Promote Positive Behaviour Essay

Understand how legislation, frameworks, codes of practice and policies relate to positive behaviour support. 1.1 Explain how legislation, frameworks, codes of practice and policies related to positive behaviour support are applied to own working practice. All aspects of my job role are regulated by policies and current legislation. The mandatory training that we attend has been designed to cover all aspects of legislation such as the Children’s Act, which provides a Code of Practice to enable us provide the best possible care and support for children and young people. We also have inspections from OFSTED who ensure we are meeting, not only care standards, but also those relating to behaviour and how we encourage positive behaviour is evaluated. As a staff member I have the responsibility of recording all incidents of behaviour support and these include both positive and challenging behaviour. There are several policies and procedures in my work place relating to positive behav iour: Bullying Rewards and sanctions House rules The code of conduct forms part of a behaviour policy. It will state what is expected from staff as well as young people. It can provide guidence to staff when dealing with innappropriate behaviour presented by a child/young person. It states how to encourage positive behaviour, the importance of being fair and consistent, 1.2 Define what is meant by restrictive interventions. There are a range of different restrictive interventions. When some people think of restrictive interventions they automatically think of phyhsical interventions, however a physical intervention is not always neccessary. Sometimes you can intervene using simple techniques such as language, including body language and facial expressions, this is known as social intervention. Another is mechanical intervention, this is useful with children in their early years, using things such as high chairs and safety gates to contain the child in one place for whatever reason. Physcial intervention is a restrictive intervention that should only be use if there is clear justification for why this type of intervention is being used. Planned intervention can be used if through observation or care plans for example, you expect that a child may present challenging behaviours in certain situations, then you ensure you are already prepared for this as it may be that just having a carer sitting by their si de and placing a hand on their shoulder is all they need to sit back and think about their actions before displaying negative behaviour. The aim of a restrictive intervention is not to take away the young persons right to freedom and movement, it is to give them the opportunity to think about their actions and change their behaviour. 1.3 Explain when restrictive interventions may and may not be used. Physical intervention is a last resort and all staff avoid having to do this however if deescalating techniques such as ‘planned ignoring’, ‘hurdle help’, ‘walking away’ etc. doesn’t seem to work, then restrictive interventions have to be used when young people are displaying certain behaviours such as committing a criminal offence, causing harm to themselves or others, causing damage to property or engaging in any behaviour that is prejudicial to maintain the good order and discipline within the home. 1.4 Explain who needs to be informed of any incidents where restrictive interventions have been used. Where restrictive interventions have been used, staff must follow policies and procedures in place such as ‘recording and reporting’. Firstly staff on shift at the time of the incident must complete an incident report and inform management of the incident. The young person’s parents and social workers should be informed and if necessary other professionals involved in the young person’s life such as YOT and CAMHS (this all depends on the nature of the incident). Once the incident report is complete management will add their observations then send this to the safeguarding officer to do the same. Ofsted are always informed after any incident. If the young person or staff involved have sustained any injuries during the incident this is recorded on the incident report and on a body map as well as the accident book and RIDDOR guidelines will be followed. 1.5 Explain why the least restrictive interventions should be used when dealing with incidents of challenging behaviour. As explained before physical intervention should not be used unless it can be clearly justified why it was used, it is not always neccessary. When dealing with challenging behaviour you can use restrictive intervention such as language which may result in the young person changing their behaviour before it even leads to an incident. For example there is a young person in my care who we have observed that responds well to humour, so if he is beginning to display negative/challenging behaviour we try to make jokes with him and sometimes tickle him. This turns his mood around and prevents an incident even taking place. It is important to use the least restrictive interventions where possible as if you didnt it could lead to further dilemmas such as verbal abuse, physical abuse, damage to property etc. 1.6 Describe safeguards that must be in place if restrictive physical interventions are being used. It is important to ensure that the young people and staff are all safeguarded. Any staff that will be using physical interventions should have attended the mandatory training, risk assessments should be in place and staff should follow guidelines to ensure they have tried all possible alternatives before using physical interventions. In circumstances where physical interventions are being used, staff should assess the situation first to ensure it is safe to do so, is there enough staff? Is the environment they’re in safe and appropriate for the use of physical interventions? Staff must always disengage throughout the physical intervention to give the young person opportunity to calm and take back control. 2. Understand the context and use of proactive and reactive strategies. 2.1 Explain the difference between proactive and reactive strategies. Proactive strategies are strategies that everyone may use to deal with behavioural problems, they are strategies that are written in policies and procedures, risk assessments, care plans etc. These are guidelines that are in place to be followed when a child/young person is presenting challenging behaviour even if these strategies are not proven to work as well as others for this particular child/young person. Examples of proactive strategies are having rules and boundaries in place, this is a way of letting the child/young person know the way they should be behaving, give praise to the child/young person for good behaviour and put sanctions and consequences in place when rules are broken. Reactive strategies are the behaviour management strategies that you use at the time of an incident when a child/young person is presenting challenging behaviour. Even though there are guidelines in place for proactiv strategies that should be used, if you have observed that a child/young person responds well to something else and it diverts their attention to something positive then you may use these reactive strategies to stop the incident escalating any further. When using reactive strategies you should still follow guidelines for proactive behaviour management strategies and put consequences in place for inappropriate behaviour. 2.2 Identify the proactive and reactive strategies that are used within own work role Needs completing 2.3 Explain the importance of identifying patterns of behaviours or triggers to challenging behaviour when establishing proactive or reactive strategies to be used. With every child/young person you should be making observations of every aspect of their life. When they ‘slow time’ before going to school or refuse to attend school, is there a pattern in the days they are behaving like this? Is there a certain lesson on these days they dont like? Are their children in their classes on this day who they are having issues with? There is a reason behing every behaviour. It is important to identify patterns of behaviours and triggers so that you can predict when an incident may take place and use planned intervention to deal with these situations. Also different strategies may work for different incidents and different young people. Staff need to ensure they are making these observations, updating care plans and risk assessments and passing on information to all staff during h andovers and meetings. 2.4 Explain the importance of maintaining a person or child-centred approach when establishing proactive strategies. Each young person is different, they need to be seen as an individual. Young people should all be treat fairly and equally but not the same. Some strategies that work on one child/young person may not work on another. Strategies have to be tried and tested, they wont all work but the ones that do, should be identified and all staff bare these in mind when dealing with further incidents. A young person in my care gets really upset when plans for family contact are changed or if it doesn’t go ahead. Staff ensure they tell the young person with at least 2 members of staff present incase they need to use physical restrictive interventions. The usual type of negative behaviour in instances like this is going to their room and slamming doors etc. Due to the young person not actually causing any damage or harm to property or himself, staff use proactive strategies we have in place which in this case would be ‘backing away’ giving him time to calm, and with this particular young person we would use ‘humour’ once he is calm to keep him distracted. Another young person if he gets bored will display challenging behaviour through verbal abuse. Staff use planned intervention and always try and keep the young person busy to prevent him getting bored or agitated. If this particular young person is being verbally abusive staff use proactive strategies ‘planned ignoring’ as if staff give him attention for displaying negative behaviour, he sees this as an excuse to keep repeating this behaviour as he gets the attention he was after. When the young person is showing positive behaviour, even simple tasks like brushing his teeth and having a wash on a morning, he needs lots of praise to show him that h e gets attention when he is being compliant. 2.5 Explain the importance of reinforcing positive behaviour with individuals. Needs completing 2.6 Evaluate the impact on an individuals well-being of using reactive rather than proactive strategies. Needs completing 3. Be able to promote positive behaviour 3.1 Explain how a range of factors may be associated with challenging behaviour. Needs completing 3.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of proactive strategies on mitigating challenging behaviours Needs completing 4.Be able to respond appropriately to incidents of challenging behaviour. 4.1 Identify types of challenging behaviours Needs completing 4.3 Explain the steps that are taken to maintain the dignity of and respect for an individual when responding to an incident of challenging behaviour. Needs completing 5. Be able to supports others and individuals following an incident of challenging behaviour. 5.2 Describe how an individual can be supported to reflect on an incident. How they were feeling at the time prior to and directly before the incident – Their behaviour – The consequence of their behaviour – How they were feeling after the incident – Needs completing 5.3 Explain the complex feelings that may be experienced by others involved or witnessing an incident of challenging behaviour. Needs completing 5.5 Describe the steps that should be taken to check for injuries following an incident of challenging behaviour. This should be done straight after the incident once the young person has calmed. If the young person directed their anger at a particular member of staff, then a different member of staff, preferably who the young person usually has a good relationship with should approach the child/young person to see if they are ok. Get the young person into an environment with privacy and where they feel comfortable, then have a discussion with them about if they are hurting anywhere and check them for injuries. For example if the young person was restrained during the incident see if they have any marks from where staff held them, check their back thoroughly if you recall them banging it etc. If any marks are noticed, firstly check previous body maps in place for the young person to ensure these marks haven’t already been identified and recorded. If not then record the injuries on the incident report, on the young persons body map and daily observations. If needed offer first aid to the young person or medical attention. The young person should be checked for injuries again at a later time as bruising may show the following day.