Mod 3 Emotional and Psychological Needs in Care

Emotional/Psychological Needs

• Emotional responses significantly impact a person's engagement with care.
• Importance of allowing individuals to express feelings such as grief, anger, or sadness.
• Loss of significant life elements can trigger emotional distress, including loss from divorce, death, or serious illness.

Education Needs

• Understanding of medical procedures is vital for patient compliance and comfort.
• Pregnant women should be informed about what to expect during pregnancy and labor.

Communication Needs

• Clarity in health information is crucial for effective patient understanding.
• Identify barriers to understanding health communication to enable better support.

Sense of Self

• Sense of self is defined as an individual's perception of themselves, distinguishing them from others.
• Development of self-concept occurs through social interactions and is not static; it evolves throughout life.
• Self-concept encompasses various aspects such as physical attributes, body image, spirituality, character traits, and social relationships.

Dylan Alcott's Journey

• Alcott experienced negativity towards his disability in childhood, feeling invisible and self-hatred.
• Support from family and friends helped him embrace his disability and acknowledge his self-worth.
• Advocates for funding and prioritizing needs for people with disabilities, highlighting their disproportionate unemployment rates.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of Human Development

• Development occurs within complex environmental contexts or ecological systems.
• Ecological systems include relationships and cultural values that exert stability and influence over time.
• Recognizes that development is influenced by both personal and environmental factors.

Bronfenbrenner’s Four Ecological Systems

• Microsystem: Immediate environment, involving direct interactions with influential people like family and school.
• Mesosystem: Interconnections between multiple microsystems, influencing relationships between family, peers, and healthcare providers.
• Exosystem: External settings that indirectly impact individuals, such as workplace environments or community health policies.
• Macrosystem: The overarching cultural and societal values and policies that shape individual experiences and opportunities.

Impact of Environment on Health

• The ecological framework emphasizes the importance of considering broader environmental factors in health outcomes.
• Health professionals should address holistic environmental influences on health, particularly in pediatric populations.

Preparing for Future Modules

• The next focus will be on understanding normative and non-normative life changes and their impacts on development.

Dylan Alcott's Journey

• Experienced negative feelings towards his disability, including self-hatred and feelings of invisibility during his upbringing.
• Acceptance of his disability was facilitated by support from family, friends, and partner, leading to pride in his identity.
• Advocates for community action, emphasizing the need for funding NDIS and prioritizing disability in employment opportunities, highlighting twice the unemployment rate and lack of representation in society.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory

• Framework depicts individual development within a series of interrelated ecological systems, influencing personal growth over time.
• Development is shaped not just by individuals but significantly by their environments including social relationships, cultural contexts, and recurring life events.

Ecological Systems Overview

• Microsystem: The most immediate environment where individuals have direct interactions, including family, friends, and school.
• Mesosystem: Refers to the interconnections between different microsystems, such as relationships between family and healthcare professionals.
• Exosystem: Consists of external environments that affect an individual indirectly, for example, a parent's workplace and local government decisions.
• Macrosystem: Encompasses overarching cultural values, beliefs, and societal policies that influence all other systems.

Application of Bronfenbrenner’s Theory

• Microsystem influences can affect daily experiences in healthcare contexts, shaping a patient’s perception and health outcomes.
• Mesosystem reflects how relationships across different settings—such as hospitals and home—can work together or conflict, impacting care.
• Exosystem decisions impact patients indirectly, such as changes in healthcare policies or insurance that impact access to care.
• Macrosystem factors, including historical events and societal values, shape health and living conditions, evident in events like depressions or disasters.

Disability and Health Framework

• Recognizes high rates of overweight and obesity among children, emphasizing a multi-level approach to understand risk factors.
• Framework adapts Bronfenbrenner’s model to focus on how various environmental layers influence children with disabilities.
• Encourages healthcare professionals to adopt a comprehensive view of factors affecting child health—balancing individual behaviors with the influence of surroundings.

Conclusion on Disability and Ecology

• Pediatric overweight and obesity require a nuanced understanding of various interacting factors.
• By adopting a holistic view, healthcare professionals can develop better-targeted programs that consider all influences impacting children’s health and weight management strategies.