Meet Personal Care Needs

1.1 The caring environment may involve many different people therefore it is important as a carer you are aware of service users needs, preferences and personal beliefs. this may involve a service user of a particular culture or someone simply preferring a bath to a shower either way it is good practice to understand the service users requirements. you may experience difficulty understanding a service user needs perhaps due to the person being unable to communicate. In cases such as this other forms of communication may be needed alternatively speaking to a family, friend or previous carer of the individual may be helpful. Once an individual's needs and preferences are made clear it is vital where possible the carer respects this and cares for the person as they choose. It is important to avoid any offence or disrespect to the service user as their preferences may be due to their religion or cultural belief, for example the individual may require a care worker of the same gender to assist with their personal care needs.
1.2 It is necessary to ensure a service users treatment is both caring and beneficial. As individuals we have choices that we can make independently, but those in a care environment may have that choice taken away and support services need to ensure that they are offering the best possible care. their needs include choice, respect and dignity, privacy, confidentially and independence and we must ensure that we respect these.
1.3 The ways agreed with the individual to maintain privacy are when entering the room the staff member will knock on the door. before assisting the staff member will ask if they need any help and when assisting they will explain what they are about to do. if the service user is unhappy with anything the staff member must stop immediately.