Reflective_Account

Reflective Account 1 I was sat with a resident in the lounge her name is Mrs. D, she is 89 years of age, White and her preferred language is English. Mrs. D’s religion is unknown. To gather this information about Mrs. D I asked her but she was unable to tell me so I read Mrs. D’s care plan and found the information there. I want to reflect on an experience I gained from sitting with Mrs. D in the lounge. I passed Mrs. D a leaflet that I was looking at and she read out the words in bold print. I don’t know why but I made an assumption that she wouldn’t be able to read as she has dementia. By reflecting upon my assumption I now realise that I acted in a discriminatory way and this action is seen as unacceptable within the social work setting. I have learnt that assumption is a bad form of practice and this experience will make me more aware of my actions in future practice and allow me to practice in an anti-discriminatory way. I feel maybe I made this assumption due to my inexperience of working with elderly mentally ill people and being unaware of their capabilities. I feel I did not have enough knowledge of the dementia illness and did not understand fully how it impacts on a person’s life differently. I have experience of working with adults with learning disabilities and I have always worked in a person centered way. This experience has made me aware that I should always use person centered practice and treat every person as equal no matter what their needs may be. After reflecting I addressed my discriminatory practice, by acting in an anti-oppressive manner and spoke to a member of staff on behalf of Mrs. D about her possibly having some reading material. I spoke to a staff nurse and he said that they used to have a mobile library come up to the home but it was not used so the service stopped. But he assured me that Mrs. D does look at magazines and newspapers and if she did require anything else then her niece ensures that she has it. He informed me that the staff work very hard to meet the needs of each service user, however this service can sometimes be affected due to several time constraints and limited numbers of staff. I have observed that within the home to help them address time constraints and manage the running of the home they have controlled daily routines which sets aside specific times for using the toilet and eating and drinking times. I feel this may create a conflict of opinion as it could be seen as oppressive practice however it could also be seen as practicing in the best interest for the resident. The resident may not have the mental capacity to say when they wish to use the toilet or that they are hungry or thirsty so these routines could benefit the resident. I am now aware that an Age Concern Advocacy service is available to care homes within Gwent and this service can help people with dementia that may not be able to identify when they need an advocate, understand their own issue fully, know what an advocate does or even know that an advocate exists. I spoke to a carer at the home to see if this service was used and the carer said that the service was probably not used as much as it should be. I feel I addressed this situation as best as I could given the circumstances and my role at the care home as a student observing practice but I feel if my role within the care home was different I would explore this matter further. The Age Concern Advocacy service could be of benefit in helping each resident make informed decisions and have care which is best suited to their own individual needs and interests. As it’s my first placement I feel it is important to try and include some of the acts and legislation which are linked or could be related to this account. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 states the act aims to empower and protect people who may not be able to make some decisions themselves. So regarding this situation although Mrs. D may not be able to decide whether she wants to use the library service or not, by providing her with an advocate to help her make a decision or by providing the reading material, she can then still be in charge of whether she wishes to use that material provided as she has the capability of reading. Another act which could be related is the Care Standards Act 2000. Some of the Act’s key points are to safeguard and promote the health, welfare and quality of life of residents at the care home. This act could be important as if this account was explored further it could be apparent that Mrs. D enjoys reading and this would promote her quality of life if she was able to do a task that she enjoys. I can use this experience to help me research areas that I may be lacking in understanding and knowledge. One particular area in which I need to improve my knowledge is understanding more about dementia and its complex pathology.