Principles of personal development in adult social care settings

1. Understand how to reflect on practice in adult social care

1.1 Explain what reflective practice is

You should think about your work, particularly when new situations arise, and see what you can learn. It is useful to discuss such situations with your supervisor or another experienced colleague. This will help you to give better support to the people you care for. It provides opportunities to learn from your experience and develop your working practice.

2 Explain the importance of reflective practice in continuously improving the quality of service provided

You can use reflective practice to improve the quality of the service you provide by thinking about a task you previously completed and asking yourself: What could have been done better? & how will I do that task next time? identify areas you may need to improve i.e. It may make you consider new approaches or make you consider learning more or beginning new courses in relevant subjects.

3 Explain how standards inform reflective practice in adult social care
Standards i.e. the code of practise explain the way that we should be working, you can use them to think about the way you work and compare them to your own work and decide if you need to make any improvements. They enable us to gain professional development and provide a way to identify good practise.

4 Describe how own values, belief systems and experiences may affect working practice
Values, belief systems and experiences may affect my working practise because if I treat people differently or force my views and opinions on to people it can cause conflict. By listening and understanding other people’s values and beliefs I can understand them and their beliefs better and improve communication with them.

Understand the importance of feedback in improving own practice

2.1 Explain how people may react and respond to receiving constructive feedback
Some people find it difficult to receive critical constructive feedback. Sometimes they take the feedback negatively. You may believe you have done something quite well but if your senior person highlights errors in your performance this can be disappointing.
You have to take this comment positively & try to use them in your existing knowledge & skills to improve your performance. Constructive feedback raises awareness of strengths as well as your weaknesses. Provide opportunity to plan how you develop your strengths and minimise your weaknesses. 2.2 Explain the importance of seeking feedback to improve practice and inform development
It is not only your manager who can give you feedback; you can also ask the individual who you care, relatives, other professional and your colleagues. You are the most important motivator of your performance. Evaluating your own performance critically and set the target in a committed way, will reward you with self-awareness of a knowledgeable, highly skilled professional, as you develop your skills, you will become more interested in certain areas.
2.3 Explain the importance of using feedback in improving own practice
If you ignore feedback, you are not allowing yourself to become skilful in your duties. This might could lead to mistake that harm someone or losing your job. You must stick to your working practices that are linked to national standards of care. Acting on feedback enables personal and professional progression, and increase of your level of competence and expertise and increase self-esteem.

Understand how a personal development plan can contribute to own learning and development

3.1 Describe the components of a personal development plan
You can improve your performance or task through constant practice and asking for advice and help from your team leader or mentor. Your personal development and learning should always be regularly discussed during supervision meetings and always reviewed at your appraisal which would usually take