Effectiveness In Health And Social Care

Introduction

For people to achieve positive health care, several factors must be considered. These range from developing sustainable facilities through having efficient and better cae pathways, to ensuring that efficient delivery of service is in line with money value with the aim of developing creative solutions. This paper discusses the effectiveness in health and social care sector, issues involved in developing Individual effectiveness, issues involved in assessing and developing team effectiveness in health and social care and approaches to leading teams in various health and social care situations. Other subtopics will be discussed along with these.

Effectiveness in health and social care sector

Health and social care highlights the integrated services which are found among the providers of social care and health. It is a subject that is able to relate sociology, nutrition, ethics, and law and biology elements. The main aim of the health and social care is to promote and develop policies, economic, efficient and effective implementation that leads to a better heath, reduced ill health and preventable diseases, reduce inequalities as well as make sure that all people get equal chances of social services and health.

Approaches of effectiveness.

People who are disabled have many barriers that make them unable to obtain equal chances in health and social care. Some of these barriers are questions on making decisions, poor physical access, inaccessible communication as well as the challenge of health and social care practitioners who do not understand the best approach to use. The human right approach is one that can be very effective in providing health and social care to people with disabilities. The approach is able to develop effectiveness and quality of health and social care, enhance the well being of all the clients and improves the process of making decisions.

A case study on human rights done in State hospital in Lanarkshire Scotland showed that when human rights are placed at the middle of practices and policies, success is achieved in the process of transforming change. The hospital deals with mental care and makes use of human rights to propel cultural change and ensure that every individual including the workers, carers, patients as well as family members are given the required human rights. This made the hospital acquire a more constructive and positive atmosphere where there is mutual respect between the patients and the staff (Gray, 2013). There was an improvement in the patient participation while making decisions which led to better patient and staff engagement, increased satisfaction on the patients and more satisfaction on the side of the employees.

Priorities to ensure effectiveness

The hospital has certain priorities which guide them to effectively make use of the human rights as a tool for providing equality to all. Some of these include;

Improving the responsiveness towards the patients with the aim of understanding their priorities and meet them.

Make sure they have processes and controls in place to meet their objectives and effectively utilize their resources.

Ensure that people access their services in an easy and efficient manner. They want to offer services of face to face and phone conversations and also online communication with the aim of reaching to all their clients and serving them well.

By involving the clients in making decisions, the human right method will become effective in that it will be in a position to meet the people’s needs in the way the clients wish.

Develop new and effective approaches in service providing which leads to customer sufficiency while still identifying the client’s needs and supporting them.

Recognize the right to all in regards to provision of better services, enjoyment, treatment among other services (Gray, 2013).

Impact of power and empowerment on effectiveness

Empowerment is a process where communities, organizations and people join hands and work together with the aim of increasing mastery in their affairs. Power and empowerment makes the effectiveness of health and social care of individuals improve. For instance, literature review done on the effectiveness of health and social care shows improved status. This was demonstrated by the improved outcomes in health which targeted certain community groups such as young people, women, old people and those with HIV/AIDS. Some of the areas where power and empowerment strategies improved the health related outcomes of individuals are(Woodall, et al, 2010).

Improved self esteem and self efficacy-It increased the psychological well being of participants, confidence, self esteem and efficacy.

Sense of control- Participants who have common interests may be in a position to increase self control in life. They feel they are in control of life due to the help they get from one another. They also feel more empowered.

Increased awareness and knowledge. The engagement initiatives in a community lead to development of skills as well as knowledge of participants.

change in Behavior – High risk groups such as drug users and sex workers have adopted power and empowerment strategies which lead to positive changes in behavior. When young men are engaged in activities which make them link together lowers substance abuse.

A sense of community, support and broad social networks- Individuals have more chances to achieve health goals once they work together with people suffering from the same circumstances (Woodall, et al, 2010).

Ways of measuring performance

Performance measurement aims at evaluating, monitoring and communicating the extent in which aspects in the health systems meet the required objectives. Some of the ways of measuring performance are discussed below (Smith et al, 2008);

Population health where the aggregate data on population health is measured

Individual outcomes of health whereby health status of an individual is obtained which maybe relative among certain groups or whole population.

Clinical quality as well as appropriateness in care. In this case, the individual measures of services such as health status and the care patients receive so as to obtain the desired outcomes.

Health system responsiveness. Measures the way individuals obtain treatment as well as the environment in which they are treated in the health system interactions. The measures involved are dignity, confidentiality, autonomy, communication, attention among others.

Equity- Is involved with the equity in access to health care, financing and responsiveness.

Productivity in health care organizations, individual practitioners and health care systems.

2.0. Issues involved in developing Individual effectiveness

2.1. Values and beliefs that underpin Individual’s work

All human beings have values and beliefs which are developed throught out their lives. As health care workers, who are always meeting people who live a style that mainstream the views of a society whether unacceptable or different, we must be very keen on what we do and the way we talk. Health care requires people to provide services which are able to meet fully the needs of the clients so that they feel empowered. The employees also need to understand their personal beliefs, values and attitudes to be in a position to adopt the professional values in the field. Some of the values that the health care provider should possess include pride, manners, behavior while in the field of work, clothes to be worn among others.

Health care worker could have pre existing beliefs which may have developed in the field. For instance, sexuality, drugs, disability and ageing, health, people’s rights among others. These beliefs might affect the way one interacts with thee clients because of the perception of whatever the client is able to do or cannot do and the way they are supposed to think on issues as well as what is good for them. This is not the right manner because one might deny the client his or her rights, dignity and respect. If this happens, the worker is said to bleach the law of duty (Sielearning, 2013).

2.2. Professional and organizational values

Values could be defined as beliefs that an organization holds which are used as guidelines in the operations and decision making by the employees. In every organization, there are core values that guide the workers. Integrity, honesty, high performance, good customer service, teamwork, forward thinking, respect to all diversities are some of the values in an organization.

There are two sets of values in health care centers. Real values are those that drive the decision making process. There are also preffered values which the organization beliefs in. For instance when an organization hopes for value diversity even when the records of behavior of the said organization do not suggest so. It is therefore necessary for the workers in health care to identify both the preferred and real values while in the field of work. This makes it possible for the organization to meet the required standards and achieve goals (Workstar Library, 20130.

2.3. Potential conflicts

In certain circumstances, individuals might do something which could later be a risk in their health. The care taker should therefore take the responsibility of taking care of the person and ensure that he/she is safe. Sometimes the client could refuse to use a walking stick when it is recommended. The health care employee should encourage the client to use it and ensure that he or she adheres to it. One might also perform a risk assessment so as to ensure this is managed properly. The health care employee should also explain the importance of the walking frame and the risks involved in not using it.

Another incidence could be when patients refuse to take medicine. The health care providers should remind the clients the reason as to why they should take medicine and the advantages of doing so. They should also be made to also understand the dangers that are involved in not taking the medication. If the client does not adhere to this completely, it should be noted in the records of medication administration to be reported in their so called communication notes to be discussed during handover so that others will be aware of the situation. A situation where an individual insists thet he or she wants to do something which is not safe. One must respect their choice as it is their right. However it is the responsibility of the health care taker to ensure that the client is not involved in any danger. One must therefore do all what is required to make sure that the client is safe (katerigby, 2012).

2.4. Use of feedback in developing personal effectiveness

For one to develop personal effectiveness in health and social care, it is important to make use of the analysis of the feedback so as to identify the areas that require improvement in the health and social care center, have a meeting with the other employees and come up with the best way forward. Agree on the actions to be taken resulting from the feedback used and then take the necessary action based on the obtained feedback so as to improve on the performance of the health and social care.

2.5. Importance of continuous development

Despite the many achievements in health and social care, it is important to continue redesigning the fundamentals so as to reduce costs, improve safety and quality. For instance, the American health care has been able to show many improvements in the medical outcomes such as increase in the survival of children born with less weight, patients with myocardial infarction, low risks of central catheter among others.

Continued improvement and innovation is important as new solutions and designs are obtained which are able to close the gaps and meet goals of optimizing the outcome and experience of patients. This improves the health of people and reduces the cost. The improvement also leads to learning of new ideas which leads to new discoveries in the application of better ideas in taking care of individuals. This makes the people receiving care get well soon and feel empowered.

3.0. Issues involved in assessing and developing team effectiveness in health and social care

3.1. Nature of teams in health and social care sector

Teamwork in health and social care is one of the areas that has been emphasized in many occasions. This is because it ensures that there is efficiency and high quality work in all the services provided. The nature of teams is such that all the professionals work together without discrimination of others being senior. As people work together, they are able to educate one another, engage in discussions which benefit the clients and become motivated to working together as a team. The team work leads to several benefits such as low costs in hospitalization, improved services, patient satisfaction, innovation, staff motivation among others.

3.2. Stages of team development

There are four stages of team development (Survey shark, 2013).

Forming- where individuals undergo a transition from being an individual to one of the team members. The team members also get to know one another. In this case the members also have to be united and ahor positive expectations so that they can move together. The managers should keep on communicating the directions and objectibves so as to make the members create a vision for the team.

Storming- Is the stage where work commences slowly by slowly. The members to test limits, conflicts emerge and there is increased tension when the individual expectations are not met. The disagreements and conflicts are important at this stage as they lead to creation of positive energy which is required for creativity and innovation with the aim of solving the problems. Managers should clarify to the members their responsibilities and start involving them in problem solving situations and decision making.

Norming- The relationships between the team members and the managers settle. The conflicts are resolved and cohesion starts improving. Managers should reduce directiveness and be involved in the role of supporting one another. This leads to increased work performance.

Performing- The team is highly motivated and eager to acquire the desired dreams and objectives. Work performance, trust increase. The interdependency enables the team to feel empowered. Managers should be in a position to delegate authority and responsibilities so as to focus on helping the team to reach their destination.

3.3. Framework for assessing team effectiveness

Team work has a great role in the performance of health and social care. A team which is not working well may lead to unnecessary disruptions, poor delivery and may also lead to total failure. It is therefore important for one to know the strengths and weaknesses of the team members by carrying out an assessment to uncover some of the problems they might experience.

3.4. A plan for developing the team

Teams do not work effectively overnight. The process requires a lot of care and attention without jumping any step. If one of the stages is skipped, the foundation will not be firm

It has been found that the teams which have been successful have aspects of development borrowed from the Tuckman’s model. The stages include Forming, storming, norming and performing(Survey shark, 2013). These have been discussed on the stages of team development above.

4.0. Approaches to leading teams in various health and social care situations.

4.1. Nature of leadership and its role in motivating health and social care individuals and teams.

For one to become a better leader, he or she must be motivated. One must be in a position to identify the needs and have a strong desire to achieve goals. Once the leader is self motivated, then he or she can be in a position to motivate the rest of the staff in achieving their goals and be able to harmonize their goals so as to move forward with the achievement of common organization goals. The leader must be able to know the needs of the staff members so as to ensure they possess them even before they ask for them. This motivates the workers and they are able to offer better services. Good leaders also offer tokens as assign of appreciation to those workers who perform better in their work. This motivates the workers to do more hence yield better results.

4.2 Approaches to leading terms in differing health and social care situations.

Team approach is not very new in health and social care. It involves team effectiveness in transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach. Transcidisciplinary approach is derived from premise that one individual is able to perform professional role by offering services to patients through supervision by other people from other disciplines. There are several representatives from various disciplines but only one person provides services.

Multidisciplinary approach involves people from several disciplines performing an action or delivering services. However every individual is involved in the activity he or she is best in. This is however the best approach when it comes to service delivery to sick people (Melvin, 1989).

5. Conclusion

This paper has been able to successfully discuss the effectiveness in health and social care sector, issues involved in developing Individual effectiveness, issues involved in assessing and developing team effectiveness in health and social care and approaches to leading teams in various health and social care situations. It is evident that the main aim of the health and social care is to promote and develop policies, economic, efficient and effective implementation that leads to a better heath, reduced ill health and preventable diseases, reduce inequalities as well as make sure that all people get equal chances of social services and health. This has been evident in the whole discussion.

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