How Service User Involvement Can Help Address Power Imbalances Within Health And Social Care

Looking into health and social care settings such as drop-in centres, a certain duty of care must always be maintained. Drop-in centres provide support for young adults with mental ill health meaning the service users in this setting are vulnerable causing them to be at a higher risk of being exploited, intimidated and treated unfairly. This is displayed in the case study with zara where it is shown that her social worker treats her unfairly and not in her best interest when alternative accomodation is requested by zara and immediately denied to attempt to search for other possibilities stating she is not vulnerable enough, also showing how she is being

Bonney and Stickley (2008) note the theme of power is often raised by service users. If, as predicted by the DOH in 2003, services are to become increasingly individual focused, the system needs to place power with service users. There is increasing amounts of service user literature that places an emphasis on individuals defining their own journey of recovery (Unit 21, pg 66) rather than having it imposed on them by workers. Peter Beresford (Audio 4) notes that currently there are inequalities in mental health services with limited service user power but considerable professional power. Bonney and Stickley mention Martyn (2002, cited in Bonney and Stickley 2008) who proposes professionals should be present by service user invitation only. A less radical aim is that of a gradual transfer of responsibility in power from services to individuals during recovery. It is important such involvement confers genuine power to individuals, rather than being tokenistic (Jacobson 2004, cited in Bonney and Stickley 2008).

When a person with mental illness feels stigmatized among the community they seek health care professionals who can help them feel better. Consumers expect to have understanding and respect in the health sector. Unfortunately, some consumers experience the opposite way and they also felt the stigma with health care providers (SANE Australia 2013).

This assignment will define and analyse the need for a chosen service improvement within the pathway of mental health, as well as evaluating the suggested service. Demonstrating how this service can inform and benefit integrated practice, discussing the ways in which the agency’s statutory obligations and responsibilities impact on both individual and group decision making. The chosen service improvement for this assignment is the introduction of a mental health nurse into primary care services, for example, a GP Surgery. Focusing on service users with mental health issues in the community and therefore in the care of the local Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Socially valued roles and support should mean groups or communities are equipped to cope with mental health issues.

I am a Care worker in a Health and Social Care setting also having worked at Stafford Hospital where service users have been abused. I have been invited to a yearly health and social care conference as a guest speaker and this this year’s theme is ‘Recognising abuse and self-Harm in service users’. This report is for the participants to recognise and realise the abuse that has happened or may be happening to service users in Health and Social Care.

One of the biggest contributors for poor healthcare is the stigma against mental health. This stigma allows healthcare providers to view those with a mental illness as having low relevance, thus creating disinclination towards providing adequate resources and/or care. This negative stance, based on misinformation and prejudice creates those that have a mental illness to lose their self confidence. Because of this loss, people with mental illness decide not to contribute to their health or livelihood. In the past fifty years, many advances have been made in mental healthcare. However, with the attached stigma, many people choose to not seek out treatment.

P3 - Describe the different ways in which care workers can empower individuals using relevant examples from health and social care.

In the world that we live in today, many people would find it difficult to imagine living in a world where medicine and treatment are not readily available. The replacement of religious explanations to medical and scientific explanations has become a means of social control. If a person is in pain, they can easily set up an appointment with a doctor and receive some sort of medical diagnosis. However, there are certain instances where a problem has not been medicalized, or recognized as a medical problem, and their issue will be dismissed completely. The movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest delves into the idea of medicalization and how it can be used for the good, or for the bad, in terms of the “sick role.” Medicalization in the

Service users of NHS Scotland are no longer being looked upon as being inactive receivers of care and are invited to have more involvement in

In this essay I will discuss a service user I encountered on recent practice placement who was referred to the hospital after she has been deteriorating in mental health and she has bipolar disorder. I am going to discuss the assessment and development of the care plan of the service user. The essay will also consist of a brief biography of the patient’s contributing factors towards her present mental health circumstances. The relevant culturally sensitive engagement and assessment skills used by the nurse in their relationships with the service user will be discussed. I will also explore legislative and nursing frameworks that influence and contribute to positive and hopeful service user’s care. The assignment will also explore the

A Social Worker’s reflection on Power, Privilege and Oppression, this is the title of Michael Spence’s article, but what really does that mean? Spence talks about his personal experiences in life that dealt with all three of these aspects, power, privilege and oppression. In this paper this writer will also talk about power, privilege and oppression in regard to Spence’s outlook on the topic. What is power? How does it relate to Social Workers and social situations? Is privilege really something that can be given to you just based on race and where you grew up, or how you were raised? Lastly Oppression, what causes one type of social group to be oppressed?

Within the department of Social Services all the roles are in a hierarchy system. At the bottom of the system is where a service user would make first contact with the department. This is where the service user would be assessed to deem whether the potential user is eligible to receive help and to which department would offer the service user the most appropriate help, for instance whether they would benefit from being referred to the mental health team or another relevant department. It is important that the first assessment is carried out thoroughly in order for the service user to get the help they need if they are vulnerable and if there are any safeguarding issues. The structure of a social services department is organised in such a way that there are specialist teams available to deal with various issues that affect service users. If someone has a mental health problem they will be able to receive specialist help from the mental health team, who will liaise with other professionals within the mental health sector such as psychiatrists and community mental health nurses, so that the service user can access all the available resources available and receive a positive outcome to their experience. The children and family’s department will be able to offer specialist help in supporting parents and children to stay together or if needs be intervention and safeguarding. These social workers will have specialist knowledge of how to interact with children and their families to

It is vital to have effective communication between professionals and organisations so that service user is protected. When there are any changes such as improvement in service users or degrading in their health conditions or if there is a suspicion of abuse, information must be shared by communication. By communicating, they are able to monitor the service user's well being and they can be up to date with information of service users. They are able to take action and ensure that service user's needs are

The conceptualisation of medicine as an institution of societal control was first theorised by Parsons (1951), and from this stemmed the notion of the deviant termed illness in which the “sick role” was a legitimised condition. The societal reaction and perspective was deemed a pillar of the emerging social construction of disease and conception of the formalised medical model of disease. Concerns surrounding medicalisation fundamentally stem from the fusion of social and medical concerns wherein the lines between the two are gradually blurred and the the social consequences of the proliferation of disease diagnosis that results from such ambiguities of the social medical model.