GEN112 Work with people to identify their needs for safety, support and engagement and how these needs can best be addressed

Overview

This standard covers identifying people's needs for safety, support and engagement in relation to promoting their health. It involves gathering and collating information relevant to their needs and personal circumstances, evaluating and reviewing these needs and presenting the outcomes of the review to others including the people concerned and resource holders. The people concerned may be individuals, families, carers, groups or communities and their needs for safety, support and engagement may relate to community, family or health service settings or contexts for example in relation to care in the community, caring for a family member with specific health needs, residential care, GP or out-patient waiting rooms, day care or inpatient settings. This standard applies to anyone who works in the health sector in a role which requires them to identify peoples' needs for safety, support and engagement in relation to developing settings and contexts that promote their health and to determine the best ways of addressing these needs. 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. relevant individual and situation specific legislation and how this should inform and guide the consultation process and outcomes
2. why people's views of their own needs should be listened to
3. relevant agency policies, procedures and protocols for consulting people about their needs for safety, support and engagement
4. the data protection act and its implications for the recording and storing of information
5. why it is important to give due weight to individual preferences and choices
6. the range of factors that need to be taken into account when identifying needs and how best to meet them, including economic and social factors, the health status of the people involved, and the restrictions which may be placed upon them and/or your agency under legislation
7. the factors that are likely to influence people's views about their needs for safety, support and engagement and possible conflicts of interest which may occur
8. how to facilitate people's participation in the process of identifying and addressing needs
9. how to decide the relevance and importance of information gathered and how to evaluate and prioritise different aspects of need
10. how to take into account people's social, economic and physical circumstances as well as their beliefs, preferences and experiences when offering recommendations, advice and opinion about how their needs might be addressed
11. how to collate, analyse and present information and recommendations

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:

1. use effective methods to consult people about their needs for safety, support and engagement and to enable them to express their personal beliefs, preferences and experiences which are relevant to the situation
2. fully and accurately identify key aspects of people's circumstances as these relate to their needs for safety, support and engagement
3. ensure that the people concerned are given appropriate support to enable them to understand their rights and responsibilities and to take an active role in identifying their own needs
4. obtain further relevant information or clarification where the initial information is insufficient or unclear
5. help people to make a realistic assessment of risk as relevant to their concerns and expressed needs
6. identify any conflicts of interest and work with the people concerned to resolve these in an open and honest way
7. ensure that views, opinions and suggestions are offered to people in a way which is non-threatening
8. seek appropriate advice and guidance when you experience difficulty in identifying people's needs for safety, support and engagement
9. take account of all gathered information and of people's beliefs, preferences and experiences which are relevant to the decisions to be taken
10. actively encourage and enable people to form a view as to the nature of their needs for safety, support and engagement and how these could be addressed
11. identify and explain possible options for meeting people's needs in a manner which makes clear the strengths and weaknesses of each option
12. encourage people to decide for themselves the means by which their needs for safety, support and engagement can best be met within the boundaries of any relevant legislative framework and available resources
13. offer recommendations, advice and opinion in a manner that demonstrates respect for the people concerned and acknowledges their rights to make their own decisions in the context of their lives
14. work with the people concerned to reach agreement over the means by which their needs will be met
15. confirm that all parties to the agreement have a clear understanding of it
16. seek appropriate advice and guidance when you experience difficulty in agreeing how needs for safety, support and engagement can best be addressed
17. keep complete and accurate records of agreements reached, storing them in a secure place in line with organisational policy on confidentiality
18. pass relevant information to those who are authorised to have it on:
1. agreements reached
2. actions required to implement agreements
19. any unmet needs that cannot be addressed within available resources or legislative frameworks

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health. This standard replaced MH48. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: HWB2 Assessment and Care Planning to Meet Health and Wellbeing Needs