This is what social and health care for dependent persons is like.

The characteristics of social and health care for dependent people in social institutions.

Throughout our development and growth, the vast majority of the population acquires a set of knowledge and skills thanks to which we will forge our identity, our way of seeing the world and the way we interact with it. We learn how to perform tasks that allow us to live independently and autonomously.

However, there are people who for some reason have lost or have not sufficiently developed the skills necessary to perform day-to-day activities in a fully autonomous manner. These people may need some kind of supervision, help or support. in the different tasks of daily life, a help that can be provided in many cases by different types of social and health institutions.

This requires professionals capable of responding to the needs of this sector of the population, which means that training is needed in social and health care for dependent people in social institutions.. It is about this topic that we will discuss in this article.

What is the social-health care to dependent people?

To understand the type of attention that must be offered from the social institutions to dependent people, firstly it is necessary to take into account what the concept of dependent person refers to..

We consider a person to be a dependent when he or she is in a situation or state of generally permanent characteristics in which for some reason the person has lost or seen reduced his or her faculties or capacities to lead a totally autonomous life, or when he or she has not been able to develop these capacities completely to levels that allow him or her to act independently and adaptor when he/she has not been able to fully develop these capacities to levels that allow him/her to act independently and adapt to environmental and social demands.

Dependency implies the need for care, support or supervision by other people (or resources) outside the subject in order to be able to carry out day-to-day activities or to be able to act as independently as possible.

Although in general when we speak of dependency we usually think of people with intellectual disabilities or some type of neurodegenerative disease, the truth is that the concept of dependent person also includes those subjects who have some degree of physical or sensory disability or whose vital activity is highly interfered by the presence of some type of psychiatric problem.

In addition, it also includes elderly people or those whose health is delicate and who require continuous assistance. who require continuous assistance.

In some cases the person is in a situation of legal incapacitation and may be under the guardianship of a relative or foundation, although it is not necessary to be legally incapacitated. it is not necessary to be legally incapacitated to have some degree of dependency..

Thus, social and health support or care is not something that involves only a cognitive action but a comprehensive care, which may include different types of actions depending on the needs, difficulties and / or potential of the subject. It is important to appreciate that the intention of this type of services is not only to alleviate is not only to palliate possible deficits but also to maximize and optimize the individual's strengths and quality of life.as well as their quality of life.

It should also be taken into account that when we talk about social and health care in social institutions we are referring to care offered in an organization or structure dedicated to the service and search for the welfare of users, and whose performance can be carried out in multiple environments.

Types of social institution for people with some type of dependency

Regarding the type of resource or social or socio-sanitary institution offered to people in situation of dependency, we can find different categories with different objectives and types of treatment or support offered. Some of the most common are as follows.

1. Service for the prevention of situations of dependency

These are devices whose main task is to try to prevent or limit the possibility or worsening of situations of dependency in at-risk populations, the most obvious example being people with a congenital disability or people of advanced age. Thus, in this type of device, we work with a population that either do not yet have a situation of dependency or the aim is to ensure that this does not limit their dependence more the person's autonomy any more than it already does.

2. Hospitals and Day Centers

Probably the best known types of social-health care services or institutions, day centers and day hospitals have as their main objective to provide complete and comprehensive care to users in order to increase or maintain in order to increase or maintain their level of autonomy, socio-community participation, capacity for self-management and, in general, their quality of life.

Their biopsychosocial work usually includes the implementation of rehabilitation, restoration or compensation of functions, orientation and counseling for the user, facilitation and and training of social and family ties without requiring admission, promoting healthy habits, monitoring the situation and providing support to both the end user and his or her environment.

3. Residential Care Centers

This last type of center, also well known, is dedicated to providing comprehensive social and health care for people who are admitted or located in the same service in which they live (either permanently or temporarily).

In these centers, users carry out different types of activities, workshops or therapies different types of activities, workshops or therapies (depending (depending on the case) that allow them to improve and/or preserve their autonomy and/or capacities, favor their bonding and socialization. An example of this type of service can be found in the Llar Residencia, in Catalonia (Residence Home, in Spanish).

4. Other types of services

Although the above three are some of the most common, it is also worth mentioning the existence of many other types of care services for dependent persons. Among them we can find the telecare service or home help..

Likewise, and at a more integral health level, we can find various services within the public health portfolio, such as high dependency psychiatric units or admission to acute or sub-acute units, neuropsychiatry or psychogeriatrics.

Degree of dependency and activities from which they are analyzed

It should be borne in mind that in order to offer quality social and health care to dependent persons, it is necessary first of all to know what their needs are and to what degree they are dependent.

In this sense, it will be necessary for a professional with the appropriate training to assess the subject.For this purpose, one or more questionnaires will be used, as well as observation of the subject and the characteristics and reports of his or her living situation and environment. This will result in a score on the Dependency Assessment Scale that will be used to determine the type or degree of dependency of the person in question.

The type of activities that are analyzed are generally the basic activities of daily living: nutrition, hygiene, sleep, sphincter control, mobility and movement, household chores, ability to maintain the state of health, ability to make decisions. Also also takes into account whether, for example, external help or guidance is needed to carry out these actions. to carry out these actions.

Based on the scale we have seen, we can obtain three types of dependency: Grade I or moderate in which the subject needs some occasional help to be autonomous, Grade II or severe in which, although a permanent caregiver is not needed, help is required several times a day to perform certain basic activities and Grade III or severe dependency in which the subject needs a caregiver, supervision or continuous help on a daily basis.

Professionals involved

Another factor to take into account is that the care of a dependent person requires the collaboration of different professionals from different fields of professionals from various health and social care fields..

The specific type of professionals that each person will need may vary depending on the case, but broadly speaking we can find doctors (of any branch, be it neurology, speech therapy, cardiology, endocrinology, immunology...), nurses, psychologists, assistants, physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, educators, teachers and pedagogues (and not only in the case of children) and in some cases even lawyers.

All of them must coordinate their actions to offer comprehensive care that takes into account the needs, potential and that takes into account the needs, potential and difficulties of the dependent person in order to improve his or her quality of life as much as possible.

Socio-health care intervention

Although the different professionals involved will work focusing on their specialty in order to help the subject, we can broadly determine the general nature of the main task of social and health care for dependent persons in social institutions.

The actions of the professionals are aimed at the development and implementation of programs aimed at providing assistance that allows the subject to carry out the basic activities with which he/she has difficulties, rehabilitation with which he/she has difficulties, the rehabilitation or compensation of systems, capacities and functions, the incorporation of the subject to social participation and to link with other people and the education and psychoeducation aimed at both the subject and his/her environment in order to face possible difficulties and improve the subject's standard of living and autonomy.

This action includes therapies and activities aimed at cognitive stimulation, cognitive restructuring of distorted beliefs, the use of occupational therapy to improve functionality in basic activities, health promotion and damage prevention, adherence to treatments, if any, stress or emotion management, or the improvement of social participation through various activities and training, among many others.

All this while always keeping an ethical line in which dignity, confidentiality and respect for the subject's abilities and independence prevail. to the capabilities and independence of the subject, while generating a warm and comfortable environment and seeking the maximum benefit for the subject and avoiding as far as possible any harm caused by the care action itself.

Bibliographical references:

• Institute for Training and Social Studies (IFES). Territorial Directorate of Andalusia. (2010). Social and health care for dependent people in social institutions. Formative Module 1. Support in the Organization of Interventions in the Institutional Scope. Formative Unit 1. Support in the Reception and Reception in Institutions for Dependent People. Andalusia, Spain.