Principles for supporting independence in daily living

Explain how individuals can benefit from being as independent as possible in the tasks of daily living.
Being independent contributes positively to an individual’s physical and mental well-being. A sense of independence empowers individuals and increases their self-confidence and esteem. Individuals are more likely to retain their skills and it is known that the more things people try – the more they achieve. Examples can be basic tasks such as dressing or washing themselves and light household chores like washing dishes. This will also provide a little bit of exercise which they wouldn’t get by remaining inactive.

Explain how active participation promotes independence in the tasks of daily living.
Active participation is an approach that enables individuals to be included in their care and have a greater say in how they live their lives in ways that matter to them. Active participation keeps individuals involved and mentally stimulated and can make them feel that they are in control of their lives. Each individual is as an active partner in their own care or support, rather than being just a passive recipient. Although the support provided by a support worker is vitally important it is enhanced when the supported individual takes an active role and they unite as a tea. Providing appropriate assistive devices enables people to be less dependent on others and helps them to retain a sense of control over their life also.

Describe how daily living tasks may be affected by an individual’s culture or background.
People have their daily routines at home that they feel comfortable with, many may have been developed based on the individual’s background over a long period of time and as such, they will be hard habits to break. If working with someone of a different culture or faith we may need to consider how they worship or pray, their personal routine and the importance of objects or symbols to them. It is important to know each individual and research their customs, traditions, rituals, and needs. In some cultures, caring is traditionally kept in the family or between close family friends. While this should be respected it is also unlikely that someone from this group will have the knowledge or expertise to provide the required level of care without outside help. It’s important that people know what assistance is available to them and how local social services and carers’ groups can help and offer advice.

Gender perception and culture can influence daily living tasks, for example, some might find it more acceptable for women to deliver personal care and tend to household tasks because this is how they were brought up. Some people may feel that certain roles should be male or female (for example, the belief may be that women shop and cook dinner while the male is the financial provider). Some of these stereotypes may be outdated in many western cultures but are still very much the norm within others which is why we must tolerate and respect each person’s background and cultural beliefs rather than simply try to impose our own.

Explain the importance of providing support that respects the individual’s cultural preferences.
It must be remembered that even though we may take care to align support with the individual’s culture, not everyone holds the same preferences and beliefs just because they share a culture; we must respect each individual’s choices and preferences.
We must act in a professional and unbiased manner whilst actively involving the individual so we can discover their preferences. If personal preferences are not respected this might not only offend the induvial but could lead to the breakage of the relationship between the service user and Support Worker.

Describe how to identify suitable opportunities for an individual to learn or practice skills for daily living.
The best way to identify an individual’s opportunities is by spending time with them, discovering what they most enjoy and which things they would most like to do. This will provide the enthusiasm to learn or practice a particular skill as it will be something that they would like to do. It can be something as simple as learning to prepare their favorite food or for the females, applying their own makeup or painting their nails before going out somewhere. It may also be helpful to talk to family and friends of the individual as they may have some information about activities the person used to do in the past or a particular skill or past time that they no longer pursue that could be revisited. The key to identifying new skills or revisiting old ones is the attitude of others towards the individual, it must be a “can do” rather than taking over and doing everything themselves thus denying the service using their opportunity. It must also be remembered that there are several ways in which people learn, some need to see something done before doing it themselves, others may just need to be told how to do something and so different approaches may be necessary.

Explain why it is important to establish roles and responsibilities for providing support.
Roles and responsibilities should be agreed to ensure all parties know what has to be done and who has to do it. It is easy for certain tasks to be left to someone else to do which often means that they don’t get done at all as each person leaves it to another. Expectations are managed and remain realistic when everyone knows what everyone else is doing; this surety also improves confidence in the service user which provides many benefits.

Be able to establish what support is required for of daily living tasks.
Access information about support for daily living tasks using an individual’s care plan and agreed way of working.Once roles and responsibilities have been agreed they must be clearly documented in the service user’s care plan. This will ensure consistency of support and remove any ambiguity concerning who is meant to carry out certain tasks. The care plan is read regularly by each support worker which helps to avoid people doing things their own way which can be confusing for the service user.

Clarify with the individual and others the requirements for supporting an individual’s independence in daily living tasks.
The person providing support must read the care plan before spending time with a service user to familiarise themselves with their support plan. Particularly when a support worker does not know the service user very well it is a good idea to verbally outline what they understand the agreed working methods to be, this obviously will serve as a checking mechanism but it also lets the service user know that the support worker has read and understands how things run, this helps instil confidence and trust. By verbally checking in this way the service user will be involved in their own care plan and feel both empowered and included.

Describe how and when to access additional guidance to resolve any differences or concerns about support.
Difficulties or concerns about support for daily living tasks may include risks to the individual’s health, safety or security. We need to ensure that people’s wellbeing is promoted, taking their views, wishes, feelings, and beliefs into account but sometimes it may be that the service user wants to do something that is likely to be detrimental to them. In this circumstance the first thing to do is to attempt to gain the agreement of the service user to change their actions, failure to do so would mean that the Service Co-ordinator would be consulted for their input. It may then mean that a change of working practices needs to be agreed and documented to avoid a repeat conflict.
3Be able to provide support for planning and preparing meals.

Support the individual to plan meals that contribute to a healthy diet and reflect the individual’s culture and preferences.
It is important to initially identify with the individual any foods they can’t eat depending on culture, medical conditions, and allergies. By using something like the Government’s Eatwell Guide the service user can choose what they prefer to eat with a little encouragement from their support worker (if needed) to focus on a healthy mix of food types. This wouldn’t need to be a prescriptive input; both people can look at the chart which offers a large choice of foods, the input may only need to be in terms of the balance of foods chosen by the service user. Once chosen the service user should be encouraged to help in the preparation of the meal (if practicable).

Support the individual to store food safely.
It’s important to take care how and where food is stored to make sure it’s safe to eat. Some food needs to be kept in a fridge to help stop bacteria from growing on it (between 0ºC and 5ºC), this includes food with a ‘use by’ date, cooked food and ready-to-eat food such as desserts and cooked meats. This will generally include all foods which were refrigerated in the shop before the sale and many foods which have been opened at home but not fully used. Plates, utensils, and surfaces should always be clean and hands washed thoroughly after they have touched raw or thawing meat. This is to stop bacteria from spreading and causing food poisoning.

Many types of food don’t need to be kept in the fridge to keep them safe to eat, for example,s dry foods such as rice, pasta and flour, many types of drinks, tinned foods, and unopened jars. When a can of food is opened but not fully used then the remainder should be emptied into a suitable container and then put in the fridge. The oldest food items should always be used first. When unpacking shopping the newer items should always be put behind or under the older ones, this is basic stock rotation which helps to ensure that food is used up before it goes out of date. At all times everyone handling food should observe basic food hygiene and personal hygiene as laid down by food safety policies.

Support the individual to prepare food in a way that promotes active participation and safety.
Food preparation should be made fun, interesting and safe and it stands to reason that it should be something that the service user enjoys eating. This could include stirring ingredients in a bowl but probably not peeling onions! The tasks that the service user undertakes should be thought through by the support worker before delegation as there is more to consider that the food hygiene/food poisoning scenario. There are many other potential dangers in the kitchen, burn injuries during the cooking process represent a particular hazard as well as the risk of cuts from sharp knives. It might well be advisable to encourage the service user to participate in the preparation stages of a meal and then take a back seat when the heat is applied.

Be able to provide support for buying and using household and personal items.
Identify different ways of buying household and personal items
Visit supermarket
Convenient as most things are under one roof. Gets service user out and about.
Supermarket home delivery
A good option where mobility is a problem.Local shops / High street
Many will offer a more personal service which may be important to some service users. Good exercise and provides outside interaction with others.
Online shopping
Easy, quick and convenient. Full range of goods and easy to find good prices. Impersonal, no interaction.

Work with the individual to identify household and personal items that are needed.
The service user should be encouraged to notify their support worker when an item has run out or maybe take action themselves by adding the item to a shopping list. Replacing used items is a good place to start for a service user to get more involved in the running of their home but their goal should be to proactively identify items that are needed but not currently in the home.

Support the individual to buy items in their preferred way
Once the service user is aware of the various ways of buying items and has identified some that are needed in their household the next step is to choose a method of purchase and actually buy something.
If the preferred method is via the internet then support may be needed in terms of I.T. skills or reassurance as to the safety of online shopping.
If the service user has used Supermarket home delivery it may be a case of checking the items just before ordering and again when they arrive to identify any delivery errors.
In terms of High Street shopping then support could be as simple as just being in the shop close by in case needed.

Support the individual to store items safely.
In order to support the service user to store items safely, it is important to have a proactive approach to potential dangers rather than to react to an incident. The support worker should think ahead to avoid situations that could lead to danger, for example, if during food preparation it is necessary to use a knife or boiling water then this should be managed accordingly.
Household items such as knives obviously may be an injury risk and there is a fair chance of a service user attempting to use one. Consequently, knives should be stored with all the blades facing away from the user so that they would only be picked up by their handle. Where the service user is able to use a knife, hot water or other “dangerous” items they should be closely supervised whilst doing so.
Items such as bleach, although potentially harmful, would almost certainly never be used by a service user and so should be stored away from areas where it is in plain sight, a cupboard housing other similar cleaning type chemicals and equipment would be ideal. This may fit in with the directions written on the product as many chemicals carry instruction not to store in direct sunlight, for example.

Support the individual to use items safely.
For most people, the best way to provide support is for the support worker to demonstrate to the service user exactly how to use the item. They can then try it themselves possibly step by step depending on what it is. The support worker should be at hand especially at first use in case of any mishap. The service user should not use an item without fully knowing how to do so; this information will be included in the operating instructions

Be able to provide support for keeping the home clean and secure
Support the individual to keep their home clean, in a way that promotes active participation and safety
Active participation can be encouraged by the service user “sharing” the cleaning tasks with the support worker. This could be each person vacuuming half of the living room carpet, or one person washing the dishes and the other one drying them. It should be remembered that the level of cleanliness of their home is the service user’s personal choice although it should be in a suitably clean state in order to remain hygienic.

Describe different risks to home security that may need to be addressed.
In a home where different people come and go each day, it is very important to have an established routine for security which is readily accessible and followed by all support workers. This routine would be part of the health and safety log, this lists all checks that need to be carried out and their frequency, usually weekly or monthly.
Windows: the locks should be checked each month and the window checked for closing correctly and opening easily in case of fire.
Doors locking mechanism should be checked monthly
Burglar alarms should be tested monthly
Fire alarm and smoke detectors should be tested at least weekly
Fire drill once per month.
It is also important to observe normal due diligence in terms of checking the ID of callers and verifying people who call without a prior appointment.

Support the individual to use agreed security measures
The service user can have a role to play in maintaining the security of their own home this may be closing and locking windows and doors, taking the key out of the inside of the door at night or when the person goes out. Everyone should be made aware of how to act during a fire drill.

Be able to identify and respond to changes needed in support for daily living tasks.
Enable the individual to express views about the support provided to increase independence in daily living tasks.
The idea of the service user expressing views about the support provided is dependent upon the fact that they are not part of the process and support is something that happens to them. The greater the inclusion of the service user and participation in their own care plan the less there is a need for a feedback mechanism as they help set policy.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to fully participate in their own care and so their feedback is vital as a means of improving their support.

Record changes in the individual’s circumstances that may affect the type or level of support required.
Service users’ circumstances will change over time and so their support should evolve to reflect this. Any changes will mean that the entries in the care plan should be updated to remain accurate

Adapt support in agreed ways to address concerns, changes or increased independence.
Concerns and changes should be clearly and fully documented in the individual’s daily diary. Changes to the current level and type of support will be agreed during review meetings with the individual and their family, advocate and other professionals. Following the review, a new care plan will be drawn up which reflects the updated agreed position