CXA110 Principles of Health and Community Care and Support

Introduction

The study of principles of health and community care and support enlightens on the foundational concepts, professional values and the critical principles of care and support. It helps in understanding the political cultural and social structures that influence an individual's experiences and understanding of wellbeing and health as well as legal and ethical frameworks that govern legislation, quality, and safety, policy and regulation. It also explores the understanding and decision making in healthcare provision.

Understanding community care principles/fundamentals

Social health care refers to any intervention offered or receive financial support from independent and legal institutions which aid children, young adults, and the older people during their daily activities. They also provide services to those who are unable to finance the services for themselves (Tasker et al., 2017). My understanding of community health care has changed during the semester to a higher and deeper understanding of the concept. That different client groups who provide social care are guided by the same common themes. However, although they are guided by common goal, values, and interest, policies and the processes may vary between different groups.

My attitude towards community health care has developed. This is because of a better understanding of the role that it plays in the community by providing health care services to the less fortunate and marginalized communities. They offer this services in day centers or at home making healthcare services available to those who were unable to access it. This has led to some degree of equity between communities in the healthcare sector due to the role played by community health care.

The Australian community healthcare should be based on the principle of social inclusion and the principle of caring and protection of the vulnerable people in the society (Taylor & Guerin, 2010).  This is because these principles will lead to the equitable distribution of healthcare facilities among communities. The Australian health care system practices this values but not optimally (Mahler, 2016).

The Australian healthcare system can be improved in order to reflect its principles fully. This is through empowering the local communities and making healthcare services always available and accessible to the community. They should also entrust some of their institution with the responsibility of delivery of health care services.

Delivery of healthcare in Australian Health Care system needs improvement to overcome issues of stigma and marginalization in the Australian Health Care. Firstly through the development and modification of caregiving models to be able to serve the increased aging population. Also, practitioners should undergo heightened training in geriatric issues as well as preparing a healthcare workforce that is more competent culturally and multilingual to deal with the diverse range of patients (Mary et al., 2015).

Adoption of self-care and professional development techniques

Skills and knowledge in self-care enlighten my practice as a health practitioner. This is because, through it, effectiveness in service delivery could be improved. It also helps in improving my patient’s ability to deal with a wide range of the significantly minor conditions themselves (Rubin, 2016).

As a health professional, I would like to develop and put emphasis on preventive self-care practices by my patients. This involves taking the right diet, breathing of clean air and exercises. During the study, I have developed the management aspect of self-care. This involves assisting the patient with chronic diseases to enable them to make the right decision or be able to manage their illness. My attitude towards professional development has been improving as learning continues. I have been able to understand and appreciate the values of professional development which includes consultation, communities of practice reflective supervision and mentoring.

Research and more information have provided me with a detailed understanding of self- care and its possible implications. For instance, research conducted in the department of health in the year 2007 suggested that more than 90 percent of people were concerned with learning self-care skills and approximately 75 percent alleged that they would develop more with assistance from professionals. It also proposed long-run impacts of improved self-care to include developed quality of consultations, improved use of medicines and reduced hospital admissions.

Personal development as a healthcare worker

I have experienced development this semester by getting a clear understanding of the values of the health profession and their implication on service delivery.

As a community health practitioner, one should be able to make sound decisions concerning the clients or patients. This can be achieved by cursing each, and every patient needs individually as opposed to treating them as a collective errand that needs completion. For instance, postoperative pain management should be based on the task as opposed to replicating on the analgesia’s adequacy analgesia and the inferences for future clients.

Applying health information from varied sources can guide personal as well as community health outcomes. This is because it offers the practitioner more data that is useful in protecting and promoting health. It also enhances the ability of health care providers to support the development and offer care and services that are personalized to individuals.

The driving forces of aging population and technology will substantially affect me as a healthcare practitioner. This is because they consequently call for delivery of more healthcare services that may enhance life quality, specialized and integrated care for the older population as well as general increase demand for healthcare services (Zwanenberg, 2012). The two factors also lead to an increase in ethnic diversity, and this will require me as a health profession to be more culturally competent and multilingual.

To be able to make ethically sound decisions as a health profession, I will always identify facts in a situation to discern if there are any ethical issues present. If there are I would then establish possible solutions and their consequences to be able to choose the best solution then implement my choice (Husted & Husted, 2008).

The growing understanding of healthcare and health that I have acquired is helpful when it comes to practicing among patients from diverse communities. This is because it has heightened my understanding and appreciation of how beliefs, culture and social, economic environment affect health care and health outcomes among patients. This understanding will enable me to deal with patients from diverse culture effectively as it has helped me to re-evaluate personal assumptions beliefs and prejudices hence developing a good practitioner-patient relationship.

The professional values that I would consider fundamental as a health professional include equality, universalism, spirituality, professionalism, benevolence authority intellectual stimulation, capability, safety, and critical thinking.

The key values that I would like to see well-established in my practice as a community healthcare practitioner include equality, altruism, and capability. The above values are integral in the practice and delivery of community healthcare. Equality calls for respect for diversity involves equal treatment in the delivery of the health care services to all persons all over without exclusion or preference. Capability emphasizes achievement. Each health professional should be able to attain some achievements that impact the involved society positively. Additionally, altruism is an important value in healthcare practice. This is because it calls forth practitioners to uphold humanity during the delivery of their services to all patients (Duncan & Dawsonera, 2010).

Conclusion

In conclusion, learning about health and community support will be of great importance to me as a health profession. This is because it has heightened my understanding about community health care, self- care values of practice in healthcare and has also educated me on ways in which I can make ethically right decisions. These in totality contribute to my development as a health work profession and in the long end lead to effective service delivery.

References

Duncan, P. & Dawsonera, 2010. Values, ethics, and health care. SAGE: SAGE,

Husted, J. H. & Husted, G., 2008. Ethical decision making in nursing and health care: the symphonological approach. New York: Springer Pub.

Mahler, 2016. Health for all by the year 2000. American journal for public health.

Mary, N. et al., 2015. A Community-Based Oral Public Health Approach to Promote Health Equity. American Journal of Public Health, 23 06.

Rubin, I. L., 2016. Healthcare for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities across the Lifespan.. s.l.: Springer International Publishing, 2016.

Tasker, D., Higgs, J. & Loftus, S., 2017. Community-Based Healthcare: the Search for Mindful Dialogues. Rotterdam: SensePublishers.

Taylor, K. & Guerin, P., 2010. Health care and indigenous Australians: cultural safety in practice. South Yarra: Palgrave Macmillan.

Zwanenberg, P. V., 2012. Current trends in technology and society. Brisbane: Primrose Hall, 2012.