Unit 86 – Maintain Personal Hygiene 1.1 Explain why personal hygiene is important Maintaining personal hygiene is of key importance for many reasons; personal, social, health, psychological or simply as a way of life. Keeping a good standard of hygiene helps to prevent the development and spread of infections, illnesses and bad odours. Poor hygiene can also have a negative impact on an individuals social life as friends and family with notice your appearance or odour for example and as a result wont want to bother with you. 1.2 Describe the effects of poor hygiene on health and wellbeing Poor hygiene can have a range effects on your health and wellbeing, for example; A build up of sweat and bacteria will cause body odour or B.O. which is probably the most common effect of poor hygiene.
The bathroom should have safety features installed such as tub bars and toilet bars and nonslip pads in the shower. Making these changes will enhance Mrs. O’Neill’s safety at home. It would eliminate her risk for falls, and assist her in taking care of herself. The home health nurse can check those things on her visits and make sure that they continue to be safe for Mrs. O’Neill. Another healthcare issue would be the medicines in her cabinet that have expired.
Infrequent washing of the hair and face can lead to build up that triggers acne breakouts and skin infections like impetigo. Poor personal hygiene can be a sign of a mental health issue, or low self esteem, leading to isolation. Poor hygiene can be a red flag for a major depressive disorder. It is not always major psychological disorders that cause poor hygiene; sometimes social isolation and poor self-esteem can contribute to lack of interest in
• Showering • Toileting • Dressing • Eating and drinking • Grooming, shaving and nail care 3. If a care worker did not respect the dignity of their client or provide privacy, while assisting with personal care; how might this affect the client emotionally and psychologically? • May become upset or aggressive • Client may become withdrawn • They might refuse assistance and personal care • Embarrassment and fear 4. Some people tend to show aggression during the provision of personal care e.g. shower.
Speaking to them about issues they might have in a sensitive manner. Talking with them to identify if they need any support to maintain personal hygiene, it could be that they can not do it for themselves or that they do not have working facilities to do so such as a working washing machine. By explaining to the the reasons for good personal hygiene. Main points of legislation that relates to moving/ handling: Including: The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAW/ HSW), The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (MHOR) How following principles for safe moving/ handling protects those in the social care setting from injury/ harm: By limiting the occurrence of dangerous situations; only moving/ handling when necessary, assessing the potential risks, taking steps to reduce the risks, requesting support, reporting any difficulties/ hazards, using alternative methods, adhering to policies and procedures of organisation, agreed ways of working and legislation.
The nurses may make sure that no patients have split any coffee in the lounge as the disabled patients may slip over and hurt themselves if the liquid is not mopped up. The nurses should also have good hygiene, which means they should wash their hands after assisting a patient to the bathroom; otherwise they could spread germs to the other patients. Also if the nurses feel unwell they must not come into to work otherwise they could spread an infection to the patients and the other nurses. Physical comfort Physical comfort means being in an environment that ensures the patients are as comfortable as possible. The less able patients within a nursing home sometimes the less able patients may not be able to control their own environment, so the nurses must provide this.
The carer needs to ensure that the person’s personal care and hygiene is maintained they should assist a person with washing and should also assist with any toilet needs from changing pads to just simply walking them to the toilet. Even though a person has dementia and may be less mobile than before it’s important that they remain as active as possible. Physical exercise is important both for general health and well-being and for mental stimulation. It also gives the person a feeling of independence, and a sense of achievement. It is important that the carer use aids if needs such as a walking stick or shimmer
This can cause fluctuation in the persons behaviour as perhaps they are frustrated that they can no longer take care of their personal needs. 2.1, Diagnosis can help uncertainty, It may not be clear why someone has problems with memory or has a change in behaviour. These problems may be because of dementia, or down to other reasons such as poor sleep, low mood, medication or other medical conditions. The uncertainty can be distressing for both the person experiencing the difficulties and their families and friends. While a diagnosis of dementia can be devastating news an explanation of what the problem is and what can be done about it can help people feel empowered and reduce some of the worry caused by uncertainty.
By learning about each person with dementia as an individual, with his or her own history and background, care and support can be designed to be more appropriate to individual needs. 2.3 People who have dementia are not aware of requirements for living. They forget to do the essential things that are vital. Taking medicines, hygiene, eating est. are often
In Health and Social care setting consent usually means that the individual gives consent to take part in an activity or to accept some kind of care/treatment - this could be agreeing to have a shower or bath, agreeing to take medication and agreeing to have their details shared with others. Aiv) An explanation of why social care workers must gain the consent of the individual when they are providing care or support. Care workers have to gain consent when providing care because they might be a routine that the service user prefers to stick to and they may be capable to being able to wash themselves and don’t feel comfortable with someone seeing them undressed or touching them. Consent should always be given to do anything with a service user so that they are always protected against any