Click here if you are interested in pursuing care work in Winchester and want to explore how to effectively support adults with learning disabilities.
There are more than one million people in the UK with a learning disability. A person who has a learning disability might require additional support to practice and learn new skills, more time to learn new things, find it tricky to communicate with others and may find everyday activities tricky to manage. Importantly, every person with a learning disability will require different forms of help and support to live a full life.
The implementation of a comprehensive care plan
Person-centred care plans ensure that the person with learning disabilities has the correct level of support to help them work towards achieving their goals. Within this, a communication passport can be utilised to ensure that every support worker recognises the unique communication style of the person and how to meaningfully engage with them in any setting.
Care plans should ensure that all complex needs are accounted for and a structured framework of support is implemented in order to ensure the person with learning disabilities has their needs met and experiences a good quality of life. The primary focus here is never to ‘fix’ the person and punishment should never be used as a strategy for addressing complex needs and behaviours. Instead, the process of teaching and practising new skills should be centred to effectively empower the person to communicate their needs and live a more independent life.
Good support looks like…
There are several core indicators that can be used to evaluate the level of support a person with learning disabilities is receiving.
Importantly, it is imperative that the person has support workers who understand how to communicate with them, particularly when they are in pain or are unwell and cannot communicate these experiences through words. Additionally, the most effective support workers listen to people who know the person and utilise this information when tailoring the support they provide on a daily basis.
In addition to ensuring the person has frequent health check-ups, health action plans might be utilised to record and share health related information with key medical professionals and supporting the person to live a healthy life. If the person is taking medication, this process will include regular reviews of their medication.
All support workers conducting care work in Winchester and across the country should have an appropriate level of experience, possess the skills required to excel in their role, and have the right attitudes and values to conduct themselves in a warm and professional manner at all times. The particular training support workers require will depend on the specific needs of the people they are supporting, but all support workers should be appropriately trained in both positive behaviour support and person centred thinking.
If people with learning disabilities are not living in their family home, they must have access to the correct support within an appropriate living environment for their needs. While one person might need to live in a place with plenty of space in which to move around, another person might be triggered by loud noises and will therefore need to live somewhere away from noisy busy roads. To ensure the person has the opportunity to live in the most suitable environment, support workers and families will work closely together to conduct a comprehensive assessment and put together a housing specification that will be referred to alongside the care plan.
A person with learning disabilities should be supported in the least restrictive ways by support workers with the right training in accordance with a care plan that has been created in partnership with the person’s family. This will ensure that each person is supported as an individual with their own unique needs and requirements.
Interested in care work in Winchester?
If you are interested in pursuing a career in care work in Winchester, the most proficient providers of support invest in people and provide a variety of opportunities that allow colleagues to develop a meaningful career in adult social care. In addition to researching the unique philosophies of support providers, it is important to ensure you apply for roles within organisations that will also provide access to ongoing learning opportunities and development programmes.