Summary
- Providing the right guidance and support to achieve good health in a person involves having an awareness of what good health and wellbeing means and understanding how to help a person maintain their health.
- Wellbeing is important because it helps a person to function well in society and to experience positive emotions like happiness or enjoyment or contentment. Wellbeing contributes to good mental health so that a person can work towards their goals.
- Contributors to a healthy lifestyle include physical health, psychological health, mental health, nutrition and hydration, exercise, hygiene and oral health.
- Helping a person maintain their environment fulfils a number of basic needs. Environments that reflect the person’s personality, preferences and interests help that person maintain their sense of self and identity.
- A key part of helping people maintain their independence is to help them keep their environment safe, secure and comfortable.
- A safe and healthy environment depends on the following factors: safety, social contributors, spiritual contributors, cultural contributors, financial contributors and career or occupation.
- As a support worker you have legal and organisational work health and safety (WHS) responsibilities. These responsibilities are described in legislation, which typically requires you to take all reasonable steps to provide and maintain a safe workplace.
- A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm. You should identify possible hazards within your workplace, whether at the organisation’s premises, in a person’s home or in regard to a transportation vehicle.
- You must be able to recognise signs and symptoms that suggest a person’s condition is worsening or that they have developed a new condition that requires medical attention or other intervention.
- You need to be aware of how poor physical health or impaired health can affect the person’s overall wellbeing.
- Poor physical health can affect energy levels and concentration, the person’s mood, increase stress, and impact on quality of life.
- Duty of care is the obligation a person has to act in a way that would not cause harm.
