Health And Social Care Assignment Sample

Introduction Of Health And Social Care

Confidentiality has been defined as the concept or principle of safekeeping information private or secret, by limiting access to only individuals or entities, which are authorized. The current report demonstrates how practitioners in the social and healthcare setting maintain confidentially while discussing the effective communication skills of these practitioners, required to communicate with patients and clients. The report further provides a fact sheet on the legislation in relation to the management of data and information.

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Management of information

In the health and social care setting, confidentiality has been found to be important in several contexts, as it is typically controlled by legal as well as ethical accountability, which includes professional codes of conduct as well as contracts, along with privacy laws (Thapa and Camtepe, 2021). In the United Kingdom, social and healthcare practitioners have been found to maintain the safety and security of data by following the principles that are outlined by the "Health and Care Professions Council" (HCPC).

Figure 1: Major principles for the management of information

(Source: NHS, 2021)

Securely storing data online

Figure 2: Secure sharing of information with technology in healthcare

(Source: Sharmaet al., 2021)

Social and healthcare practitioners have been to ensure the security and safety of data that are stored online by implementing several measures. For instance, practitioners can utilize encryption methods for the protection of sensitive information. Moreover, encryption has been found to involve the conversion of data into a format, which is unreadable by utilizing encryption algorithms (Sharmaetal., 2021). This ensures that even if any unauthorized people obtain access to that stored data, those people cannot utilize or interpret that data without the encryption key. In addition, practitioners in the healthcare setting can also utilize the mechanisms of secure authentication like "two-factor authentication", which has been found to add an additional coat of security, which requires several forms of verification prior to accessing the data.

Conserving paper-based personal records

Figure 3: Security of paper-based records in healthcare

(Source: Sheikhet al., 2021)

When it comes to the storage of paper-based personal records of people, practitioners of health and social care embrace several practices, which maintain confidentiality while protecting against the access of unauthorized individuals. For example, practitioners have been found to utilize facilities of secure storage as well as cabinets with locks along with confined access for storing physical documents (Sheikhet al., 2021). In addition, practitioners establish clear and defined protocols for disposing and handling paper records, like shredding as well as securely throwing away the documents, which are no longer needed, to restrict unauthorised misuse as well as retrieval.

Maintaining security with professional practice

In the context of health and social care, practitioners need to uphold the security of data through their professional practice, which encompasses adherence to ethical guidelines as well as legal obligations in relation to data protection (HCPC, 2023). For instance, practitioners should be the sole person to have access authority as well as disclose the personal information of patients on a "need-to-know" basis, while ensuring that only practitioners access as well as share information, which is relevant to their professional responsibilities and remains within the scope of their authority. Moreover, the practitioners also maintain strict confidentiality while respecting the privacy of people by not sharing or discussing any personal information in an inappropriate manner, either verbally or through means of electronics.

The tension between disclosing information and maintaining confidentiality

The conflict between maintaining confidentiality as well as the need for disclosing information has been found to arise when there is a clash between preserving privacy along with the autonomy of an individual and the significant benefits of sharing information. According toWarneret al., (2021), while confidentiality is important for building trust as well as respecting the rights of individuals, there are also certain circumstances, where revealing information about individuals becomes essential for several reasons, like public safety, legal obligations, or the well-being of the individual. For instance, when a professional in mental health evaluates that a patient is a serious threat to others or themselves, in this case, professionals may be bound to break confidentiality while informing the relevant authorities or individuals, who can prevent and intervene in harm. This type of disclosure has been done with the aim of protecting the well-being as well as the safety of the individual.

Skills of an effective communicator

Effective communicators in social and health care have been found to actively listen to individuals while demonstrating real interest as well as empathy. The communicators give full attention while maintaining eye contact, and utilizing non-verbal and verbal cues to demonstrate that they are actively engaged in the conversation. For instance, nurses in the healthcare setting actively listen to the concerns of patients regarding their medication, while asking open-ended questions to the patients (Marler and Ditton, 2021). Moreover, effective communicators show empathy as well as compassion towards individuals, while acknowledging the emotions of individuals along with providing emotional support. Like, social workers are often seen to empathise with a client, who has suffered trauma, while offering reassurance as well as understanding to help construct rapport and trust.

Further, effective communicators utilize plain language to ensure that the information present is easily understood by people, who have different levels of health literacy. For instance, doctors explain a diagnosis as well as treatment options utilizing simple language along with visual aids to ensure the patient completely understands the information (Kwame and Petrucka, 2021). In addition, non-verbal cues, like body language, facial expressions, along with tone of voice, have been found to play an important role in effective communication. Besides, effective communicators also recognize as well respect cultural differences, while adapting their styles of communication to meet the diversified needs of individuals.

Legislations

In the United Kingdom, the regulation or legislation of managing information in social and healthcare settings has been found to be governed by the “UK General Data Protection Regulation" (GDPR) as well as the "EU General Data Protection Regulation" (GDPR), along with the "Data Protection Act" 2018 (DPA). It has been found that the UK GDPR along with the DPA outlines the legal framework for the personal data processing of residents of the UK in health and social care settings (Whitman and Mattord, 2021). According to Abela, S., (2023), these regulations have established the rights of individuals about their personal data as well as the responsibilities of organizations that operate with such data. Healthcare and social care settings also make compliance with several principles of data protection, like ensuring the data of individuals is processed transparently, and lawfully. They also have implemented appropriate measures for security to safeguard personal data from unauthorized access as well as loss, or disclosure (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018).

The "EU GDPR" emphasizes the rights of individuals to privacy as well as control over their personal data, which requires organizations to adopt effective organizational and technical measures to ensure the security of data, while conducting assessments for data protection impact for high-risk processing, as well as appointing a "Data Protection Officer" in certain cases (Wageret al., 2021). In care settings, these regulations also state the requirement to have a "Confidentiality and Information Sharing Policy" in place to ensure the appropriate handling as well as sharing of sensitive information (ICO.org.uk, 2018). Moreover, the "Caldicott Principles" need to be followed to safeguard the sharing and use of "personally identifiable information" (PII).

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Conclusion

Confidentiality has been found to encompass safeguarding privileged or sensitive information from illegitimate disclosure, which helps to ensure that the information stays confidential as well as protected from unlawful use, access, or distribution. Maintaining confidentiality has been found to help in preserving privacy while protecting sensitive data as well as maintaining trust, and preventing unapproved individuals from misusing or obtaining confidential information.

References

Articles

• Abela, S., 2023. Healthcare Regulation in the UK. InLeadership and Management in Healthcare(pp. 43-53). Springer, Cham. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Kwame, A. and Petrucka, P.M., 2021. A literature-based study of patient-centred care and communication in nurse-patient interactions: barriers, facilitators, and the way forward.BMC Nursing,20(1), pp.1-10. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Marler, H. and Ditton, A., 2021. “I'm smiling back at you”: Exploring the impact of mask-wearing on communication in healthcare.International journal of language & communication disorders,56(1), pp.205-214. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Sharma, P., Borah, M.D. and Namasudra, S., 2021. Improving security of medical big data by using Blockchain technology.Computers & Electrical Engineering,96, p.107529. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Sheikh, A., Anderson, M., Albala, S., Casadei, B., Franklin, B.D., Richards, M., Taylor, D., Tibble, H. and Mossialos, E., 2021. Health information technology and digital innovation for national learning health and care systems.The Lancet Digital Health,3(6), pp.e383-e396. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Thapa, C. and Camtepe, S., 2021. Precision health data: Requirements, challenges and existing techniques for data security and privacy.Computers in biology and medicine,129, p.104130. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Wager, K.A., Lee, F.W. and Glaser, J.P., 2021.Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. John Wiley & Sons. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Warner, A.R., Shen, G.C., Hamilton, J.E., Lavagnino, L. and Lane, S.D., 2021. Customizing Early Intervention Treatment for Psychosis in the UTHealth–Harris County Psychiatric Center.INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing,58, p.00469580211049030. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Whitman, M.E. and Mattord, H.J., 2021.Principles of information security. Cengage learning. [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]

Websites

• HCPC, 2023, Key principles of confidentiality. Available at: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/meeting-our-standards/confidentiality/guidance-on-confidentiality/key-principles-of-confidentiality/ [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]

Bibliography

• ICO.org.uk, 2018, UK GDPR guidance and resources. Available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/ [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Legislation.gov.uk, 2016, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/contents [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]
• Legislation.gov.uk, 2018, Data Protection Act 2018. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/contents/enacted [Accessed on: 15 June, 2023]