CU1531 Engage in Personal Development in Health, Social Care or Children’s and Young People’s Setting
1.1 The main day to day duties and responsibilities of my role of Support Worker include encouraging service users to be as independent as possible when carrying out personal care in the mornings using positive prompts and praise; assisting service users to access the community including work placements and visiting friends and family; supporting with meal preparation and health and safety whilst cooking and prompting healthy diets and nutrition; assisting with service user’s personal finances and supporting with daily budgeting of their money; supporting service users to carry out daily domestic duties to keep their home clean and tidy i.e. washing, ironing, vacuuming etc; assisting with administration and observation of daily medicines and supporting to attend appointments and meetings i.e. doctors, dentists, dieticians etc.

1.2 The main care standards in the UK are dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realising potential, equality and diversity (www.nationalcarestandards.org, October 2014). My job description for my role of Support Worker states “to support individuals in their personal, social and health care needs as required. As part of a team, working closely with families, friends and advocates of the people you are supporting and other health and social care professionals to ensure people are supported to lead the lives they choose”. I attend annual or bi-annual refreshers training and I am up to date with my company’s policies and procedures, to ensure I am familiar and competent with the current standards required for my role. On a day to day basis I ensure I treat service users with dignity and respect; allow them privacy and private time alone when they require so; give them choice in every aspect of their support i.e. daily clothes to wear, activities, meal preparation, budgeting etc; I take it upon myself and my duty of care to ensure the safety of my service users around the home and our in the community i.e. keeping them free from exploitation and abuse i.e. physical, emotional, financial, sexual etc and allowing them to feel safe and secure in all aspects of their support but not to feel overwhelmed or over-protected; I always ensure my service users make full use of resources available to them in their lives and achieve all they can i.e. using the library to seek work experience or voluntary placements to make the most of their life. Finally, I take it upon myself to ensure my service users are treated equally and live in an environment they are happy in which is free from harassment, bullying or discrimination.
2.1 Reflective practice is the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning. It can take place verbally – discussing progress or concerns with managers and/or colleagues, or it can be done in writing i.e. keeping a log of daily activities/developments/incidents in order to reflect upon them and identify ways in which they could be improved. Reflective practice is essential in social care in order to guarantee that standards of service are continuously kept high. An individual’s circumstances and environment are always changing and therefore in order to reflect I, as a support worker, must be aware of the style of support I am providing and how it can be changed to accommodate changes in my service user’s needs. By always being aware of how I provide care, it can be continually improved and adapted to benefit both myself and the service users involved. It benefits me because my skills are always expanding and developing ensuring I am always competent in the service I provide. It benefits the service users because they can feel confident their individual needs are always being met regardless of any changes in their lifestyle. Reflective practice enables workers to examine why and how we carry out certain activities within our daily work schedules; to identify