TABLE OF CONTENTS

Task 1  (Report)

1 Understand perceptions of health, disability, illness and behaviour

Introduction

AC 1.1 Analyse concepts of health, disability, illness and behaviour in relation to users of health and social care services demonstrating coherence and logical development of concepts

AC 1.2 Assess how these perceptions of specific needs have changed over time.

AC 1.3 Analyse the impact of legislation, social policy, society and culture on the ways that services are made available for individuals with specific needs, demonstrating the ability to synthesis a range of ideas and arriving at justifiable conclusions.

AC2.1 Analyse the care needs of two individuals in your setting with specific conditions justifying your choice.

AC 2.2 Explain current systems for supporting individuals with specific needs.

Conclusion

Task 2 Essay

2 Approaches and intervention strategies that support individuals with specific needs.

AC 2.3 Evaluate the services available in your workplace for individuals with specific needs demonstrating justifying your conclusions based on evidence obtained from your independent research.

AC 3.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of intervention strategies for an individual with a specific need(s) demonstrating the ability to generate ideas and make effective decisions on how strategies can be improved.

Task 3 Report on current approaches and intervention strategies

Introduction

AC 3.1 Explain the approaches and interventions available to support individuals with specific needs.

AC 3.3 Discuss the potential impact of emerging developments on support for individuals with specific needs.

Conclusion

Task 4 Challenging behaviour

Prepare a newsletter article on Strategies for Coping with challenging behaviours associated with Specific Needs (Evidence type_ Newsletter).

References

Task 1

1 Understand perceptions of health, disability, illness and behaviour

Introduction

In earlier days, people with specific needs were not given much importance in the society. However, with the increased awareness, enhanced social and political development and advances in science and technology, previously existing misconceptions has been shifted towards better perspective(Sanderson-Mann & McCandless, 2005). In health and social care sector, it is vital to understand the specific needs of individuals in order to provide the quality services which benefits them as well as the society. In order to assess the care needs, it is necessary to identify the health condition of that individual.

My report aims to understand the perception of health, disability, illness and behaviour. My report also looks at the historical perceptions towards specific needs and how it has changed over time. I am going to take dementia and learning disability as a special condition to explore the care needs of such patients. Finally, i will look at the current systems that exist to support such individuals.

AC 1.1Analyse concepts of health, disability, illness and behaviour in relation to users of health and social care services demonstrating coherence and logical development of concepts

The term health has been described by World Health Organization as a state of thebody with wellness in terms of mental, physical and social aspects including the absence of any kinds of disease or ailments.

Disability is the condition or state of a person that restricts him/her from carrying out their normal tasks effectively. But disability is not just a health problem. It is complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives. Overcoming the difficulties faced by people with disabilities requires interventions to remove environmental and social barriers.

Illness is a diseased condition of a body or mind because of which the affected will be unable to carry out their normal activities efficiently. Illness is a feeling, an experience of unhealthy which is entirely personal, interior to the person of the patient. Often it accompanies disease, but the disease may be undeclared as in the early stages of cancer or tuberculosis or diabetes. Sometimes illness exist where no disease can be found.

Kasl& Cobb define health behaviour as any kind of activity adopted by a person in order to maintain sound health condition by preventing disease. Behavioural issues indicates the significant change in behaviour of the people. This sometimes leads to serious mental illness and depression in people(Forrest, 1996).

Normality is the state of a body with complete absence of disease, infections, deformities and wellness in terms of physical, mental and social aspect

What is autism?

Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them. WE now know that there is not one autism but many types, caused by different combinations of genetic and environmental influences. Autism’s most-obvious signs tend to appear between 2 and 3 years of age. In some cases, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months.

Some facts about autism

• An estimated 50,000 teens with autism become adults- and lose school-based autism services-each yaer
• Around one third of people with autism remain nonverbal
• Around one third of people with autism have an intellectual disability
• Certain medical and mental health issues frequently accompany autism. They include gastrointestinal disorders, seizures, sleep disturbances, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and phobias.

What is learning disability?

A learning disabilities is a reduced intellectual ability and difficulty with everyday activities-household task, socialising or managing money-which affects someone for their whole life. People with learning disability tend to take longer and may need support to develop new skills, understand complicated information and interact with other people.

The level of support someone needs is very individually. For example someone with mild learning disability may only need support with things like getting job, someone with a severe learning disability may need fulltime care and support with every aspect of their life- they may also have physical disabilities.

An instance of learning disability, dementia and autism can be taken where the person is unable to carry out their normal tasks as the result of neurological disorder(Killick, 2004). In order to prevent such disease, various measures are taken into account such as immunisation against a certain disease that is likely to give rise to this condition, etc. which is known as health behaviour.

Different models of disability

• Medical model – Disability is defined by medical condition
• Social model- Disability is viewed on the basis of organisation of society
• Post-social model – Disability is associated to all but differ in degree and cause.
• Economic model – Disability is theinability of one to be involved in work.
• Functional model – Disability is theinability to perform normal tasks.

AC 1.2 Assess how these perceptions of specific needs have changed over time.

People with specific needs were considered as a burden to the society as they were tagged as deformed objects. They were viewed as asubject of pity or fear. They were subjected to discrimination and are provided with less or no opportunities at all. Such groups were most vulnerable to abuse and are intercepted from exercising their rights. Disabled people were segregated that stigmatised them discouraging from participating in social activities(Swinkels et al., 2002). For example, people with learning disabilities usually have the specific needs from the social care workers. People with learning disabilities form a heterogeneous group in relation to the age, disability degree and associated problems (Fox, 1998). In the past, there were large hospitals established with the aim of giving care to the people with specific needs due to prolonged physical or mental illness. But with time the hospitals became overcrowded and the quality of the care provided to them declined.

With the social and political developments, various laws and legislations in favour of disabled people were enforced. This not only strengthened the disabled people but also changed the historical perspective towards disability. The professional staffs were then shifted to the specialist work communities that worked for the people with specific needs. This helped in improving the effectiveness of the treatment and care given.

Further, advancement in the medical field and technologies, disabled people were provided with numerous health facilities that improved their health condition, fuelled them with confidence and enabled them to make a possible contribution from their side as a normal person(Boaz & Morgan, 2014).

AC 1.3 Analyse the impact of legislation, social policy, society and culture on the ways that services are made available for individuals with specific needs, demonstrating the ability to synthesis a range of ideas and arriving at justifiable conclusions.

Various legislation supporting people with specific needs include Human Rights Act 1998, Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004, Disability Discrimination Act 2005, The Mental Health Act 2007, The Health and Social Care Act 2008, The Children Act 2004/Policies, etc. Enforcement of these acts has enabled such people to acquire quality services from their carer. With the enforcement of legislations and social policy, a lot of changes have been observed in the attitude of people towards the individuals with specific needs(Finnamore & Lord, 2007). Comparatively, such people were provided with utmost care and quality services were made available to them. It also modified the existing stigmatisingattitude and practices. People who breach the legislation were subjected to punishment. Disabled people were also provided with opportunities to participate in social activities effectively. If the people with disabilities are excluded by the society due to their illness or disability can lead to further depression that can worsen the health conditions. People with specific needs have the rights to get proper treatment with dignity, compassion and respect by the care workers(Bradshaw, 2000) Policies further encouraged organisations to undertake community care initiatives because of which people with specific needs found an extended field to improve their condition along with contributing to the society from their side. The cultural factors include the discrimination among the races. The discrimination between colour, caste or creed makes adults vulnerable. Discrimination is the main reason behind the physical abuse and leaves the adults in isolation to deal with their own health issues.

Task 2

2 Approaches and intervention strategies that support individuals with specific needs.

AC2.1 Analyse the care needs of two individuals in your setting with specific conditions justifying your choice.

There are several care needs for the people suffering from dementia and challenging behaviour. Addressing their care needs is very important in order to provide the most satisfying service to them. Mr.Smith and Mrs. Willson   have dementia and challenging behaviour. They comes under the category of vulnerable people with specific needs.