Promoting self care and independence

Definitions & Key takeaways

Self-care refers to performing the activities of daily living that help maintain and enhance health; this can include activities like eating, getting dressed, bathing, and toileting. Self-care is important for maintaining physical, emotional, and psychological health and helps prevent existing conditions from getting worse. As a healthcare provider, you need to understand how to help individuals understand the importance, and practice healthy habits and prevent complications of already existing medical conditions.

Chapters:

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Intro0:00–0:52

Self-care refers to performing the activities of daily living that help maintain and enhance health; this can include activities like eating, getting dressed, bathing, and toileting.
Self-care is important for maintaining physical, emotional, and psychological health and to help prevent existing conditions from getting worse.
A client's ability to practice self-care can be impaired by an illness or age-related changes that affect mobility, endurance, mental state, or senses like loss of vision.
This can create a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness. Your clients will feel more independent when they are able to perform self-care activities and this will build their self-esteem and maintain their personal dignity.As a nursing assistant, you will care for many clients who will need your assistance with self-care.

Promoting Self-Care and Independence0:52–1:48

First, check the client's plan of care. It will include interventions aimed at promoting self-care.
For example, during bathing, some interventions that you could perform include providing partial assistance during bathing, washing and drying hard-to-reach areas, and observing for signs of activity intolerance.
You should check with the nurse to find out which activities you can do in order to best assist the client. While assisting the client with their self-care ADLs, you should focus on helping them to be as independent as possible and assist only when necessary.
Be patient while allowing the client to set their own pace. Remember to accommodate the client's preferences as much as possible.
Because you’ll spend a lot of time with your client, it gives you the opportunity to closely observe and report any difficulties or progress when it comes to performing self-care activities.
All right, as a quick recap… Self-care is important for maintaining health and preventing complications of existing conditions.

Recap1:48–2:19

Clients who lose their ability to perform basic self-care ADLs can develop a feeling of powerlessness and low self-esteem.
As a nursing assistant, you can help these clients by assisting them in their daily self-care ADLs and by encouraging their independence as much as possible.
After you care for your client, remember to report any unusual signs or symptoms to the