Resources and Support Services

LearningGuide

Resources and support services

1810 Provide information about resources and support services in a health or wellbeing setting / Level 3 / 2 credits
Name:
Workplace:

Contents

Introduction

Holistic health

Factors that contribute to mental health and wellbeing

Lifestyle choices that promote wellbeing

Resources and support services

What are resources?

What are support services?

Types of support agencies

Key points of the support services and resources

Research example

Providing information

Resources and support services (US 1818) Learning Guide © Careerforce – Issue 1.0 | July 2015

Introduction

This learning guide is about learning how to identify, describe and provide information on community support services and resources available for family, whānau and/or support person.

How to use your learning guide

This guide supports your learning and prepares you for the unit standard assessment. The activities and scenarios should be used as a general guide for learning.

This guide relates to the following unit standards:

• 1810 Provide information about resources and support services in a health or wellbeing setting (Level 3, 2 credits)

This guide is yours to keep. Make it your own by writing notes that help you remember things, or where you need to find more information.

Follow the tips in the notes column.

You may use highlight pens to show important information and ideas, and think about how this information applies to your work.

You might find it helpful to talk to colleagues or your supervisor.

Finish this learning guide before you start on the assessment.

What you will learn

This topic will help you to:

• identify sources of community support and resources for family, whānau and support people.
• identify key components of each support service or resource.
• provide information about support and resources to family, whānau and support people.
• ensure the information provided is consistent with the needs of the personal plan.

Holistic health

Your role as a support worker is to provide quality individualised care that respects the wishes and needs of the person you support. This individualised care extends to the family/whānau and further to you as the support worker. In understanding the person-centred approach you must recognise that all the individuals involved in the personal plan need support and services to manage their health and wellbeing. We know that a person-centred model distinguishes that everyone is unique and must be cared for according to their needs, regardless of age, race, religion, social status or disability. This includes the assistance provided to the person you are supporting, the family/whānau and encompasses you, the support worker, and your health and wellbeing.

The concept of holistic health is the notion that the physical, social, emotional, mental, cultural and spiritual dimensions of a person must be viewed as an integrated whole. This leads to a broader concept of care in which a person’s holistic needs must be met to maximise health and wellbeing.

Factors that contribute to mental health and wellbeing

When people feel mentally well they are strengthened against stressful life events. When they experience traumatic life events, family or work stress, mental health problems, etc., their vulnerability is heightened.

Factors that can affect a person’s mental health either for better or worse can be physical, psychological, spiritual, social, and economic factors, trauma, and the culture and the environment.

Culture

People need a sense of belonging to feel good about themselves. Most people relate to a number of cultures at the same time.

Positive Effect

Being part of a cultural group with background, values and way of doing things in common provides people with ongoing contact that helps prevent them from feeling isolated or alienated. These may include church, spiritual, sport, ceremonial or volunteer groups.

Negative Effect

When people are not connected to a culture, they may lose their identity and sense of belonging. Not having people to relate to who have shared values and experiences may lead a person to feel that these values and experiences are no longer worthwhile.

Social

Relationships take many forms – intimacy, friendship, family and casual social relationships. Even chatting briefly with a local shop owner is a social relationship.

Positive Effect

Being part of a community and its social structure enhances people’s sense of belonging and of feeling valued.

Having strong safe relationships with people who support each other through good times and bad can help a person to be more resilient.

Negative Effect

Socialisation can be damaged or threatened by other people’s fear and lack of understanding. People may avoid someone living with a mental illness because they are not sure how to behave or what to do/say.

Physical

There is a close relationship between good physical health and good mental health.

Positive

Nutrition, exercise and sleep are three essential factors to support mental health wellbeing. They help to keep moods stable, energy levels up and cognitive functioning working.

Negative Effect

Maintaining good physical health is often more difficult for people with other chronic disorders such as mental health conditions. This may be because their mental health condition causes people to be less motivated to care for their physical health or to expose themselves to community interactions that.

Psychological

Psychological wellbeing refers not only to the absence of mental illness, but also to people feeling good about themselves and who they are.

Positive Effects

With psychological wellbeing generally comes:

• self-confidence.
• a sense of contentment.
• a sense of meaning and purpose.
• the ability and opportunities to laugh and have fun.

Negative Effects

People who are not psychologically resilient tend to have:

• a negative outlook which leads to low self-regard.
• a lack of sense of safety in the world.
• a diminished sense of belonging.
• a lack of self-confidence.

Economic

People need to have adequate income to provide the base essentials of life without getting into debt or other stressful situations.

Positive effects

Having sufficient money gives a sense of present and future security. When people are able to manage their money well, they gain a sense of confidence and security that they are controlling and shaping their own lives.

Negative effects

Financial difficulty can lead to stress, poverty and a perception of a reduced social status.

Lack of funds can also affect a person’s ability to pursue other factors that may support wellbeing, such as having a good diet or being able to join social groups.

Spiritual

Many people have a spiritual influence in their life, while others may not believe hold atheist or agnostic points of view. This all contributes to a sense of self.

Positive effects

People with a belief system can gain a sense of contentment, knowledge and confidence of their place in the universe and a deep understanding and acceptance of what life throws at them.

During times of mental distress, people may also be drawn to priests, elders, kaumatua or other spiritual leaders.

Negative effects

When experiencing a mental health problem, people may feel unable to connect with their usual spiritual or religious beliefs. This loss of confidence can increase feelings of loneliness.

Some spiritual or religious beliefs can be harmful for the people following them and may lead to delusional or irrational behaviour.

Environment

Environment can refer to any location from immediate house to other areas that are regularly visited – community centres, workplaces etc. It can refer to either the physical attributes (warmth, space) or the experience of being there.

Positive effects

Environments that are warm and comfortable can have a positive effect on people.

Being in place where one’s opinions are sought and valued is a positive experience

Negative effects

Overcrowding, crime, poor heating are just a few examples of environments that can have a negative effect on a person.

Experiences of trauma

People experiencing mental illness are likely to have experienced a traumatic event as well. More common examples would be neglect or abuse, sexual or physical assault, bullying, major loss or accident, acts of nature e.g. earthquakes/flooding, fleeing from war zones.

Generally, the results of trauma are negative, resulting in extreme fears, substance abuse, isolation and flashbacks or nightmares.For some people, trauma develops resilience and strong coping strategies.

Lifestyle choices that promote wellbeing

There are some lifestyle choices that all people can make to support their mental health wellbeing or their journey away from mental health problems.

Many of these choices are about their daily habits. These might initially seem hard to change but the once achieved, the benefits are usually overwhelmingly positive.

Pursuing recreational activities

This helps to keep people motivated about their lives and how they spend their time. It provides distraction from other life issues.

Recreational activities encourage people to relax and use their minds a different way. They can also have added cultural and social advantages.

Physical activity

The role of exercise in maintaining mental health is well documented. Exercise can be as simple as walking regularly (to work, to the shops, around the park), cycling, swimming or gardening. To maintain optimal mental health, it is important to get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (exercise that makes people puff) at least three times a week.

Some people are prescribed exercise when experience moderate depression and/or anxiety. Exercise can help to offset the impact of these conditions.

A lack of regular exercise can contribute to weight gain and worsening health conditions. This can lead to poor self-esteem and social isolation.

Weight gain can be a serious side effect of certain anti-psychotic medication, which can in turn lead to diabetes.

Sleep

Most people need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. This allows the body to regenerate and ‘refuel’. Stress and mental illness can impact negatively on sleep, which in turns reduces the ability to deal with further stress.

Some disorders such as postnatal depression are commonly believed to be partly caused by sleep deprivation.

Here are some things that may help:

• getting regular exercise.
• reducing caffeine intake (particularly in the evening).
• taking a warm bath before bed.
• avoiding backlit screens such as televisions and computers before bed.

A good diet

A balanced, regular diet helps to maintain physical health and good sleeping patterns. It can also help to keep moods stable, energy levels up and cognitive functioning working.

People who are mentally unwell often feel less motivated to cook balanced meals and, if employment and income are issues, may not be able to afford good quality food.

It is helpful if people are able to:

• eat from the five food groups each day.
• drink up to eight glasses of water each day.
• limit junk food or ‘unhealthy’ food.

Some medications can cause issues such as carbohydrate cravings and a thirst for sugar laden drinks.

Alcohol and drugs

The existence of both mental health and addiction problems is often referred to as ‘dual diagnosis’. A person is more at risk of becoming dependent on alcohol or drugs when also experiencing mental health problems.

Overuse of recreational drugs and alcohol can reduce wellbeing in several ways. Apart from physical health changes, anti-social behaviour can leave people vulnerable to social isolation and alienation from their community.

Career and employment opportunities

Employment is not only beneficial in terms of financial reward, but also in promoting feelings self-worth and having value in the wider community.

Being engaged with others in the workplace provides mental stimulation and an opportunity for social contact.

It is important for a person to be able to choose a career path that interests and motivates them. Undertaking training courses or volunteer work can be a great way to explore career options and to recover from fear of discrimination.

Resources and support services

Many of the terms used in this unit standard can have a variety of meanings, depending on the situation they refer to.

Our focus here is around providing services to an individual and their whānau, either within the community or in a health and disability setting. As such, we will discuss resources and support agencies as they may apply in these circumstances.

What are resources?

Resources can be described in many different ways. We often talk about a country’s resources, or our natural resources. For the purposes of this learning, we will be referring to resources as:

• a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed.
• a place or thing that provides something useful

What are support services?

There are numerous meanings for the word support. Those that we have chosen as most relevant for this learning are:

• to keep from weakening or failing; strengthen.
• to provide for or maintain, by supplying with money or necessities.
• to aid the cause, policy, or interests of.
• to argue in favour of; advocate.
• to act in a secondary or subordinate role to (a leading performer).
• to walk alongside of.

Most support services are intended to assist a person to be as independent as possible. While some provide goods (food, clothing, assistive aids etc), many provide advice and counselling to achieve the above aims.

• Counselling services help to prevent a person’s emotional state from weakening.
• Health services help to prevent a person’s physical state from weakening.
• Advisory services will assist people in knowing their rights, and how to ensure their needs are met.
• Advocacy Services will speak on behalf of a person, or assist them to self-advocate.

All of these services are acting in partnership with the client – assisting them to take the ‘lead role’ and maintain control over their own lives and well-being.

Support should aim to maintain, improve, or restore a consumer’s independence and/or interdependence. Support should utilise the client’s existing strengths and where possible, use the resources of the local community.

Types of support agencies

Support agencies can vary from large multi-national organisations that provide support during a crisis, such as Red Cross, to small local groups that provide support within their community, such as Meals on Wheels. Funding may come from the government, from benefactors or from fund-raising initiatives.

Organisations and resources generally fall into several sectors.

Government

These are government departments that have a role to provide support to the community. Support tends to be on a national basis, and is not confined to any one area; however some agencies may have a greater presence in some areas. Examples of these would be:

• Family and community services (part of Ministry of Social Development).
• Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry for Māori Development).

Voluntary

These organisations are generally run by people who give their time and skills voluntarily. The overheads or costs of running the programme (offices, stationery etc) comes from funding that may be provided by government organisations and/or private companies and individuals.

Funding may also come from ‘community partners’. Community partners are organisations such as The Lion Foundation and The Lottery Grants Foundation who fundraise in order to provide financial assistance to community support agencies and causes they consider to be worthy.

Private

This can include not-for-profit, charitable trusts such as:

• Presbyterian Support.
• St John Ambulance.

Once again, these organisations tend to be run on a combination of government funding and donations. Sometimes their base of operations are buildings that have been gifted to them from other charitable organisations.

It can also include fee-based or ‘user pays’ services.
Think about private organisations you know of in your area.

Tikanga Māori services

One of the main aims of The New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act (2000) is to reduce unequal access to services and reduce differences in health status between Māori and non-Māori.

In an effort to improve outcomes for Māori, the Act asks all people working in health and disability to recognise and respect the treaty principles, so that Māori values are protected and people supported to participate in decisions that they are involved as partners in the health relationship.

A number of providers are specifically set up to provide services to the Māori population of New Zealand. Examples of these might be:

• Te Hauora o Ngati Hau.
• Raukura Waikato Social Services.

Others offer a range of services, and include support that is specifically designed to meet the needs of Māori.

Whānau Ora

To take this one step further, the Ministry of Māori Development, Te Puni Kōkiri, and the Ministries of Social Development and Health implemented a programme in 2010. This programme is called Whānau Ora.

Whānau Ora is an inclusive approach to providing services and opportunities to all families in need across New Zealand. It empowers whānau as a whole – rather than focusing separately on individual members and their problems – and requires multiple government agencies to work together with families rather than separately with individual relatives.

It is driven by a focus on outcomes:

• that whānau will be self-managing.
• living healthy lifestyles; participating fully in society.
• confidently participating in te ao Māori (the Māori world)
• economically secure and successfully involved in wealth creation.
• cohesive, resilient and nurturing.

As well as government agencies, there are many community groups that are able to play a part in empowering whānau and/or individuals.