Aged Care and Disability Services - Assignment Example

AGED CARE AND DISABILITY SERVICES Insert Name Course Institution Instructor Date of Submission What is reflection? Reflection refers to the self-induced cognitive process that enables an individual know themselves better thus encouraging self-evaluation. Reflection aims at enhancing understanding among individuals through learning and thinking. It is expressed through writing, speech, videos and music among other forms of expression. The choice of the expression medium is based on the target audience, the message or knowledge an individual intends to share and the purpose of the reflection. It should however be noted that, the content of the expressed reflection does not necessarily indicate the actual individual’s thought processes. This is highlighted in the evident discrepancy when two expression mediums are chosen to communicate similar messages. Why is reflection important to health professionals? To health professionals, reflection is important as it enables them to understand what is required of them when conducting health care activities. In delivering quality health care services, health professionals should begin by realising the demands of the professional and the basic activities that they will be involved in. Since reflection enhances self-awareness, individuals wishing to join the health profession are able to assess themselves and determine their suitability to the profession. Secondly, health professionals are able to develop their skills and knowledge within the health profession (Porter & Teisberg 2006, p203). As a result, evolution in the health profession takes place as individual professionals begin to specialise in the various health areas. Health professionals are able to identify issues, provide their opinions and express their perspectives towards the identified issue. How will you use reflection in your professional role? The cognitive process present in reflection plays a crucial role in developing professionalism among health practitioners. Through this process, an individual is able to identify their skills, knowledge and talents and match them with the requirements, demands and opportunities of the health profession (Porter & Teisberg 2006, p44). With the help of my reflection, I will utilise my knowledge and capabilities towards ensuring that the disabled and aged access quality medical care. Reflect on your learning experiences in this unit. In studying this unit, I have had substantial learning experiences especially when working with the disabled people. I have been able to meet and interact with people with disabilities as well as discuss their health care needs. The health care needs of people with disabilities are quite demanding and they require stern attention from the health professionals. However, the health care needs of people with disabilities are neglected since most health professionals consider them as too ‘demanding’ (Nay & Garratt 2004, pp31). On the other hand, most health professionals dealing with the disabled lack adequate knowledge in catering for their health needs. Owing to this fact, the aged and disabled are unable to receive quality care. My feelings about this experience Emotionally, I felt sorry for the aged and those with disabilities since they lacked adequate medical personnel that are qualified to provide them with their medical needs. As I visited various homes for the elderly, I noted that most of them lived under unfavourable housing conditions and this increased their vulnerability to contracting illnesses (Reynolds 2008, p83). People with disabilities on the other hand were treated as if their fate had been sealed. With this state of affairs, I felt as if the aged and disabled were being frustrated in their efforts to live fully and productively. How did you interact with older persons? With the elderly, I was able to interact with them by giving them a cheerful smile and engaging them in a talk about past historical events. This is because the elderly people are often proud of narrating events in their earlier years and how those events affected them socially, economically and politically. Slowly by slowly, I started asking the elderly questions about the living conditions within their residential homes. Eventually they provided me with adequate information pertaining to their experiences and treatment by the institution’s staff. They would later send me to the home’s administration in order to inform them on how their residents are fairing (Barnes, Mercer & B.A.S.W 2006, pp 77). Review what knowledge you had and what you needed to learn Prior to studying this unit, I was aware of the fact that people with disabilities and the elderly had special health needs. Due to these special medical needs, the aged and disabled were admitted into special health institutions that were adequately equipped to serve their needs (MacKinlay 2005, p57). I therefore knew that once these patients were admitted in such institutions, their medical needs were provided and this assisted them in living productively and accessing quality healthcare services. However, from my interaction with the aged and disabled, this is not the case. I need to learn the particular medical qualifications required for a physician to qualify in attending the disabled and aged. Karen, Webb, Sorrentino and Gorek note that the management structure of the health institutions determines to a great extent the quality of services provided and thus it will be necessary to learn on what constitutes a great management team (2006, p117). Evaluate your growth and development through the experience. From my experience, I was able to realise that the theoretical approach provided towards caring for the elderly and disabled within the healthcare system does not necessarily translate into practice. This is because a number of factors inhibit the quality delivery of healthcare services to the elderly. Firstly, from the number of health institutions that i visited, I was able to note that they were understaffed and thus inhibiting the quality of healthcare services delivered. Secondly, the medical staff lacked adequate knowledge and skills necessary towards delivering health services to the aged and disabled. Lastly, poor management structure and policies affected the quality of healthcare services provided to the patients. This was mostly as a result of the lack of adequate resources for the delivery of healthcare services (Reynolds 2008, p104). Identify what skills you have used to reflect on your experience? In reflecting on my experience, I used the observations skills that enabled me in gathering notes pertaining to the health needs of the aged and disabled. My interviewing skills also played a great role as they enabled me in accessing information from individual people who are either disabled or aged. A combination of these two skills enhanced my ability to gather adequate information pertaining to the health demands and delivery of health services to the aged and disabled. Lastly, I used the analytical skills in order to sift through the huge amount of information gathered. This skill played an important role as it enabled me to identify major areas in the delivery of healthcare services that were not addressed and relate them to my knowledge in order to develop a solution (Nay & Garratt 2004, p90). Identify what you have learnt about aged care services and disability services Aged care and disability services are more of the same except for the varying differences in the health requirements of both groups. The elderly require adequate resources to cater for their health needs and protect them from developing additional health complications. This is because their bodies are more vulnerable to diseases and they lack adequate antibodies to fight the diseases (Karen, Webb, Sorrentino & Gorek 2006, p41). On the other hand, the disabled lack the functionality of one or multiple body organs and this may inhibit their ability to engage fully in physical activities. Disability services provided in health institutions are geared towards enabling an individual to cope with life. However, these services should be provided in such a way that the disabled are able to engage in productive activities and hence boost their self-reliance. Identify your past experience in aged care and disability In the past, I have been involved in community development activities that were directed towards improving the community. One of these activities involved cleaning up homes for the elderly and having a fun day with the disabled. In the cleaning exercise, most of the elderly patient’s lived in hospitable conditions inside the home. However, outside their residential cubicles, a lot of waste had been thrown around and this posed a great threat to their health (Watson & Ovseiko 2005, p144). Having identified this danger, our community development organization decided to conduct a cleanup exercise at the facility and I was actively involved. On the other hand, the quiet environment in disability homes is quite boring and thus we as an organization liaised with the management and established a fun day with the residents. We could bring gifts along and engage them in entertaining activities that made them realise the beauty of life. Present what you presently know about aged care and disability services Aged care and disability services require adequate health facilities and resources in order to meet the increased demand of health services from the aged and disabled. These patients require more specialised healthcare that is different from the general healthcare services provided by medical institutions. Due to this fact, special homes for the elderly and disabled have been established that aim to specialise in the delivery of their special health needs (Reynolds 2008, p87). However, the management of these health institutions fails in acquiring the necessary health resources that aid in the delivery of quality medical care. The disabled and aged should receive similar treatment as other human beings without necessarily facing any acts of discrimination. Future Knowledge on aged care and disability services Despite having gathered adequate data relating to aged care and disability services, there are still enormous amounts of information yet to be gathered related to these patients. In the future, I would like to know how the homes for the aged and disabled are managed and from where they source their funds. With this information, I will be able to fully understand the position and environment within which these institutions operate in. This means it will be possible to identify the opportunities, threats, challenges that these institutions face as well as their ability to sustain their operations without negatively impacting on the quality of service offered (Nay & Garratt 2004, p341). As a health professional in disability services and aged care, will you make a difference or maintain the status quo? As a professional, it is my responsibility to identify and improve critical areas within the healthcare system that pertains to the delivery of aged and disability healthcare services. By maintaining the status quo, more lives will continue being lost as a result of the present negligence and lack of competency in the management of the specialised health institutions. References Barnes, C, Mercer, G & B.A.S.W 2006, Independent Futures: Creating User-led Disability Services in a Disability Society, Boston; The Policy Press. Karen, S, Webb, M, Sorrentino, SA & Gorek, B 2006, Long-Trm Care Assisting; Aged Care & Disability, Michigan: Mosby Elsevier. MacKinlay, E 2008, Ageing, Disability & Sprituality: Addressing the Challenge of Disability in Later Life , Denver: Jessica Kingsley Pub. Nay, R & Garratt, S 2004, Nursing Older Pple: Issues & Innovations, 2nd Ed., Sydney: Elsevier Australia. Porter, ME & Teisberg, EO 2006, Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-based Compe. Results, Harvard: HBP. Reynolds, L 2008, Understanding the Australian Health Care Sys., New Jersey: Elsevier Health Sci. Watson, J & Ovseiko, P 2005, Healthcare Sys: Financing & Deliverying Health, Washington: Routledge. Yuen, FKO 2004, International Perspectives on Disability Srvcs.: The Same but Different, Washington: Routledge. Read More