Safeguarding vulnerable adults free essay sample

Safeguarding vulnerable adults: Unit 11 Judith Darnell: P1 P2 P3 P4 M1 D1. Introduction: There are many jobs in society, particularly within health and social care, where a practitioner’s main job role is working with adults. It is therefore, important for learners, hoping to work in these areas to develop knowledge and understanding of safeguarding work. Multi-agency partnerships work at local level to develop policies and procedures which safeguard adults by promoting good practice. Whilst the rights of all individuals should be protected, adults who use health and social care services are amongst those most at risk of abuse or neglect. Learners must recognise situations which may lead to abuse and neglect, and the need for a person-centred approach which provides supportive and trusting relationships. Learners will investigate the signs and symptoms of different types of abuse, enabling them to recognise when abuse may be happening. They will go on to examine predisposing factors which may lead to abusive situations. We will write a custom essay sample on Safeguarding vulnerable adults or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page P1 describe forms of abuse which may be experienced by adults: In P1 I am going to be explaining 5 different forms of abuse, these 5 will be physical, sexual, emotional, racial and institutional abuse. Physical abuse: physical abuse is an act of another party involving contact intended to cause feeling of physical pain, injury or other physical suffering or bodily harm. Physical abuse includes things like hitting someone, biting, scratching, hair pulling, burning. Basically anything that is causing physical pain to another human being can be classed as physical abuse. Physical abuse can be shown on the body by the person being abused having bruises on their skin indicating that they have either been pulled about or hit, having ripped clothes this shows they have been pulled about to roughly or have been dragged by their clothes, teeth marks this shows they may have been bitten or they are biting themselves to stop them telling someone that they are being abused, red lines or cuts indicates that they have been scratched. An example of physical abuse in a care home would be, Mary is bed bound and has really dark bruises on her wrists and sides of her body these bruises can be from someone physically abusing her and pulling her about too roughly to do something she doesn’t want to. Sexual abuse: Sexual abuse is a statutory offence that’s provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another human being to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat. Sexual abuse can include things such as rape, sexual assault and Non-contact sexual abuse which include being forced or coerced to be photographed or videoed to allow others to look at their body. An example of sexual abuse in a care home would be, Sarah is 53 and has dementia she was asked the other day how she got the bruises between her legs and on her wrists but she just answered with I can’t remember. The bruises on Sarah’s wrist and between her legs indicate she may have been sexually abused but they can’t prove it because Sarah has dementia and can’t remember how she got the bruises. http://www. devon. gov. uk/index/socialcare/adult-protection Emotional abuse: Emotional abuse is a form of abuse characterised by a human being subjecting or exposing another human being to behaviour that may result in psychological trauma. Another definition could be, any act including confinement, isolation, verbal assault, humiliation, intimidation, infantilization, or any other treatment which may diminish the sense of identity, dignity, and self-worth. Emotional abuse includes things such as: Threats of violence or abandonment Intentionally frightening Making an individual fear that they will not receive the food or care they need Lying Failing to check allegations of abuse against them Making derogative or slanderous statements about an individual to others Socially isolating an individual, failing to let them have visitors Withholding important information Demeaning an individual because of the language they speak Intentionally misinterpreting traditional practices Repeatedly raising the issue of death Telling an individual that they are too much trouble Ignoring or excessively criticizing Being over-familiar and disrespectful Unreasonably ordering an individual around; treating an individual like a servant or child. An example of emotional abuse in a care home would be, john is 75 and has severe epilepsy one carer that works with john always calls him a shaky spastic, this is emotional abuse because the carer is deliberately trying to make john upset by calling him horrible names. http://www. healthyplace. com/abuse/emotional Racial abuse: Racial discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably than another person in a similar situation because of their race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status. For example, it would be ‘direct discrimination’ if a care home manager refuses to hire a person because they are of a particular racial background or skin colour. It is also racial discrimination when there is a rule or policy that is the same for everyone but has an unfair effect on people of a particular race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status. This is called ‘indirect discrimination’. For example, it may be indirect racial discrimination if a care home says that employees must not wear hats or other headwear at work, as this is likely to have an unfair effect on people from some racial/ethnic backgrounds. It is illegal for one to subject others to such kind of abuse as it has negative effects on the individuals and society in general. Things like written or verbal threats and damage to property are also all forms of such abuse. An example of racial abuse in a care home is, billy is and 85 year old black man with turrets and has been living in a care home from the age of 65 there is a new carer that doesn’t know how to handle billy because of his turrets, so to shut billy up she calls him a nigger and doesn’t let him join in the group activities, this is racial abuse because she has verbally called billy a racial name that is illegal to say and has also segregated him by not letting him join in with the group activities. http://www. humanrights. gov. au Institutional abuse: Institutional abuse is when routines work for the benefits of the organisation, not for the people they are supposed to care for. In poor quality care homes, service users are not given a choice about when they eat, sleep or even when they need to go to the toilet. Where there is institutional abuse, the needs of the individual fit in with all the routines of the home; everyone has to get up at the same time, have breakfast at the same time and go to bed at the same time. An example of institutional abuse in a care home would be, Susie has to take medication at a certain time to make sure her irritable bowel syndrome is under control but the carers will not allow Susie to have it until all the other residents have their medication half an hour later. http://pansussexadultssafeguarding. proceduresonline. com/glossary/insti_abuse. html P2 describe indicators that abuse may be happening to adults: There are many types of indicators which show abuse may be happening to adults they include disclosure, unexplained injuries, poor hygiene and change in behaviour. I am going to explain these in a bit more detail. Disclosure: Disclosure is when someone has literally told someone else that they are being abused straight from their own mouth, for example Mary can trust her carer glen and told him that her other carer Tracy has been physically abusing her by hitting and biting her, Mary has bruises and teeth marks to prove this so glen can take further action. Unexplained injuries: unexplained injuries is when a carer has spotted marks on a residents body including things like bruises, teeth marks, scratches, bald patches or bed sores but the resident can’t tell you how they got the marks and will sometimes try and avoid answering the question by shrugging and changing the conversation or they will give an answer of I don’t know how they got there or I forgot. This is an indicator that abuse is happening because if they were not being abused they would be able to tell you where and how they got the marks on their bodies but if they haven’t answered or don’t know they may be scared to tell someone or have been threatened by the abuser to not tell anyone. Poor hygiene: poor hygiene is an indicator of abuse because the residents can be neglected. This would be shown by the residents having poor hygiene including things like being left in their own faces because the carer has neglected them and not changed their underwear after them soiling themselves, bedsores which indicate that the resident hasn’t been turned enough times if bed bound and their skin has become sore and produced bedsores, greasy hair and smelling of body odour is an indicator of poor hygiene and neglect because it shows that the resident hasn’t been washed properly or even in days. All these things can indicate that a form of abuse is happening. Change in behaviour: change in a resident’s behaviour can indicate abuse is happening because if they were really talkative and energetic before and then suddenly they become shy and don’t talk at all then you know something may have happened to make them become like this. Also they may become scared of a certain carer that has abused them and not want to go near them or when they go near them they move away quickly and if they don’t do this to other carers this can show that they have or are being abused. P3 explain factors that may lead to abusive situations: Adults at most risk of being abused: the people most risk of being abused are people that have physical disabilities, dementia, blindness and the elderly. People with physical disabilities are at more risk of being abused because they can’t stop it from happening themselves, also if they have a disability which affects their speech they will not be able to tell anyone that the abuse is happening so this makes them a more vulnerable target. People with dementia are easy targets for abuse because after the abuse has happened and someone asks them if it has happened or how they got the marks on their body they might not remember and just tell them something else so the abuser will rise to this and potentially abuse them more because they will forget all about it happening or forget who abused them. Blind people are at high risk and most vulnerable to being abused because they will not be able to see the abuser so they will not be able to tell anyone who it was abusing them. Also they can’t see what the abuser is doing to them and might not know if it is wrong or right for them to be doing it. Elderly people are easy targets for abuse because they will be scared of telling anyone that the abuse is happening because they won’t be believed or have been threatened into not telling anyone, also they might also have dementia and forget who the abuser is or that it has even happened to them making them more vulnerable to the abuse. Environments that abuse can happen in: Abuse can happen in any environment possible but I am going to explain some of the most likely places abuse happens because of the circumstances given. Independent living: people whom live on their own are more vulnerable to being abused more than people who live with others because there is no one to witness the abuse going on, also there is no one for the person being abused to tell the abuse has or is happening to. Physiotherapy: People that have physiotherapy are more vulnerable to being abused because they may think that the abuse happening isn’t actually abuse and that it is part or the physiotherapy process and that it is meant to be happening to them. Hospitals: Abuse is more likely to happen in hospitals because the patients can be scared to tell anyone because the authorities may not believe them because the doctors and nurses may be at a higher level of qualification than the patient is. Contexts: People that are dependent on someone to look after them at all times are more vulnerable to abuse because they may not have anyone else to tell that the abuse is happening, no one will witness the abuse and they may not be able to fight the abuser off themselves meaning the abuser will carry on abusing them even more. People with communication difficulties are more vulnerable to being abused because if they can’t speak at all then they can’t tell anyone physically through speech that they are being abused but they may be able to draw pictures to explain what is going on, this isn’t great because the pictures may not be clear and may send out the wrong message. Lack of capacity to say no mean they are at higher risk of being abused because they might not know exactly what they are agreeing to is abuse and just say yes for example being asked to have sex they might think this is a good thing but not actually want it and just say yes to not be hurt then they have agreed to something bad which puts the authorities in a tough position because on one hand they said yes but on the other hand they don’t have the capacity to say no. People who may abuse: I believe that any human being from a relative to a stranger can abuse someone even people who aren’t expected to be abusers for example doctors, carers or relatives, I think these people are the most likely to be abusers because they have more ways to get out of the situation for example a doctor can say why would I put my whole career in jeopardy just to hit a patient I wouldn’t, or a carer can say the resident fell if there is no proof to say they were the abuser. M1 Asses the likely immediate effects of two different forms of abuse on the health and well-being of adults: In M1 I am going to be explain the immediate effects of two types of abuse, including how these things are likely to happen and what might they lead to?. The two forms of abuse I am going to be explaining are physical abuse and sexual abuse. Case study: Jan is 57 years old and has Down syndrome, Jan used to be a very lively person and was very talkative but recently Mary has noticed she is always quiet and sometimes doesn’t join in on the fun activities she always used to join in on, also Jan has started to not go near one of the carers called john. Mary asked Jan why this is and her answer was that john has been physically abusing her. When someone finds out that Jan had been abused the first action to take will be to get into some counselling to make sure that the effects I am going to explain next have less chance of happening. The immediate effects of being physically abused are that Jan could become severely depressed which could then lead to her self-harming or possibly even committing suicide. Also Jan can become frightened of men and never want to go near them meaning her father might even be scary for Jan. Jan could also suffer from depression or anxiety, become fearful around certain people, become socially withdrawn (having less contact with people who she have been close to in the past), become passive and very compliant, she could not be eating properly. The likeliness of Jan committing suicide is a lot less than her self-harming or not eating properly this is because committing suicide is the last straw and you have to be in a really dark and low place to be able to have the strength to do it. Case study 2: Susie is 60 years old and is in a wheelchair. She is one of those people that always wants go get involved and is kind to people but recently has become very reluctant to joining in on any activity and has been seen being nasty and verbally abusing the other residents this is because Susie has been being sexually abused by her male carer Danny. The immediate effects of being sexually abused could be that the person that has been abused turns to alcohol or drugs which can then lead to long term health problems and addiction. Also they can become scared to go out at night or they could become scared of the opposite sex. Sometimes the abused adult then becomes an abuser, now this doesn’t necessarily mean doing the same type of abuse to others it could be in other ways, for example in the case study above Susie becomes a bully and starts to verbally abuse other residents because of what she has experienced. I think in this case the likeliness of these effects happening are very high because this is the worst kind of abuse because one of the effects which is pregnancy can leave a memory there for life if not believing in abortion, and when it comes to the alcohol and drugs all the victim wants to do is forget about what happened to them. Not everybody experiences the same effects after being abused some people might suffer from depression where as others might suffer from anxiety and the outcome of the situation can be either positive where they have got their lives back on track and are living for today or it can be disastrous and they could take their own life it just all depends on the severity of their effects they suffer from. You can never tell how a person is going to react or what effects they will suffer with after being abused but there is help out there for everyone. D1 evaluate the potential long term effects of these two types of abuse on the health and well-being of adults: The long term effects of being physically or sexually abused may include anger management problems, trust issues, hyper vigilance (being over alert and aware of surroundings, which makes someone jumpy and anxious), anxiety, depression, self-esteem problems, a tendency to dissociate (get numb emotionally) and/or to be very emotional, increased risk for substance abuse or eating disorders or other self-destructive behaviours. Anger management problems can affect the person’s life in many ways. The biggest problem would be if they were to get into a relationship and they were violet or bad tempered not only can they lose their partner they could even end up in jail if they have hit or hurt them badly and they prosecute. Substance abuse i. e. drugs and alcohol can have a massive impact on your health and well-being and can be potentially life threatening listed below are the effects it can have in detail. Physical injuries: When you’re under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you might do things that you wouldn’t normally do. This can increase your chances of getting hurt or having an accident. Drug or alcohol related injuries can be from things like falling over to car accidents. Violence: Some drugs and alcohol can increase the likelihood of violent behaviour. Violence is never an acceptable way to react in a situation, and if you become violent when you take drugs or drink alcohol, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate your use. Drug or alcohol intake can lead to serious injury to you and to others. Internal damage: Use of some drugs and alcohol can damage your internal organs, like your liver, brain, lungs, throat and stomach. For example, ordinary household glue can be characterized as a drug if sniffed. The chemicals in glue can cause hearing loss and kidney damage if they’re inhaled over a long period of time. And continuous marijuana use can harm the parts of the brain that control memory, attention and learning. Pregnancy and STDs: While you’re under the influence, you might be less likely to remember to have safe sex. Unprotected sex can lead to pregnancy or the spread of STDs like HIV/AIDS. Risk of other infectious diseases: Sharing needles from injecting certain types of drugs or drinking from the same bottle as someone else can put you at major risk for getting diseases like Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, as well as HIV. These diseases are spread through the transmission of body fluids like blood. You can also contract other infections, like colds and mono, from sharing pipes or bongs. Addiction: When you take drugs or drink alcohol, there’s a chance that you could become dependent on them. This means that you might feel like you  can’t operate without drug or alcohol in your system or that you spend a lot of your time and energy finding and using the drugs or dinking the alcohol. You might also have withdrawal symptoms when you stop using the substance. If you use drugs often, your tolerance to the drug might increase, causing you to need to take a greater amount to get the same effects. Your mental and emotional well-being: Drug use and alcohol intake can also alter your mood-when you’re high or drunk, and even when you’re not. This can trigger stress or mental illness, or exacerbate already existing issues. Stress: You might think that using certain drugs or alcohol will help you relax and forget about the issues that cause stress. But long-term use of them can have a big impact on the way your brain works, and lead to increased anxiety and stress. Depression: Feeling low after using some drugs-including alcohol-is common. You might feel depressed because of the drug itself, or because of something that happened while you were using. Sometimes people use drugs as a way to cope with their depression, but drug use can often worsen these feelings. Mental illnesses: Although scientists generally agree that there is a link between drug use and serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says that it’s still unclear whether serious drug use leads to these illnesses, or if having an illness increases a person’s chances to abuse drugs. Your relationships and your future: Drug use and drinking alcohol can have an immediate impact on your body and mind but it can also affect your future and your relationship with others. Legal issues: Making, selling or having illegal drugs in your possession is against the law. It’s also against the law to give prescription drugs to people who don’t have a prescription from a doctor. Punishments for breaking these laws include having to go to court which might result in being sent to jail, having to pay hefty fines, or enter a rehabilitation program. Your relationships: When drug use or alcohol intake becomes a larger part of your life, your relationships suffer. Conflict and breakdowns in communication can become more common. Your safety: Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol could increase your chances of being in dangerous situations. The effects of some drugs and alcohol can cause you to do things you might not usually do. You might also be putting yourself at risk of overdosing. Buying drugs or trying to get the money to buy drugs can also put you at risk. Your job: Drugs and alcohol can also affect your ability to concentrate at work. The side effects of using drugs or drinking alcohol are a hangover, or a â€Å"coming down† feeling-can this will reduce your ability to focus. Poor performance at your job could cause you to lose your job all together. Financial pressures: Regular drug use or buying alcohol can become expensive. In extreme situations, people who are addicted to substances might try anything-including illegal activities like theft-to secure money to get their next fix. Homelessness: Spending most of your money on drugs and alcohol might not leave much money to cover your living expenses, like rent, food, or utility bills. If you can’t pay these necessary costs, you could even get kicked out of your home.