GEN106 Enable individuals and families to identify factors affecting, and options for, optimising their health and well-being

Overview

This standard is about enabling individuals and families to address issues which affect their health and wellbeing. The term ‘address' has been used to mean ‘paying attention to the issues and trying to understand them and deal with them'. The primary focus for this standard is enabling individuals and families to make choices about their lives. Confidentiality is important as you will be working closely with people with whom a trusting relationship is vital. Throughout, it is expected that a collaborative, negotiation based approach will be employed with individuals and families. This standard applies to those who work closely with individuals and/or families to address issues that affect their health and wellbeing. This is likely to be a process that takes place over some time and requires the worker to develop effective working relationships with the individuals and families with whom they work. Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies. Version No 1

Knowledge and Understanding

You will need to know and understand:

1. holistic concepts and approaches to health and well-being
2. people's rights to make decisions about their health and wellbeing and determine the issues which are of importance to them
3. why it is important for the individual, not the worker, to control the progress and content of discussions and how to make suggestions and offer advice in a manner that is supportive and non-directive
4. why it is important to be non-judgmental about the ways that individuals choose to live and the choices that they have made
5. why it is important to help individuals consider the effects of their choices on others and methods of doing this
6. why it is important for the individual to have ownership of, and be responsible for the decisions and choices that they make
7. why it is important to create an honest and trusting relationship with the individuals concerned and how this can be achieved
8. the range of support mechanisms and services available locally and sources of further information about them and what they do
9. agency procedures for accessing support and resources provided by other agencies/ organisations
10. the inter-relationship between socio-economic factors and health and wellbeing
11. the inter-relationship between personal factors and health and wellbeing
12. the difficulties of identifying cause-and-effect relationships in issues to do with health and wellbeing
13. the kinds of misinformation which people receive about health and wellbeing and how this can be counteracted
14. your own beliefs about social and personal factors and health and wellbeing and how this may affect your work
15. the judgements which may come into play when making information available to people and how this may display discrimination
16. the possible implications of individuals' honesty in discussing issues for any others who may be present and how to help others address and express their feelings
17. how culture, beliefs and preferences can affect an individual's willingness to discuss issues and the strategies which may be used to encourage them to do so
18. how individuals' and families' needs and interests may be affected by their current level of knowledge and understanding, their personal beliefs and values, their previous experiences and how they use services and the situation in which they find themselves
19. how working with a group differs from working with an individual and the key factors in successful group work
20. the importance of peer support in achieving change
21. learning styles and strategies
22. strategies for encouraging individuals to discuss issues openly and honestly
23. how to respect and acknowledge others' priorities in relation to their health and wellbeing and their right to refuse advice and information
24. how to demonstrate support through verbal and non-verbal means
25. how to confirm the individual's understanding of information which they receive and how lack of comprehension may affect the choices which they make
26. strategies for encouraging individuals to recognise their ability to make changes
27. methods of evaluating the feasibility of the individual's identified options and of supporting the individual to do this themselves
28. strategies for encouraging family members and friends to be involved in supporting the individual
29. strategies for helping people maintain their commitment to change
30. methods and strategies for coaching and training the individual and for them to use themselves
31. how to ask open questions and encourage individuals to think through options
32. how to encourage individuals to learn and develop

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:

1. acknowledge and respect individuals' rights:
1. to make their own decisions about their health and well-being
2. to discontinue conversations and discussions
2. identify the context in which individuals and families live, through discussion with the people concerned, and from any other available information
3. communicate with individuals and families in a manner which is conducive to openness and a frank exchange of views
4. encourage individuals to talk about those aspects of their health and wellbeing which concern them, ask any necessary questions and give them appropriate support in a sensitive and unobtrusive way
5. provide up-to-date information which takes account of the different factors which may affect health and wellbeing
6. ensure any advice you offer is justifiable in terms of the individuals' interests and situation and recognises the complexity of the decisions which they may have to make
7. ensure your actions and the information you provide are consistent with your work role
8. encourage and support individuals to:
1. reflect on their own concerns for their health and wellbeing
2. realise the potential for change
3. identify and explore their own personal beliefs and preferences in relation to their health and wellbeing, what they value most in their lives and how these may inter-relate
4. identify their own priorities in relation to their health and wellbeing
9. discuss individual's priorities for their health and wellbeing and confirm that you have interpreted them correctly by reflecting back to them
10. ensure that when you are working with a family, you adopt processes which allow the different members to identify their own concerns, beliefs and priorities and make their own decisions
11. explore and discuss the various options which are available for meeting the agreed priorities, together with the implications of each
12. check that the options discussed are feasible for the people concerned
13. ensure that when an individual makes choices which involve risks, you explain this in a manner which is supportive of the individual concerned and is not critical of them
14. encourage individuals to select options which are capable of being implemented and to which they are committed

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health. This standard replaced MH39. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: HWB4 Enablement to Address Health and Wellbeing Needs