Importance of Social Work in Helping the Needy: Dementia - Essay Example

?IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL WORK IN HELPING THE NEEDY: DEMENTIA Introduction This research paper will set to define social care and give further insights on what it entails. The importance of social work will be highlighted with its emerging issues discussed. Social care is a sector that covers all the occupations which are aimed at helping individuals overcome difficulties that are related to physical, environmental, mental and lifestyle problems. These individuals are henceforth rendered unable to perform their day to day activities. The paper will further analyse critically the rights of the individuals receiving the care, respect that all the stakeholders in the social care field deserve and will finally discuss the challenges faced by the care givers in the field. Do the rights of the individuals receiving the care supersede those of the care givers? Are the challenges faced by the care givers justified? This research paper will seek to answer these questions and many more that will arise Social care can further be described as a sector that advances care to individuals who are incapacitated to perform their daily activities through the use of social workers. Social care is divided into two main types; child social care and adult social care. Adult social care is the fastest growing type of social care among the two and it involves advancing care to the homeless, individuals with mental health problems, the elderly and disabled individuals. Social work issues are facing the society now. This is a relevant topic in today’s society with changes proposed in the field by many governments to cut the costs incurred by many governments (UK government, The Guardian, Social Care Network) The social workers are the individuals who advance the care to the incapacitated individuals and they can be professional or non-professional. Social care is majorly advanced to individuals with mental health problems. Individual with mental health problems majorly suffer from Dementia. Dementia is the loss of mental functions especially thinking and reasoning which interferes with a person’s daily functioning. This is not a disease in itself but it is a group of symptoms. Individual with these symptoms mostly suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disorder. Why are there many vacancies and high staff turnover in social care? Social care has a negative image due to the two raised questions and not much has been done over the years to repair the tainted and negative image that social care is receiving. This topic is of importance because it employs a significant proportion of employees in many countries thus providing employment. In the United Kingdom, social work employs 2.3 million adults which are roughly 6% of the total UK workforce. Dementia is further explained by cognition as a serious state of lack of cognitive ability. Cognition is the ability of an individual to perform psychological functions after the brain processes information. Most of the text on Social work is on providing help for individuals with mental health problems especially dementia. This is not an exclusive area of concern for social care but care is also advanced to the elderly and the disabled individuals. Recently, social care is moving from its original place where care was given in homes, day care centres and nursing homes to residential homes of those in need of the care. Analysis of the rights of the individual An individual receiving care from the care givers or the social workers should be aware of his/her rights which have been stipulated under the European Convention on Human Rights. These rights are the rights that a human being is entitled to due to humanity. Any human being is to be treated with respect and dignity. Some of the rights that the individual is entitled to in the care centres are; Right not to be discriminated against The care givers and the doctors need not to discriminate any individual receiving care in the care centres on either the basis of their race, sickness or age. All the individuals receiving care are human beings and the basic of life is to treat each human being humanly with respect and dignity. Right to life All human beings are entitled to right to life therefore they should be treated as worthy beings without any favours. All the mentally ill patients should be entitled to medicines in time and they should be cared for like any other persons living in the day care centre. Those who are older should be cared for and they should be encouraged to live healthy lives and games should be provided to make them have activities to engage themselves in and help them have a comfortable stay. The care givers should engage all care recipients so that they can feel valued and live happier lives in the care centres. This right of life should be exercised as stipulated under the European Convention on Human Rights. Right not to be subjected to torture, inhuman treatment or punishment The care receivers are individuals who are mentally incapacitated to carry out their daily duties therefore they should be helped to carry out their daily duties and help them live in humane conditions. The disabled should be helped to move from their places of sleep to out of their rooms and back. The old on the other hand should be treated with utmost care. This is the stage where they reflect back on the lives that they lived and if they are satisfied with their lives. If one feels that he/she lived a good life then he/she will feel proud and be wise even on death if not some individuals will feel bitter (Erikson E.H, Psychosocial Development Stages). Such individuals should be treated with care to make them have a sense of belonging. Right to Liberty and Security The individuals who live in the homes should have these rights so that they can live peacefully and without any fear. They should be left with some time to do things at their own will so that they feel that they have control over their actions1. The governments have invested a lot of cash on them therefore security is a very important right that they are entitled to. They should be left to the environment of the day care to nature them and make them feel like human beings who are cared for, secure and with free will to make decisions about what they want and they can only be helped to achieve what they cannot mentally comprehend. Right to respect for Private and family life The day care centres or the homes should be able to allow the family members of the care receivers to visit their relatives. This is a right and such individuals will be satisfied and happy at the idea of being visited by their family members. No one should be denied the right to be visited in the hospital. The care recipients should also be allowed to interact and make friends within the homes as this makes them develop friendships which can help them share experiences in life therefore appreciate family life. Respect Respect is a very core principle that guides the relationship between the care givers and the recipients of the care in the homes, nursing homes and day care centres. The professional staffs are those who have been trained by the governments to provide the social service therefore are aware of the need to respect the care recipients. The non-professional staffs, support staff, are the ones who should be educated on the importance of respecting those who are receiving care. This is because they have not undergone training in social work therefore might not necessarily understand the concept of respect. This concept has many meanings but it can mean, ‘a fundamental value that is morally upright and shared by different individuals or societies’ (Jonathan Haidt, University of New York). From many other scholarly works, respect is two ways therefore both the care givers and the recipients of the care should treat each other with high regard for each other. Respect has many aspects to it with the main aspect being that respect should be both given if one desires to receive some respect from other people. The support staff should be taught how respect manifests itself with ideas on how to communicate effectively using language (use polite language use) and using different physical gestures due to the fact that certain gestures can have different meaning for different cultures. This concept of respect is a very important concept in social care. This is because social care involves human beings who are not mentally upright, or individuals who are homeless or individuals who are elderly hence care of the words or actions that one uses can go a long way in making an individual feel that he is cared for or feel that he has been wronged. Challenges facing those providing care The individuals who provide care in homes, nursing homes and day care centres are faced with a myriad of challenges which are real with governments not ready to solve them ( The Guardian, Social Care Network; Article by N. Johnson) The many challenges that the care providers grapple with include: Poor pay with regard to the tasks that they perform Social care providers are paid what is sufficient but with regard to the jobs that they perform, this seems to be very little cash to cover for the services that they provide. As the UK government increases the rates of receiving care, the care givers pay package is not improved. This problem is further complicated by the fact that the labour unions that are to fight for the rights of the care givers are the weakest in the United Kingdom. Little/scant attention to their needs of the Government This challenge compliments the previous challenge due to the fact that the government does not care about the problems of the care givers. The mechanism that they can use to gain a hearing from the government is through the trade unions which are deemed to be the weakest in the United Kingdom. This is a challenge that the care givers are faced with therefore care quality that is advanced is dwindling. Poor training Most of the social care workers who claim to be professionals after receiving training receive very low training which they are supposed to use to care for people. N. Johnson (The Guardian Writer) even adds a touch of sarcasms by noting that the care professionals are given almost the same care as those who care for cats yet they are supposed to care for an elderly grandmother. Bureaucracy In the UK there are specific times that a social care worker is supposed to help those in dire need of care. When these official time elapses, an individual can just help with ringing the various homes to find out if they can help the individual in need. This is the only thing one is lawfully allowed to do. Going to help the individual past the working hours is deemed as unlawful. This is a challenge to a fresh graduate of social care who really wants to help other people who are in need. Risk management This is a very common challenge affecting the care givers because they are obliged to minimize the risks first before going out to help and individual in need of care. If an individual calls for help past the workings times and say for example that it is raining, the social worker is advised not to venture in the rain due to the risks that may accompany the rain like thunderstorms or falling trees. Conclusion Social care involves interaction with human beings therefore treatment of an individual with respect and humanity goes a long way in making a care recipient feel appreciated. The literature on social work is vast but this review captured the important aspects of the care givers, the major and common diseases that lead to ill mental health, the right of the individuals receiving care and the challenges facing the care givers. Adult social care is the most common type of social care as the elderly population is very high with many individuals in need of social care which can be advanced to them even in their residential homes. Reference BIERNACKI, C. (2007). Dementia metamorphosis in care. Chichester, England, John Wiley & Sons. CAYTON, H., GRAHAM, N., & WARNER, J. (2002). Dementia: Alzheimer's and other dementias. London, Class Pub. CAYTON, H., GRAHAM, N., & WARNER, J. (2002). Dementia: Alzheimer's and other dementias. London, Class Pub. HUNTER, S. (1997). Dementia: challenges and new directions. London, Jessica Kingsley. MAJ, M., & SARTORIUS, N. (2003). Dementia. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=152671. MAY, H., EDWARDS, P., & BROOKER, D. (2009). Enriched care planning for people with dementia a good practice guide for delivering person-centred dementia care. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=465756. MCNAMARA, P. (2011). Dementia. Santa Barbara, Calif, Praeger. MENDEZ, M. F., CUMMINGS, J. L., & CUMMINGS, J. L. (2003). Dementia: a clinical approach. Amsterdam, Butterworth-Heinemann. WHALLEY, L. J., & BREITNER, J. C. S. (2002). Dementia. Oxford, Health press. WHITEHOUSE, P. J. (1993). Dementia. 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