotional ad social needs. In my case study, a care worker, a nurse and a doctor who in turn identified Sophie’s range of needs carried out Sophie’s care assessment. They then developed a plan to meet Sophie’s needs. This next section covers a range of approaches used in Health and Social Care to help services and practitioners meet the needs of individuals. An analysis of how practitioners meet the needs of Sophie and her family Physical Health Firstly, Sophie’s strengths and needs were considered. Her general health was discussed in relation to Sophie’s condition and impairments; access to and use of dentist, GP, optician; immunisations, development checks, hospital admissions, accidents, health advice and information. Next, Sophie’s physical development was assessed in relation to her nourishment, activity, relation, vision and hearing, fine motor skills (e.g. drawing), gross motor skills (e.g. mobility, playing games and sport). In addition, her speech language and communication skills were assessed. These included her preferred communication language, listening, responding and understanding. The care workers needed to ensure that Sophie had basic care, ensuring her safety and protection. Finally, it was important to confirm that Sophie was provided with food, drink, warmth, shelter, appropriate clothing and that her personal needs were assessed within a safe and healthy environment. Social Health Next, Sophie’s behavioural development including her lifestyle, self-control, behavior with peers, attention span and concentration were looked at. Then Sophie was assessed for her perceptions of self knowledge of personal and family history, sense of belonging, experiences of discrimination due to race, religion, age, gender, sexuality and disability. The multidisciplinary team of workers then focused on Sophie’s family and social relationships Sophie had with her friends. Intellectual Health The workers focused on her aspirations and ambitions in her confidence and progress was monitored and measured. Also Sophie’s understanding of reasoning and problem solving and her progress and achievement in learning was assessed and recorded. Emotional Health It was also important for Sophie to be raised in an emotionally warm and stable environment ensuring that the family was stable, affectionate, stimulating, where praise and encouragement and secure attachments were made. It was also necessary to make sure that Sophie had guidance, boundaries and stimulation and that self-control was encouraged and that she showed positive behavior. Finally, it was checked to see is Sophie’s family provided effective and appropriate discipline, avoiding over-protection and support for positive activities. Approached Used to Support Sophie’s Health and Well-being Treating diseases and illnesses at an early stage can improve outcomes. In the case of Sophie’s, Health and Social Care workers were aware that service users have social, intellectual and emotional needs and Sophie was supported at an early stage to make an informed choice about the treatment that was offered. In addition, a holistic approach was used which took into account of the whole needs of Sophie. By assessing all areas of Sophie’s physical, intellectual, emotional and social personal health, the practitioners involved helped to reduce the effects of her initial problem. By targeting the stress through the holistic approach, practitioners prevented the trauma of Sophie’s abuse from getting worse. Sophie was also given the opportunity to make decisions and not be treated as passive receivers of Health and Social Care services; this is called empowerment of patients. As a result, Sophie and her family become active participants in the support and care planning process.