M1 – Care Values
The values of care are based on ideas about human rights. These are the rights which everyone is entitled to. Care workers will want to ‘act in the best interest of the individual’. This means valuing them in a way that they would wanted to be treated themselves. Care workers will show they ‘value’ the service users by applying the values of care in the day-to-day tasks which they do. In health and social care organisations, there are three main care values which are; Promoting equality and diversity of people who use services – which is to; understand and not show prejudice, stereotyping or labelling, understand and value the benefits of diversity, understand the bases of decimation, such as gender, sex, race, age, disability, sexuality or social class and understand beliefs and assumptions. This is important as it promotes trust and respect between practitioner and client and it shows the practitioner cares and fully accepts the client. Promoting individual rights and beliefs – which includes the rights to; be different e.g. sexual orientation, freedom from discrimination e.g. not to be treated differently, confidentiality e.g. have all personal information kept private, choice e.g. make own decisions, dignity e.g. respected, effective communication e.g. have things explained and to be listened to, safety and security e.g. protection from harm and privacy e.g. having own space which isn’t invaded by others without consent. Maintaining confidentiality – This is an appropriate protection of personal and private information about clients and this is done by; keeping all records safe and secure, only passing information on to others if it is needed to do so and policies and procedures need to be followed. It is important that confidentiality is maintained as it is part of The Data Protection Act 1998[1]
Codes of practise set out the standards of professional practise required from practitioners. It is a method that contributes to the standard of care provided as they can be monitored, by observation, to check whether they are being implemented. They set out procedures that are to be followed by professional care workers when carrying out their day-to-day routine.
Case study
John, who is 45 year old, is a wheelchair user. He visits his local GP 3 times a week to receive his medication as he is incapable to do it by himself at home. John feels valued at his GP as he can access the surgery by himself without needing help like he did at his previous surgery. This is because the surgery has a ramp leading to the surgery and lifts which reach to each floor. Automatic doors are also in place which means John does not have to struggle to open the door. He is independent and happy how he is treated equally to everyone else even though he has a disability. John has trouble communicating due to his disability so he has an interpreter with him at each appointment as he prefers to use sign language rather than speech. This allows John to feel respected as he does have to struggle when communicating with his doctor. All of his problems are solved as he can freely express his feelings by using sign language. John feels comfortable when entering and leaving the consultant room as the doctor always locks his computer even when it is just John in the room. The computer is password protected so nobody can access his files which makes John feel safe and secure, knowing no one can access his files as he gets embarrassed about his disability. The files behind the receptionist desk when you first enter the surgery are also locked with a key which is maintaining confidentiality.
Benefits to service user
The surgery takes equality into consideration, so Johns needs are taken into account which is beneficial for John as his needs are thought about which allows him to be independent and he does not have to struggle to enter the surgery or be dependent on others for help. This makes John feel valued and he is happy to visit the surgery allowing him to have the treatment he needs to keep him alive. If John’s disability needs weren’t taken into consideration, he could become seriously ill as he would not receive his medication and would not be getting the access he needs, which would make him seriously ill. John can also express his feelings and worries freely without having to struggle as he uses sign language and has an interpreter with him in each appointment. If John had to communicate through speech his worries and concerns would not be solved and he wold have to suffer leaving him feel worthless and in pain as he would have to struggle to speak which he would avoid as he would get embarrassed.
There are certain values in the health and social profession which need to be followed to maintain self-esteem and dignity for the service user. However, for safe guarding reasons the care values for children are slightly different. These are; The welfare of the child | The welfare of the child is dominant. All children should be listened to and their opinions and concerns need to be treated seriously. | This is important because if a child isn’t listened to and their concerns are not taken forward serious consequences for the child could happen e.g. If a child tells a teacher their parents hurt them, the teacher needs to report this straight away as the child is in danger. | Keeping children safe | Work practise should help to prevent accidents. | Professionals need to follow specific policies and procedures so each child is safe. Schools have these policies and procedures put in place, for example, when a fire drill occurs they need to follow the fire procedure such as taking the register and this is to make sure all of the children are out safely. | Maintaining a healthy and safe working environment | Safe working practises must be followed. | Schools carry out risk assessments which is part of their procedure so they can make sure each incident is followed up and doesn’t occur again allowing everyone to be safe. | Working in partnership with parents/families | Information about children’s development and progress should be shared with their parents and respect must be shown for each families’ traditions. | If a child had challenging behaviour and the school couldn’t control the child’s behaviour anymore, they would call their parents in and make a plan of how their child could get help in a school which would meet their needs and allow them to get the level of education needed. However, if the parents did not agree the school would find an alternative solution. | Children’s learning and development | Activities and a range of experiences should be offered to all children that support all aspects of development. This includes; physical, intellectual, emotional and social. | For example, nursery workers need to ensure that each child is experiencing a variety of activities such as arts and crafts, sports and visiting different places such as the countryside which will develop their PIES. | Valuing diversity | Information which relates to various traditions should be presented in a positive manner. | For example, if a child was religious such as Islamic, the school need to value their beliefs and allow them to leave lessons to pray at certain times. All children should be taught about different religions so they understand about other peoples cultures in order to value diversity. | Equal opportunities | Each child should be offered equality of access to opportunities to learn and develop, and so walk towards their potential. | All children should be treated equally therefore, teachers should not favourite students or make any students feel uncomfortable. Another example would be if a child had a language barrier they would need a translator and they should receive this as if they did not they would have to struggle to communicate with others which wouldn’t establish equality. | Anti-discrimination | Expressions of prejudice by children or adults should be challenged. | If a child was disabled, they should still be allowed to do everything all the other children do such as physical exercise and taking part in all other activities. | Confidentiality | Information based on children and families should never be shared without consent. Secure records is important so no one can access anyone else’s files. | If a family was going through a difficult time, professionals wouldn’t be allowed to discuss these problems with anyone else unless it was needed. Such as if a child had become mentally ill the GP would make a referral to a mental health profession where they would pass over all of the information. | Working with other professionals | Connection with other professional care workers should only take place with prior permission from parents. | If a child was struggling at school a CAF meeting would be held where lots of different professionals come together with the child and the parent to discuss what is best with the child. However, this is not allowed to happen if the child’s parent does not give their consent. | The reflective practitioner | Early year practitioners need to think about, or reflect on, their practise and plan for developing and extending practice. | They need to reflect on their work and make sure that all children are developing their physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. If this is not happening they need to see where they are going wrong and fix this problem. |

Case study
Anna, who is 5 years old, has recently moved from India and has started primary school in England. She struggles with her English and needs a translator in order for her to communicate with others and for others to understand her. When she first joined she got bullied because of her skin colour but the school acknowledged this problem and sorted it out straight away, therefore, Anna now has lots of friends. The school meet her needs and happily arrange for a translator to sit with her in her classes. The family aren’t particularly interested in Anna’s development and do not attend parent evening regularly but when they do, they do not seem engaged within conversation. Around others, they are known to be very aggressive and shout at Anna when she has done nothing wrong. Anna’s mood has started to change and the teachers have noticed this as she doesn’t interact with other children anymore and is only spoken to when asked. The teachers have had a meeting and believe they need to bring in a support worker to talk to Anna and discuss the issues she is facing.
The welfare of the child
It is important that when Anna speaks out that the carers need to listen to her and make her feel like she’s understood. Anna is not in a good place at the moment so what she says needs to be taken seriously and there should be actions/consequences in place.
Keeping children safe
The school have noticed a change in Anna and how her family are around her when she is at school. This has led them to believe things aren’t right at home and instead of just leaving it they need to talk to other professionals before Anna gets hurt.
Children’s learning and development
The school have got a translator for Anna so she can develop her learning without having to struggle to try and speak English.
Anti-discrimination
The school noticed how Anna was being bullied because of her skin colour so they acted against this immediately and sorted this out for her in order for her feel valued and respected.

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[ 1 ]. http://www.slideshare.net/kevin59webb/care-value-base?next_slideshow=1 retrieved 29/04/2015