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The Care Act of 2014

The Care Act of 2014 came into effect in the year 2015, is a representation of the most significant reform of care and support in more than 60 years, putting individuals and their caregivers in control of their care and support (Penhale et al.). The primary reason for the establishment of the Care Act was to protect adults from being mistreated and as well help in improving the quality of life and to make this possible; the caregivers must, therefore, follow the Act’s principles to the letter. The Act principles are aimed to emphasize that everyone in the care is a human being and to whom have wants and needs. Besides, they help the significance of involving the service consumer in the process of assessing their safeguarding needs. When the principles of the Act are followed, the service provider increases the autonomy of vulnerable adults and therefore enhance the consumer’s commitment to delivering the best care.

The Care Act of 2014 encourages the care providers to adopt the person-centered approach in the attempt of safeguarding the vulnerable adults, as this helps in putting the needs as well as the wellbeing of the vulnerable beings at the forefront and thus safeguarding the processes of caregiving (Donnelly et al.). The various principles of the Care Act include; empowerment, protection, prevention, proportionality, partnership, and accountability. Most of the abused or neglected adults are in most cases silent victims at the time of safeguarding their concerns, implying that the care providers have to make all the decisions while the service consumer has little or no involvement at all in decision making. Due to the existence of such cases, the Care Act principles aim to eliminate the detached approach between the caregivers and consumers. Following the principles help empower the adults so that they take an active part in safeguarding processes so that they receive the most appropriate care and at the same time feel in control.

Empowerment is one of the principles and which encourages the support of vulnerable adults so that they are able to confidently make their own individuals and provide informed consent in regards to their care. To ensure the effective empowerment of the vulnerable adults, the care provider should assess the nature of provisions if any, so that they are able to reach decisions confidently. Information should be provided in a straightforward and through a jargon free form and also questions related to the changes in the consumer’s safeguarding or care plan, which should include advocacy.

The principle of protection states that the care provider should support and represent the people in greater need (Stevens). It aims at providing the consumers with clear and straightforward information in regards to the recognition of abuse signs and also advice on the best time to seek help. Prevention is one of the most crucial principles of care in that even after being freed from neglect and abuse, the vulnerable individual may still suffer from long-lasting physical and psychological damage, and therefore, the caregivers should preemptively provide protection to the vulnerable people in order to reduce the long-term harm.

The principle of proportionality ensures the utilization of preventive measures in the most un-obstructive way possible, and therefore do not apply the concept of one-size-fits-all, which can prevent the care provider from making the wrong decision. Partnership requires that the care provider partner with the local services and the communities so that they can jointly help in preventing, detecting, and reporting the suspected cases of neglect and abuse among the vulnerable populations. On the other hand, the principle of accountability requires that the care provider be wholly transparent and should be ready to take responsibility for all the safeguarding practices used in support of the vulnerable populations.

Works Cited

Donnelly, Sarah, et al. “Adult safeguarding legislation and policy rapid realist literature review.” (2017).

Penhale, Bridget, et al. “The Care Act 2014: a new legal framework for safeguarding adults in civil society.” The Journal of Adult Protection 19.4 (2017): 169-174.

Stevens, Rosemary A. Welfare medicine in America: A case study of Medicaid. Routledge, 2017.