NAME: HUMA PURKIT

DATE: 27/08/2020

PI NUMBER: L1449334

Question no.1
How are family carers affected by the need to provide care to a family member?

The term carer is used for individuals who take care of another person who is either ill, old,
or young. Family carers are refer to someone who, without any incentive or personal benefit
provides help and support to a child, relative, friend, family, or neighbor around them who
are unable to handle certain situations. A family carer could be provided to people in cases of
age, physical illness, mental disability, or an addiction (Action for Family Carers, 2020).
Being a carer can impact on the physical and mental health as they have to do more intensive
care roles like helping with all the daily tasks like feeding, bathing, dressing, housework and
administering medicines. They also provide care to a family member by offering beneficial
advice, counseling, therapies, or befriending. 

It has been observed, care is mainly provided to individuals by family or friends and not by
doctors, nurses, or caretakers (Buckner, and Yeandle, 2015). Estimates show that there are
around 44 million carers above the age of 18 years globally and are increasing with time
(Reinhard, Given, Petlick, and Bemis, 2008). However, it has been analyzed that more than
6.5 million people in the UK are carers and is increasing over time. According to the 2011
census, the number of carers rises around 11% in 10 years, (Carers UK, 2020). The carers
stats are not static as each year there is an increase in 2.1 million adults who become carers
which shows that almost 3 of 5 people will be a carer at some stage in their life.

Research sponsored by Carers UK (2012) found that many carers live in poverty as they give
up their jobs to provide care. For example, Ann being a family carer has to cross several
bridges while looking after her step dad. She uses to love her job but had to resign as her
father was becoming more and dependent on her day by day. Caring for him leaves her no
time to look after her teenage daughter and her husband. (Block 1 learning guide1). Also, this
left her with only one income which was her husband’s. Family care gives an opportunity for
personal growth and the development of new skills. It provides us inner satisfaction that we
have done something better for the improvement of someone’s life. Furthermore, it
strengthens the relationship with the person they care for.

Often there are several challenges for the family carer in terms of mental health concerns
which may include depression, anxiety and subclinical stress. Further the challenges may
involve physical health concerns like constant fatigue, restless sleep which increases the risk
of illness, mortality and could weaken the immune system of the family carer (American
Psychological Association, 2020). However, there is a core struggle for a family carer as they
themselves do not have their own personal or social lives where they can live freely without
any concerns. The struggle is constant for a family carer as they don’t have proper time for
which they can spend freely. They are not able to have a full-time job or concentrate on their
work, bring a family carer is very demanding.
(523)

Question no. 5
Discuss how people may be disabled or enabled by the home environment in
which they live.

A disability is the condition that makes it difficult for the person to perform daily activities. A
disability could be anything from a sickness, mental illness, or a physical ailment. In the past
several decades it has been analyzed that disability is enabled through the changeable
environment of a home or where they live because the place, they live is highly impactful on
the individual. However, the home environment effects individuals in different ways in terms
of the availability of the technologies which eases their lives and lets them do things which
were unable to be done before and helps them get on with their daily lives. It could also
impact negatively due to over usage or inappropriate usage leading to eye problems,
infections, or mental disability, not mention the high expenses of modern technology such as
phones or laptops.

Suitable environments empower people to take control over their disabilities and enable them
to live meaningful lives. Some people with a disability, are caused by a disabling
environment prevented from taking part in the day to day activities. Enabling home
environments help to give people a sense of management over their lives. Sometimes the
process of enabling people to remain in their homes maybe complicated and may take time
and the alterations may be expensive for the house and the changes may not be suitable to
promote independent living after the modification. Home maintenance is often required over
a period of time as peoples need for care and support changes. K101 (Open University 2017a)
describes the home improvement agencies as a nonprofit organization that aids older or
disabled home owners and private sector tenants to remain in their own homes living
independent, in safety. Some people come up with their own methods of dealing with
restrictions of their homes and sometimes makes alterations themselves. In adapting for
dialed living (Open University 2017 b) we see how Bertie many numerous changes to his
own property to make an enabling environment for his wife Veronica by changing the bottom
of his house to be more accessible for the needs of his wife. Not only did Bertie make
changes inside the house, but he also put in a ramp. Bertie is a retired architect that took
remodeling into his own hands rather than waiting for the correct authorities. This shows how
a disabling home environment can become enabling after careful considered designs and
adaptations. Earlier Veronica was unable to carry out her personal daily routines and other
house tasks as her independence was tightly restricted and sometimes stopped by several
blockades. Therefore, their family home needed to be modified in order for Veronica to live
independently.

However, in terms of disabled people assistive technology are very helpful as they actually
made for those people in order to provide them support. Although, the assistive technologies
could be any equipment or systems that provides them to enhance learning and daily living of
the people which may include wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, orthotic devices or others that
offers them mobility aids (UNICEF, 2020). Other cognitive help may involve the computer
or electrical assistance which could provide support to the disabled people with memory,
attention or any other encounter.
(531)

Question no.6
Discuss what is meant by “institutionalization” and the consequences that it
might have on those living in residential settings.
Institutionalization is defined as a process of developing or the transformation of rules and
regulations that impacts the set of human interactions. It is a process which regulates the
societal behavior. There are several impacts of institutionalization on people living in
residential settings which shows that the effect could be negative or positive depending on the
situation and behavior of people. Generally, the major issues that are profound in
institutionalization are the increased risks or cases in sexual and physical abuse (Better Care
Network, 2020).
In K101 the term ‘institution’ refers to a particular kind of residential setting e.g.; care homes
and long stay hospitals. It is a place of residence and work where a large number of like
situated individuals cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time. Goffman
(cited in Jones and Fowles, 1984, p. 66) people are controlled by strict rules so that there is
little freedom left for them, they were all treated as same, not as individuals

According to British psychiatrist Russel Barton (Open University Block 3 learning guide 11)
the individuals who become institutionalized showed signs of ‘apathy, lack of interest in the
outside world, submissiveness and resignation’. (1959, p. 71). Barton thought it was partly
caused due to various factors which are; loss of contact with the outside world, friends and
family, loss of personal possessions, having nothing to do, bossiness of medical and nursing
staff, drugs and sedatives beings used to manage patients and finally the loss of future
prospects. Over the course of time people become helpless because of the drab environments
that they live in and the boring and monotonous routines.

One such example of institutionalization is ‘Cedar court’ (Open University, Block 3, activity
11.50). Cedar court was one such home struck by isolation from life and general community
The home was carpeted throughout, the smells of disinfectants, trolleys, wheelchairs gave an
impression of hospitalization rather than that of a residential care setting. The patients routine
were managed by the staff, basically it was all about a work being done.people were treated
as if they are all the same , not as individuals .Emotional work was repressed over physical
labour. They were just treated as objects. Patients who demanded emotional time and refuse
the role of objects were labelled as whiners. Personal space was also disregarded while
entering or exiting a room. There was only a limited interaction among staff and patients ,
just to know if they needed changing or feeding. To the staff, well presented bodies seem to
symbolise a job well done. Due to the lack of emotions, depersonalisation, ignorance and
mistreatment residents became violent and aggressive. Some people may have a sense of
dead and heavy hanging time’ of life wasted, and months of years ticking away (From
K.Jones and A.J.Fowles 1984 mGoffman the radical’in ideas on institutions:Routledge and
KeganPaul, pp. 12-16). Institutionalization was accompanying poor intellectual performance
and the deficit of language all of these negative aspects combine and lead towards the
deterioration of an individual.
(505)

Question no.7
What is unacceptable care and what contributes to this occurring?

Unacceptable care is referred to as a poor-quality care. It is insensitive to the service users’

needs and emotional wellbeing or the ignorance of medical and physical care needs in the
prevention of health, social care, or educational services. The unacceptable variations in the
standards are derived as in the standards of treatment, care, services, and quality of services.
Whereas, these standards mainly focus on safety, dignity, well-being, and quality of life
(O'Loughlin, and O'Loughlin, 2016). Generally, unacceptable care is a form which is not
properly handled and is normally ignored. 

There are a number of factors which give rise to unacceptable care which are poor
recruitment, induction and training procedures, the lack of staff resources, poor role models
and inadequate inspection systems. High work load and poor training of staff arise the
problem of depersonalization, that is the carer only address’s the individual’s basic needs
without attending to their need for choice (Open University Block 4 Learning Guide 13).
Depersonalization could either be abuse in form of language, body structure, etc. which can
violate the individual’s rights or could be from intent, negligence or could be done out of
ignorance.

Unacceptable care happens due to poor practice in organizations and is wide spread. Many of
the individuals working there including the manager would not recognize it. This is evident
by Marie’s first day at millstream court (Open University 2017a) where she was not shown
how to assist Fakhra with her breakfast which lead Fakhra to choke twice and also could have
proven to be fatal.
Performing care well is very difficult. Time is often limited and the work is physically
demanding. When it comes to washing a naked body or feeling someone, it can become very
challenging. Less experienced staff may not know how to perform acceptable intimate care to
their service users (Open University 2017b Learning Guide 13). For example, keeping the
situation of Marie’s (Open University; Block 4, Learning Guide 13) in mind she did all her
chores to get Richard out of the situation but she wasn’t capable of. Marie tried hard to help
him the most she can by helping out in going towards the washroom to let him entirely
dressed up. But due to unprofessionalism and unpracticed situation Marie was unable to
handle the situation well for which it leads towards unacceptable care. She was unable to care
with all her capabilities as she was not an expert and does not know how to handle the
situation with expertise and professionalism.

Care is a big responsibility and if not done properly it should be reported, whether it’s an
employer or a care worker. Care workers should report their concerns to the line or service
manager. If the care is not satisfactory, they may have to go outside the organization to draw
attention to the issue. Although ‘whistleblowing’ will raise the alarm and encourage more
actions of unacceptable care if it is not taken seriously by any care organizations. This can
simply be prevented by training the staff according to their roles effectively.

(508)
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