This is just a small reflection on some of my thoughts which came out of a seminar session yesterday about adult safeguarding.
Also this is a topic which I consider to be quite scary; I also find it very interesting. I find it strange and quite sad that it can take an event which raises safeguarding issues for a team to start working more collaboratively, with multi agencies and to really think about a service user holistically to assess their needs.
We worked on a case study in our session about a man and wife in a complex situation, which only reminded me that in practice you may not be able to satisfy everybody's wants; to give one person what they need may leave the other behind or lead to separation of a family. This is why professionals from multi agencies need to start learning to communicate more effectively earlier on in a service users rehabilitation, so that therapies and other help can compliment each other and run more smoothly.
I never really considered the idea of Occupational Therapy in adult safeguarding (yes I realised that you could always have a role to play) but whilst filling out a CAF form (hypothetically for the case study) the questions upon the sheet reminded me much of an initial assessment.
What are the persons needs?
What environment do they live in?
What are their aspirations?
Is this another area where Occupational Therapists could be assisting with their skills to help provide a more comfortable or smooth safeguarding experience for the service users and their familes?
If I took anything away from that session it is that you must always remember you are not alone; especially as a student in a placement. If in doubt, talk to your supervisor over a coffee. Explain your concerns. To be able to provide the best care possible we have a responsibility to be able to work more effectively inter professionally, and this simply cant happen if people become lazy and pass the burden to someone else.
I agree it is very interesting yet intimidating as a topic and it is awful how it is these horrific 'adverse events' which trigger the whole review process of something so vitally important. Communication is definitely a fundamental component of safeguarding, as well as many other feature in our work as OTs but of all healthcare profs as a whole. I've never heard of the CAF, at least from my memory but those questions are half of our inquiries with the service users so perhasp OTs should become more prominent within the safeguarding process - at the organisational level as well as on the ground level. I don't know if this is a current feature within practice but the skills and abilities we have as OTs to connect with our clients should give us advantages over knowing how best to work with certain individuals.
ReplyDeleteI would echo the 'you are not alone' statement, there should always be someone whom you can share and discuss your concerns with - even as team leader. Our quality of care is reliant upon our ability to assume responsibility both as an individual profession but also as a part of an MDT - passing the burden or in this case a safeguarding issue onto another may risk it falling through the cracks.