level 5 unit 513

Donna James. Unit 513
5.1 & 5.4
People who play an important role in service users lives are families and significant others. These are more often than not the people who know the service user best and can be an invaluable source of information and support. Family members and significant others are a very good source of information which may help support workers to understand the service user’s needs, preferences, history choice and the things they like or dislike. Support workers might be best positioned in order to provide the help service users need to achieve the best possible outcomes if they develop and maintain a good relationship with the service users families and their significant others and they all work together in order to achieve the same outcome. The benefits of support workers, significant others and families working together are enormous and invaluable. The service user’s psychological and social well-being is improved by the help of support by family and carers. There is a greater willingness to share, tackle any misunderstanding and resolve any issues as quickly as possible. Families and significant others can be crucial to what service users experience or continue to experience and achieve. Support workers should work with the families and significant others of service users in order to help shape the care and support that they receive. Some of this could be where families and significant others continue to engage and remain involved in all parts in the delivery of the service users care and support. Some family members may choose to continue supporting the service user with their finances, shopping, appointments, taking service users out regularly or just giving general support whilst at the same time helping to ensure that the service user’s life is full and enjoyable with the support of staff and family members.
5.4
The Data Protection Act 1998 covers the way in which service user’s information is shared. It’s important that all staff aware that no information about any of the service users is to be shared with any family members or significant others if consent is not given by the service user. The Human Rights Act 1998 is in place to ensure that the service user’s choices and decisions are respected as long as the service users mental capacity and not only the choice of the family and significant others. Service users have the right to make their own decisions and these decisions must be respected and not what the family decide. The mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a framework in order to empower and protect service users who are unable to make decisions on their own. It provides opportunities for the service users to plan ahead for a time when they may lose all their mental capacity. If this does happen the service users have an appointed someone to be their power of attorney, this gives the individual certain power in order to make some decisions on the service users behalf. The Care Standard Act 200 also ensures that the service user is at the centre of the care being given at all times. Social workers code of conduct also sets out professional code of conduct and expected ways of working for all health and social care workers. It is important that all staff follow these principles and orgasations policies and procedures to ensure that everyone is working within a safe practice at all times.