In hospitals, health centers, and the community, health and social care treat illnesses and medical conditions. Social care is responsible for caring for and supporting vulnerable members of society. These two parts are often intertwined, and the general idea is to help communities to remain as healthy and happy as possible. In this post, you will learn about the services that DSDWEB provides.
Social care is the care of people who are not able to provide for themselves. This can be due to old age, disability, or mental illness. Social care is a human right and an important part of society. Various types of social care include:
Homecare: people who need support with day-to-day tasks like washing and dressing but live in their own homes.
Residential care: people who need residential support and live in a home run by a social care provider.
Daycare: People who need occasional help on weekdays, such as after-school clubs or drop-in centers.
DSDWEB is a website that provides a raft of educational resources to people looking to get into the health and social care sector. They provide lots of relevant information that can help individuals looking to achieve various certifications in order to work in this field. In addition, they provide Free Social Care Learning resources that prospective social workers can utilize toward achieving these certifications. The resources are aimed at helping those looking to attain the basic Care Certificate, all the way up to Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management in Adult Care.
As previously mentioned, DSDWEB offers a range of materials that can help those at the beginning of their social care career and those who wish to pursue the subject in greater depth. But what qualifications can they help you with?
This certification is considered as the entry point into the world of social work. This certification was developed in partnership with numerous UK-based services, including Health Education England. It is primarily the beginning of a rich and rewarding career that aims to equip students to succeed. It is composed of fifteen sections covering a variety of topics, including:
Understanding what your role will be.
How you can take ownership of your personal development.
What your responsibilities will entail.
Being aware of the diversity of people you will be working with.
How to work in a way that focuses on the individual needing help.
Communication skills.
Respect for privacy and dignity.
Understanding the importance of nutritional needs.
Understanding and recognizing mental health issues, dementia, learning disabilities, etc.
How to safeguard both adults and children (and the differences between them).
The basic principles of life support.
Health and safety.
The proper way to handle sensitive information.
Prevention and control of infection (significant today).
This option builds upon the last certification and aims to provide learners with the opportunity to achieve what has traditionally been called:
NVQ Level 2 in Health & Social Care
Level 2 Diploma in Health & Social Care (QCF)
Although the names have changed, the content of the courses has remained similar (apart from staying updated with the latest developments in social care). Different bodies award this certification, and the content will vary somewhat depending on who you have registered with. Nevertheless, the certificate has nine core elements that you must complete regardless of the awarding body. These nine units are relatively similar to those in the initial certification but tend to go deeper into the subject matter. In addition to these mandatory study points, learners are required to choose up to four optional units, which will depend on your chosen awarding body. These optional subjects range from waste management to stroke awareness.
This is where things become more advanced, and this level is a nationally recognized qualification intended to teach senior caregivers the skills to provide a more sophisticated level of care. The subjects and sophistication of the certification aim to cement existing skills and abilities and teach managerial competencies to allow for a greater range of employment opportunities. This level is the equivalent of a modern A-level qualification. Similar to level 2, there are nine core competencies covered, and a range of optional, awarding body-provided subjects to qualify in. While they remain relatively similar in content to the previous levels, you will begin to see a more pronounced emphasis on management and the organization of people.
At level 4, you will already be an experienced senior social care worker and have managed junior care workers under your supervision. The core subjects will again vary depending on which body you chose to take the course with, but to qualify and gain your level 4 certification, you will need 70 credits to complete it. Out of these 70 credits, 36 must come from the compulsory units, with the remaining 34 coming from the optional units. At this level, you will discover a whole new set of subjects that you must become familiar with to pass the course. Some of these include:
Advanced communication skills: Required to manage different-sized teams in complex situations.
Facilitation of support planning: Planning will come up regularly as you progress throughout higher levels. You will need to display an understanding of how to coordinate the planning of various kinds of support.
Developing and maintaining reports: As you progress in your social care career, you will find more of your time devoted to setting up reporting systems as well as the correct way to maintain them.
The optional subjects remain similar to previous levels but also stress the importance of advanced managerial skills.
This is the final and most advanced level that you can achieve as a social worker and is almost entirely focused on developing your skills as a leader of people and someone capable of producing key systems. It is expected that once you achieve this qualification, you will be able to hold down a senior management position. The course was replaced in 2020 with an expanded curriculum covering a range of subjects, including eleven required topics and seven optional ones. The mandatory topics include:
Leadership and management: As already mentioned, you will be learning about the nuances of leadership.
Governance and regulatory processes: Being a manager requires you to be in touch with various regulatory processes, which you will learn about in this unit.
Communication and information management: You will learn about advanced methods of communication and how to handle the information you are privy to correctly.
Relationships and partnership working: Good managers build relationships, but this is easier said than done. This unit will teach you about the process of building partnerships that are beneficial to not only your staff but also the people you are trying to help.
Person-centred practice for positive outcomes: This unit builds on the preceding levels but has a more advanced focus at level 5
Professional development, supervision, and performance management: This is a purely management-focused subject that teaches you how to handle your own professional development and those you work with.
Resource management: As a senior manager, you will have to control the resources at your disposal efficiently and cost-effectively.
Safeguarding, protection, and risk: This subject covers how best to take care of vulnerable people and mitigate the risks involved.
Self-management: You will be at the top of the pile once you have successfully achieved your level 5 certification, and this will involve being able to manage yourself.
Decision-making skills: The buck will ultimately stop with you. Therefore, it's essential that you can make competent decisions under pressure and deal with any repercussions you may incur as a result.
Service improvement, entrepreneurship, and innovation: You may end up managing entire departments. As such, you will need to cultivate an innovative approach to everything from coping with budget cuts to dealing with changing priorities. This unit aims to provide you with the skills required to make flexible choices.
As you can see, most of the subjects at level 5 are predominantly focused on developing your skills as a manager. You could be in charge of or part of a management team that involves significant resources by this point in your career. It will be up to you to make decisions that will percolate down to junior caregivers. You will have a heavy burden to carry as your decisions will directly affect the level of care that vulnerable people receive in the community. Nevertheless, as you have progressed through each level, as well as your practical experiences, you should be in a confident position to take on this role with aplomb.
You must obtain and pass various certifications throughout your career, from being a primary care worker to attaining management positions. There are five levels (including the introductory Care Certification) with increasingly sophisticated forms of the same material at each stage. In contrast, the subjects at level 4 focus on more advanced management skills, while level 5 emphasizes what it takes to be an effective senior manager.
Study in Australia
Study in Canada
Study in Germany
Study in United Kingdom
Study in USA
Study in Switzerland