Effective Communication And Intervention In Social Care For Children: A Case Study Essay.

The Importance of Effective Communication with Children

This assignment will be based on a case study referring to Kiran which will be discussing and identifying effective communication between service users, practitioners, and organizations. This assignment aims to discuss how multiagency working will be beneficial while working with Kiran. Furthermore, will analyze a variety of approaches to successful interventions in social care for children. By outlining ways of communicating with Kiran, formulate an assessment and care planning process for her, and make use of a solution-focused model and ecological systems approach for successful social care intervention with Kiran.  Finally, the paper will also highlight the legislations that promote child-centered practices and how services can become child-centered.

Effective communication is important while working with children as it helps in building trust and greater understanding between the child and the care provider which leads to better working relationships, information gathering, and treatment response (Lishman 2009). Effective communication with children helps in making them believe that their opinions and preferences are valued and will be respected and will also make them feel safe and secure within the service environment which will help in ensuring quality care. It will also help in enhancing their confidence, morale, and self-esteem (Lishman 2009).

Communicating with Kiran is quite essential to understand her learning disabilities, and understand the impact of being separated from her mother at a young. Communication with Kiran will also help in understanding the severity of physical abuse committed by her mother on her that might have led to the problem of schizophrenia. Interaction and engagement with Kiran will also help understand how her use of cannabis is aggravating her bipolar disorder and symptoms of schizophrenia that has led to suicidal tendencies in her.

There are several ways of communicating with Kiran and the first is to show empathy toward her, understand her emotions and feelings, and show compassion to her that will help her to share further information regarding implicit and explicit issues she might be facing, will help in regulating her emotions and promote helping behaviors (Rogers 1958). Another way of communicating with Kiran is to show her unconditional positive regard which involved complete support and acceptance of an individual irrespective of what they do or say (Rogers 1958).

When the above communication skills will be applied while interacting with Kiran then it will help in making her feel secure and comfortable within the care environment, a strong therapeutic relationship will be built which will further encourage her to understand her feelings and behaviour and its related consequences on her development (Skills for Care 2018).

As Kiran has mild learning disabilities it is also essential to make use of non-verbal communication like gestures, eye contact, frequent hand movements, and nodding which will help her to respond appropriately through similar gestures thereby helping in gathering relevant information and coming up with an appropriate intervention plan (Skills for Care 2018).

To provide effective and efficient support to Kiran It is essential to include the participation of families and other agencies. Communicating with Kiran's family will help social care providers to understand the needs, wants, concerns, and expectations of family members regarding the care plan (Lishman 2020). It also helps in collecting further information that might not have been communicated by the Kiran, and helps in understanding their cultural preferences and beliefs according to which intervention needs to be planned (Lishman 2020).

Ways of Communicating with Kiran

Thus, when relevant information will be collected then it will help in understanding how childhood traumatic experiences have shaped the mental health of Kiran which will thereby help in coming up with care priorities and interventions. This will be clearly aligned to the implicit needs and expectations of Kiran which will help in providing her with culturally, mentally, emotionally, and physically safe, responsive, and quality practice, thereby improving her health outcomes.

Communication with families also helps in increasing trust between the client and the care provider. It also helps in encouraging the participation of the family in the care and intervention plan of the patient (Goldberg and Warburton 2021). This intervention will help in increasing the interaction between Kiran and her family, especially her mother which will give her an opportunity to Kiran to get the required attention and affection from her mother which she desires at the moment. The approach is therefore bound to have a positive impact on her mental health where she will be encouraged to cope with her mental illnesses since the presence of her family will enhance her self-esteem and confidence.

Communicating with other agencies like childcare services, child safeguarding communities, children’s mental health services, and others too is quite essential since it helps in acquiring resources that can help in the care of Kiran, which will lead to better decision-making, prevent errors, help in providing her holistic care, and also ensures high-quality care (Goldberg and Warburton 2021). This strategy will benefit Kiran since she will be receiving mental, emotional, and psychological support from a range of services that will help in providing her with holistic care and will also help direct her to resources like therapies, counselling, social engagement opportunities with children of her age and others, that will help in optimizing her health outcomes.Additionally, communication between practitioners and organizations can be improved for Kiran, by encouraging team building between practitioners and organizations that will better help them to understand and communicate the resources which are available and will be required that will help in offering effective care to the client (Healy 2012).Furthermore, the effective use of technology will also help in improving communication between practitioners and organizations. Offering or collecting feedback from one another will further help in improving communication between practitioners and organizations (Healy 2012). At the same time, it should be noted that with the help of communication social care providers will be able to conduct appropriate assessments as it will help in collecting relevant information and providing appropriate care.

Thus, through technology, the health and social care professionals taking care of Kiran will be able to continuously be in touch and stay informed regarding the progress that is being made in her case and will also help in reducing decision-making errors thereby offering Kiran with best quality care and treatment that will help her to overcome and cope with her mental illnesses which will further increase Kiran’s engagement and trust in the services.

Assessments should be of high quality, should promote demanding as well as thoughtful work, and remain rooted in the theory that will help in effectively analyzing the external and internal factors affecting clients and leading to their physical, mental, and emotional health problems (Carr and Goosey 2019). Apart from this, it should also be noted that assessment should be a part of an effective and efficient care planning process that focuses on the aspects of patient assessment, planning with the patient, implementation, and lastly monitoring and reviewing (Carr and Goosey 2019).

Therefore, the above aspects of assessments will help in understanding internal and external factors affecting Kiran that have led to her physical, mental, and emotional health problems which will thereby help in identifying her diagnosis and deciding the most appropriate treatment and intervention for her which will help her to cope with her impulsive and paranoid behaviour.

The Role of Multi-Agency Working in Social Care for Children

To promote an effective and efficient assessment it is essential to balance diverse needs, recognize risks in the care planning process, and also help in deciding resource provisions which can only be possible through communication (Milner, Myers, and O'Byrne 2020). Some of the factors that need to be considered during the assessment are to identify the strengths and barriers of the care plan, and identify unmet needs and wants (Milner, Myers, and O'Byrne 2020). Communication, goals, as well as expression of feelings, are also aspects that make assessment strong as well as effective.

An understanding of the above aspect will help in reviewing Kiran’s strengths and weaknesses, where strategies to improve the latter, can be decided through intervention plans which will help in enhancing her morale and confidence, thereby increasing her responsiveness to treatments. Identifying Kiran’s unmet needs and wants will help social care providers to provide her with resources and opportunities that will help her to fulfill her desires thereby leading to her satisfaction and positive mental health.

Furthermore, an understanding of her needs, expectations, and risks in care planning will help in empowering her during the assessment phase, by making her aware of her issues, communicating with her, understanding her problems, and making her aware of the treatment process and care by encouraging her participation in her decision-making process, respecting her opinions regarding care interventions and understanding her expectations (Goldberg and Warburton 2021). This will help in motivating her and enhance her self-esteem and confidence thereby leading to a positive assessment process.

Showing unconditional positive regard, that is respecting Kiran, not being judgmental regarding her poor behavior and habits, showing her compassion, listening to her expectations, issues and offering her empathy will help in collecting relevant information, making her aware of the consequences of her behavior and thereby lead to the positive assessment process (Goldberg and Warburton 2021).

Thus, it is through assessment and clear communication with Kiran, her family members, and other care providers that appropriate and relevant interventions and approaches can be planned that will lead to positive outcomes. Hence, after communicating and assessing Kiran's case, it has been realized that the ecological system approach and solution-focused approach are two interventions that will be appropriate to her case.

Apart from the above aspects, assessments should also be either solution-focused or problem-focused. In other words, assessments should be made in such a way that helps in identifying the problems that are being suffered by the client based on which solutions can be made (Smeets et al 2021).

The first reason why assessment does not work is that the service providers are unable to promote and encourage empowerment among clients due to poor communication (Smeets et al 2021). For instance, when clients are empowered by social care providers then they are successful in encouraging the participation of clients in their decision-making process which leads to greater self-esteem, morale, and confidence and also increases their response to care plans and interventions (Payne 2020).

Another aspect that makes the assessment process unsuccessful is when social care providers during the process of assessment do not consider or value the cultural sensitivity of individuals (Payne 2020). It cannot be denied that social care providers have to deal with several patients or clients coming from different cultural backgrounds, values, beliefs, and preferences that need to be respected understood, and appreciated by professionals (Rogowski 2020). However, when cultural needs and preferences are not respected by social care providers then it does not allow the clients to provide clear and transparent information nor allows them to respond to service treatments making assessment unsuccessful (Rogowski 2020).

Assessment and Care Planning for Kiran

Lack of multi-agency cooperation which does not allow the social care provider to understand the different social, mental, physical, and emotional needs of clients is another challenge or aspect that makes assessment unsuccessful (Coulshed and Orme 2018). Communication and cooperation between multi-agency during the assessment phase help in gathering required resources that will help in making treatment and care plan a success (Coulshed and Orme 2018).

Kiran has several types of mental, emotional, social, and other underlying health conditions and it needs to be addressed quickly and effectively. At the same time, Kiran has gone through a lot of internal and external changes which has led to issues in the above aspects. Therefore, a combination of an ecological systems approach and solution-focused therapy will help in effectively resolving the issues that are being faced by her and will also mitigate one another's limitations (Seko et al 2021).

The ecological systems approach states that individuals encounter different environments throughout their lifespan which tends to have a direct influence on their behavior, actions, and emotions. The approach focuses on different systems- microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem (Loh, Robinson, and Muller 2021). The approach was introduced by Bronfenbrenner who defined the microsystem as the internal environment of the individual like family, friends, teachers, neighbors, and others whose actions, behaviors, and attitudes tend to influence the growth and development of individuals (Loh, Robinson, and Muller 2021). For instance, the ecological systems approach will help in understanding how Kiran's early separation from her mother, the latter's mental issue of schizophrenia, and physical abuse on Kiran has harmed Kiran's mental health. Similarly, her lack of friends, her inability to meet her siblings, and her sudden shift from a home environment to residential care have led to the issue of depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.

From an ecological perspective, the care providers will be able to identify Kiran's strengths, weaknesses, and expectations. Therefore, by focusing on her strengths and skills, the care providers can make Kiran aware of the consequences of her present behavior and how mitigating those will lead to positive future development for her (Zhang et al 2018). This will provide an opportunity for Kiran to decide on her solutions and ways of meeting them that will eventually help her to deal with her present problems and develop a positive future for herself (Zhang et al 2018).

Solution-focused model states that only focusing on problems does not help in solving them, rather the model focuses on the clients' default solution problems, evaluates its efficacy, and thereby modifies and replaces them with problem-solving approaches (Kim et al 2019). The solution-focused model, therefore, helps clients to understand their problems in the best way and thereby arrive at a solution that is realistic to fit their needs (Kim et al 2019). The model makes use of questioning based on the present and future instead of forcing clients to act in a particular way.

Some strengths of the model are that it is used as a short-term therapy, is a cost-effective approach, treatment is quicker when compared to other forms of therapy, and helps both clients and care providers to become efficient problem-solvers (Franklin et al 2018). The limitation of the approach is that its emphasis on quick solutions may make the care provider miss essential information and points. It does not pave way for an emotional and empathetic connection between the care provider and the client (Franklin et al 2018).

Legislations and Policies Supporting Child-Centered Practices in Social Care

These, changes in the different systems of Kiran's ecology tends to have a direct impact on her mental and emotional health where the approach will not only help in understanding different internal and external impact but will also help the care provider to show compassion, empathy, active listening, and unconditional positive regard towards her (Crawford 2020). Thus, making use of the ecological systems approach will help in collecting relevant and appropriate information which will thereby help in applying solution-focused therapy effectively (Crawford 2020).

Hence, it can be said that the two interventions, appropriate communication, and effective assessment technique will help in providing child-centered care to Kiran.

Some of the legislation that will help in promoting child-centered practice for Kiran is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a human rights treaty where every child is granted some rights like the right to live, acquire property, right to be educated, the right to be protected from harm or safeguarded, right to be respected, right to be taken care of by organizations and institutions if they have no family and others (Tobin 2019). The above legislation needs to be considered by every social and multi-agency provider while working with children that will help in making their approach child-centered (Tobin 2019).

Children Act 1989, is another legislation that will help in promoting and encouraging services to become child-centered. By making use of the legislation service providers can understand how local authorities, courts, parents, and other agencies are doing to ensure Kiran’s protection (Children Act 1989). The act will help in looking after Kiran’s wishes, physical, emotional, and educational needs have to be met without discriminating against her on the basis of her cultural, economic, or other backgrounds (Children Act 1989).

It states that more than one person can have parental responsibility and when parental-like affection, support, and guidance will be offered to Kiran then it will help in making services child-centered for her thereby helping in safeguarding Kiran and providing her with relevant mental, social, and emotional services (Moosa 2018).

Working together to Safeguard Children is another guide that will help in making services child-centered for Kiran since it focuses on how practitioners should work with children to ensure their safety (Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018). With the help of the approach, the service providers will be able to respect, empathize, communicate, empower, assist, and guide Kiran in meeting her needs and safeguarding expectations (Department for Education 2018). It also states the importance of cooperation, coordination, and communication between multi-agencies to ensure holistic care for every child which will help in benefitting Kiran since all her needs will be looked after effectively, her self-esteem and morale will be enhanced and she will be encouraged to respond to treatment options.

When the above legislations will be applied along with the aspects that help in making services child-centered like showing respect, empathizing, communicating, empowering, assisting, assessing, and guiding then it will tend to have a positive impact on Kiran (Nhapi and Mathende 2018). For instance, the above child-centered approaches and legislations when applied effectively to Kiran's case then it will help in providing her with holistic development and care, will help her to make her own decisions, and resolve her problems through empowerment (Narey and Owers 2018). A child-centered approach will also help in instilling confidence and independence within Kiran and will enhance her self-esteem and morale (Narey and Owers 2018).

Conclusion

The child-centered approach will also help enhance her resilience skills of Kiran thereby leading to her efficient personal development (Calheiros and Patr?cio 2014). Apart from this, the approach will also help protect and safeguard her from personal and external harm, will encourage her to understand her problems and their circumstances, and thereby improve her response and participation in service interventions (Calheiros and Patr?cio 2014).

Conclusion

To conclude, it can be said from the above discussion that multi-agency working will help in protecting, safeguarding, and meeting the needs of the clients, will lead to family satisfaction, help in identifying family problems, and thereby find solutions to the same. Through cooperation, communication, team building, and adhering to legislation, multi-agency working can play a significant role in social care interventions with children and their families.

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