Having a Voice

Good care practice is essential in Health and Social Care and should be delivered by competent skilled care workers. Care workers are required to follow the guidelines specified in the five principles of care practice. The five principles assist the care worker in maintaining a good standard of care, which supports and respects the service users’ rights to appropriate services (K101, Unit 8, P134).

This essay will focus on one of these principles which support service users in having a voice and being heard. It will show why it is important for care workers to give services users the opportunity to have a voice and communicate their views and preferences together with the ability to convey their fears and concerns without being judged or discriminated against.

It will also consider how breakdowns in ‘effective communication’ (K101, Unit 8, P134) occur as a result of barriers arising, including ‘Physical Environment, Disability and Impairment, Attitudes, Cultural Differences and Emotions and Feelings (K101, Unit 8, P136). This can ‘dis-empower’ services users leading to an identity being imposed on them which may generate feelings of insecurity and worthlessness and deny them the right to a voice. Similarly, evidence will be provided to show care workers applying skills to develop strategies which aid in the process of overcoming these barriers. The evidence produced in this essay will be taken from case studies based on oral history and life story work. Both strategies grant service users the ability to talk about their past experiences, discover who they are and develop a sense of identity, thus providing them with feelings of confidence, security and self-esteem.

Having a voice through Oral History Work

The ca...

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...h and Social Care, Resources, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

The Open University (2010) K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care, DVD, Unit 5, Video 5.1 ‘Life Story Work: Jordan Morgan’s Life Story Book, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

The Open University (2010) K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care, DVD, Unit 7, Audio 7.2 ‘Ethical Issues in Oral History’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

The Open University (2010) K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care, Unit 5, ‘Identities and Lives’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

The Open University (2010) K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care, Unit 7, ‘Understanding the Past’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

The Open University (2010) K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care, Unit 8, ‘Developing Skills in Communication’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.