Personal Cares

Personal Cares

Script

Contents

Segment 1 - Holistic Needs

Segment 2 - A Person’s Rights

Segment 3 - Steps To Providing Care

Segment 4 - Observe, Record and Report

Segment 5 - Functional Ability

Segment 6 - Communication

Segment 7 - Providing Personal Care

Segment 8 - Providing Personal Care

Segment 9 – Denture Hygiene

Segment 10 - Mouth Ulcers and Cold Sores

Segment 11 - Dressing & Undressing

Segment 12 - Additional Cares

Segment 13 - Supporting Appliances

Segment 14 - Encouraging Independence

Segment 1 -Holistic Needs

Slide 1

One of the most important things you do when assisting or supporting a person is to provide personal cares. It is not just about looking after their physical needs it is about looking after the whole person and all their needs. So in this segment I will discuss what is holistic needs and then describe what the physical, emotional and spiritual needs are for a person

Slide 2 What Are Holistic Needs?

Well this is looking at all the things a person needs and includes their physical needs as well as their emotional, mental and spiritual needs so it means you look after the whole person, not just what you see their physical needs are

Slide 3 Physical Needs

Firstly,let’s look at a person physical needs. This looks at all the things that a person needs for their physical body. The things that you do for yourself every day and don’t think twice about. It includes things like keeping the body cleanso they feel clean and comfortable so this includes showering, toileting and bathing. It also means that you give them the right food to eat so their body can function properly and they have enough to fluid to drink as well.

Slide 4 Physical Needs

Physical needs also mean you help them to do the tasks they cannot do for themselves. It could be that they have some physical impairment like a stoke that they need some support from you to walk or they may have a disease like Multiple Sclerosis where it has progressed where they are wheelchair bound so you help to keep them mobile. It could also mean they need help going to the toilet or having hearing aids put in their ears so they can hear. So you see physical care looks at all the things you do to help them with their daily lives. There are many things you do to help a person with their physical needs which we will discuss in later segments

Slide 5 Emotional Needs

Everyone has emotional needs that need support to. This includes things like how they feel about themselves, their environment in which they live and life in general.

Slide 6 Emotional Needs

So they may not feel that great about themselves and have a negative attitude or they may be very positive about life. They may feel very accepted or not accepted. They may also feel like they have no control over their life.

Slide 7 Emotional Needs

They may not feel valued or respected, loved or unlovable or may feel they are being excluded or not included in the things that are happening to them and their lives. Quite often people do not share what they are feeling so you need to be very understanding and considerate towards them

Slide 8 Mental wellbeing

Having good mental health often relates to the way we talk to ourselves – our inner dialogue or I like to call it our chatter box. It never stops does it? Well the people in your care are just the same as you but they may not tell you what is going on. So it is about the things we think about and how we value and accept ourselves. It also includes how we react to things that happen to us in life or go wrong or not the way we planned it to. You know the things we cannot change.

Slide 9 Mental Wellbeing

Your mental wellbeing is dependent on how realistic you are about your circumstances or expectations, whether you are happy or sad; how well you look after yourself and eat, exercise and sleep. So you see good mental wellbeing is dependent on you but it does not mean that you tell people to be happy, or be content with their life. Each person has to make their own decisions on how they see the world.

Slide 10 Spiritual wellbeing

This can be very hard to understand as everyone has a different meaning or interpretation of spirituality however you cannot not be a spiritual being. It is part of who we all are and everyone expresses it in a different way. it is not necessarily about religious practices either but it is for many. So what you need to know and do is respect spiritual beliefs even if they are different to yours. You need to understand accepted procedures and protocols for the person so if they are not in the personal care plan, you need to ask them or their family what you can and cannot do. There may be certain parts of the body that you should not touch or there may be other personal contact that may be inappropriate for you to touch. So what this all means is that you talk to the person and find out about the things that are important to them and how they would like you to support them.

Segment 2 - A Person’s Rights

Slide 1 Index

A person in your care has many rights. It is not just about you going in and doing the cares that they need or you have been told to give them. They are a person just like you and they have the same rights as you so now we will talk about these rights.

Now there are many reasons why people need support to live so I will discuss why people need support, some conditions that may require them to have support, the type of support they may require and the important points about providing support and how you will find out the support a person needs

Slide 2 A person’s rights

Firstly, you must respect them as an individual. As I just said, they are not the same as your, they have different beliefs, needs, wants and abilities. So look at them as a unique individual.

You must also maintain their privacy. This means you respect their personal body and space. By this I mean things like not exposing any more of their body than is absolutely necessary to do the cares, closing the door when they are in the toilet or shower. The things that you do to maintain your privacy

You also need to make sure they understand you and communicate to them effectively. By this I mean you explain everything you are about to do so they don’t get a fright when you start doing cares. You tell them when you are going to come and do their cares, not just prance in without giving them time to mentally prepare for the care you are about to do. You know, the little courtesies that make a person feel loved, valued and cared for.

Slide 3 A person’s rights

You must always get their consent before you do any care. By this I mean you tell them what is about to happen or how you are going to support them so they do not get a fright and they are happy about what is about to be performed. They agree to what is going to happen.

You also need to provide the care to the standard that is not only appropriate to the person but to the level of care they require. By this I mean, you do not wheel a person to the dining room when, with your help they can get there by walking or you feel them when they are quite capable of feeding themselves although they may be a bit slow. So think about what is right and appropriate for the person not for you so you can get through your work quicker.

Slide 4 A person’s rights

It is also important that a person maintains their own independence. Now this is similar to the previous where the care is appropriate standard, so if we take wheeling a person to the dining room again as another example, you will make them more dependent and they could lose the ability to walk. Another example is when they are being showered, let them wash as much of themselves as they can and you assist. The same is with eating and drinking. You support them not take their independence away from the.

So when delivering care, you must ensure that you take all these things into consideration first.

Slide 5 Why people need support?

Well there are many reasons for this. It could be that they have a medical condition that affects how they live. It could be something like Parkinson’s Disease where they shake so much they cannot manage their care themselves. They could have heart disease or lung disease which makes them breathless if they exert themselves too much.

They could have Multiple Sclerosis which has developed to such a stage where they physically cannot do the care for themselves or even a stroke and they are paralysed down one side leaving them with a physical disability.

It could also be that they have medical condition that causes them so much pain that they cannot do it for themselves. It could be something like rheumatoid arthritis or cancer.

Slide 6 Why people need support

The person may have a sensory impairment like blindness or some other sight condition where they are unable to see. Hearing loss may also be a reason a person needs support to perform tasks. For more on sensory impairment go to the Aging process- Sensory System

They may have an intellectual impairment that affects their ability to make every day decisions. This could be some condition from birth or from some other life event that has left them unable to manage their life without support like a head injury that has affected their ability to make decisions.

They could have a depression or mental health condition where making every day decision are just too difficult they need help to manage their life.

Slide 7 Conditions requiring support

People will vary in the type of support they need. I talked about it in the previous slides but let’s take this a little further. There may be such things as where the person has no control over their body movements like in Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease or a spinal injury.

Their ability to make decisions may be impaired by an intellectual disability like dementia or a genetic condition.

It may be that they are unable to feed themselves. Now this could be they physically cannot feed themselves from an injury or they may not be able to prepare a meal or have forgotten how to feed themselves.

Slide 8 Conditions requiring support

The person may have behavioural issues caused by a mental illness or mental impairment whereby they are unable to take full care of themselves or their lives.

They may have difficulty taking care of their own health by eating or drinking, or making healthy choices or they may have difficulty showering and keeping their body clean so they end up with skin conditions.

Going to the toilet on their own may be difficult. It could be due to mobility or mental health conditions so you need to give them support here.

Their ability to give instructions to people who support them or know what to do when they are asked to do something. They just don’t understand.

So there are many reasons a person needs support however regardless of the reason, they do not need to have their rights violated. It is also difficult sometimes to separate out why a person needs support too but at the end of the day, they need support to live their lives and you are in a very privileged position to be able to assist them.

Slide 9 Type of support

Like there are many reasons a person needs support and there are many different conditions, the type and level of support varies too. Now a person may need support to with showering and getting dressed in the morning but once they are up they can manage throughout the day with minimal support. They may have a partner or family member that can be with them but can’t do some basic cares for a variety of reason.

A person my need help with basic housework and doing the laundry to enable them to be able to stay in their own home or they may have a temporary disability like a broken leg or recovering from surgery. They may have a partner or family member that needs to work so by giving some support with basic housework, the workload is taken of the primary carer.

It may be that they have a catheter or colostomy that they cannot manage on their own and need some support with.

Slide 10 Type of support

They may live on their own but need help to go and purchase supplies so they can keep living at home so you may need to take them shopping.

There may be no one to take them to the doctor, hospital appointments or get medication so this could be part of your role.

It could be that they can no longer take care of themselves fully or their principle caregiver has passed away. It could be that they are not safe to be on their own because they may fall or may wander away and get lost.

Slide 11 important points about providing support

When providing support, you need to make sure it is safe and respects the person dignity and privacy as I mentioned earlier so you don’t just go in and give the support you think the person needs. You have to find out what they exactly need and want. There are many ways to find this our and one of them will be the person support plan, or care plan whatever the term is that is used. This will give you a guide however you must also the person when you go to give the support what they need or want. Now some people may not be able to tell you so you will then need to ask a family member or person who holds their power of attorney.

Slide 12 Important points about providing support

I have talked about communication so you also need to talk to the person and tell them what you are going to do before you do it. This is respecting a person and treating them in a dignified way. No one likes surprises so always be courteous and get consent.

When providing cares, it is important to not rush the person either. While you may be under pressure to get your work done, the person you are caring for needs gentle loving care and is at their pace not yours. I know it may be difficult sometimes as you may have a heavy work load but think of it from the person’s point of view. What would it feel like to be rushed and made to feel a nuisance? It is very likely that they may already feel uncomfortable and distressed and not being able to take care of themselves, you do not need to add to their discomfort and distress because you are rushed.

Slide 13 Important points about providing support

Always be gentle too. Many people, especially the elderly, have very sensitive skin and sore joints so don’t be rough with them. While you may not think you are, check in and ask the person if you are being gentle. Imagine how you would feel if someone was rough with you? Would you feel respected? I don’t think so.

Segment 3 - Steps To Providing Care

Slide 1 Index

When providing care, it is really important that you have a planned process to provide this care or you will be all over this place. Not being organised will contribute to both your stress levels and those you look after so in this segment I will talk about the things you should do to complete a task from planning, preparation, the support you offer and completion of the task or duty.

Slide 2 Planning – Plan your day

There is a saying ‘if you don’t know where you are going, anywhere will do?” Now it is important that you do not go “anywhere” with your care – you don’t have time. You have other people waiting for care whether in a facility or at home so you need to be very economical and efficient with your time while still be gentle, respectful as well as providing the appropriate care. So planning your day will help you immensely.

If you are in residential care, do a round of all the residents with the off going staff. Now this is really important because it saves you time and stops griping among colleagues. If you do a round and know what you are coming on to then you are prepared for your day. You have the option of accepting the place as it is or getting the off going staff to complete tasks or duties they should have done, or offer to do it for them. The key here is that you know what you are coming on to. This saves time and energy and helps keep a team together.