Unit 11 - Task Three
Safeguarding Adults and promoting Independence I am going to assess and evaluate the long term and short term effects of two types of abuse in two diverse real life care settings. Effects are the result of, outcome or impact of something. immediate effects are straight away, now, instant whereas long term effects are continuous, ongoing, and constant.
The first real life care setting I have chosen is from BBC Panorama 'Britain's Homecare Scandal'. This is about a vulnerable woman aged 89 years old who was neglected in her own home by home care assistants over a period of 24 hours. Neglect is a failure to provide necessary care, assistance, guidance or attention that causes, or is reasonably likely to cause a person physical, mental, or emotional harm or substantial damage to or loss of assets.
One of the short term effects on this individual being neglected is pressure sores. This is an effect on Janet Finn as she had being left for 24 hours without being able to move her position and also as she had being left to sit in her own bodily fluids due to her being double incontinent and not able to use the toilet herself, therefore this could lead to her getting an infection over a short term period. Another short term effect on Janet is dehydration. This can cause affect in the short term as she may then get a urinary tract infection and suffer some memory loss and therefore become more confused due to a lack of fluid intake. Janet being left without any food for over 24 hours may also cause her to become constipated due to her not getting enough fibres in her body it may also have an affect on her losing weight and becoming more frail.Janet may become depressed as a result of this neglect, she may feel as though its her own fault and that no one cares about her so she may feel as though she doesn’t want to live like this anymore and therefore lose a sense of life itself and not want to do anything anymore. Abuse and neglect can have harmful long term effects on the health and well being of Janet Finn, especially due to her age and condition as health effects can vary from person to person depending on their situation. Abuse has a significant impact on people at any age, but older adults such as Janet can be especially vulnerable. Janet may have less physical strength and less physical resilience than those who are not limited with their mobility as she is. Some older adults may be very frail, or already have disabilities or impairments that leave them particularly vulnerable such as Janet who also suffers from dementia.
Janet may also become isolated as a result of this neglect from her care givers, she may often experience worry, depression, or anxiety. These signs may be mistaken for memory loss or illness, when really they are the effects of stress or worry. This has an affect on her in the short term by her as she can be reassured by her family members that she is in fact loved and that they are going to ensure that it never happens again to her.
This neglect could become a major source of stress for Janet and have a long term effect over a long period of time. The stress of this type of abuse she has suffered may trigger chest pains or angina and may even lead to other serious heart problems in the long term for her. It may also cause her to develop high blood pressure, breathing problems, stomach problems such as ulcers and may even lead onto her having panic attacks in the future.
Depression for Janet may also have the potential to become a long term effect for her as she may develop a lack of confidence which she once had before this abuse happened to her, she may become low in self-esteem, these effects on her may happen to become more intense over a period of time and therefore