Welcome to Values of Care
Welcome to your study notes for Values of Care, a core topic in AS 1: Promoting Quality Care for CCEA Health and Social Care. Whether you are aiming for top marks or finding some concepts challenging, these notes break down everything you need to know in a clear, step-by-step way.
In health, social care, and early years environments, technical skills like administering medication or preparing meals are only part of the job. Just as important is how care workers treat service users. The Values of Care (often called the Values Base) are the fundamental principles and professional attitudes that guide workers every single day to ensure care is safe, empowering, and respectful.
Controlled Assessment Reminder: This topic forms a crucial part of your AS 1 Controlled Assessment Portfolio (worth 25% of your AS Level). You will need to show not just what these values are, but how care workers apply them daily in real-world settings and how they impact a service user's well-being.
Values vs. Policies: What Is the Difference?
Don't worry if you find this confusing at first—many students mix these two up! Let's make the distinction crystal clear:
Values of Care: These are the personal and professional principles, beliefs, and attitudes that guide how a care worker behaves and interacts with service users (for example, showing respect, keeping information private, and listening actively).
Workplace Policies: These are the formal, written rules and protocols created by an organisation (such as a Confidentiality Policy, Safeguarding Policy, or Complaints Procedure) that set out official procedures staff must follow.
Simple Analogy: Think of a Value as the mindset of kindness and fairness, while a Policy is the rulebook written down in the staff manual.
The 6 Core Values of Care
Health and social care professionals must put the following core values into practice every day:
1. Promoting Equality and Diversity
What it means: Treating everyone fairly and ensuring equal access to care, facilities, and services, regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Diversity means recognizing, respecting, and celebrating individual differences.
In everyday practice:
• Offering menu options that cater to different cultural, religious, or dietary needs (e.g., Halal, Kosher, vegetarian, gluten-free meals in a hospital or care home).
• Celebrating a variety of cultural and religious festivals in a day centre or nursery.
• Ensuring wheelchair ramps, wide doorways, and accessible toilets are available so all service users can access the building equally.
2. Promoting Individual Rights and Choices
What it means: Empowering service users by supporting their autonomy, self-determination, and personal decision-making. Individuals have the right to make choices about their daily routine, give informed consent, access their personal records, and practice their chosen beliefs.
In everyday practice:
• Asking a resident in a care home what time they would like to wake up or what clothes they wish to wear.
• Gaining informed consent before carrying out any medical check or care routine.
• Supporting a service user's choice to attend a place of worship or follow a specific lifestyle.
3. Respecting and Maintaining Dignity and Privacy
What it means: Treating service users with deep respect, valuing their self-worth, and protecting their personal space and modesty, especially during vulnerable moments such as intimate personal care.
In everyday practice:
• Knocking and waiting for permission before entering a service user's bedroom or bathroom.
• Closing curtains and doors and keeping the individual covered with towels or blankets during washing or dressing.
• Addressing service users by their preferred name or title (e.g., "Mr. Campbell" or "Mary") rather than using patronising nicknames like "sweetheart" or "love".
4. Maintaining Confidentiality
What it means: Keeping personal and medical information secure and private. Information must only ever be shared on a strict need-to-know basis in line with data protection principles.
In everyday practice:
• Storing paper files in locked filing cabinets and password-protecting electronic care records.
• Holding handovers, consultations, and telephone calls about service users in private rooms away from public waiting areas.
• Never discussing a service user's private care details with family members or colleagues unless authorised or required for their direct care.
5. Effective and Person-Centred Communication
What it means: Communicating in ways that match the individual's abilities and preferences, actively listening to them, and putting their specific needs at the centre of all interactions.
In everyday practice:
• Providing alternative communication tools such as visual timetables, Makaton, Braille, or professional translators for service users with specific language or sensory needs.
• Maintaining good eye contact, speaking at an appropriate pace, and listening patiently without interrupting.
• Avoiding complicated medical jargon or condescending language when explaining care plans.
6. Promoting Safety and Protecting from Harm
What it means: Protecting vulnerable individuals from abuse, neglect, accidents, and hazards, while carrying out risk assessments that balance safety with positive risk-taking.
In everyday practice:
• Following robust safeguarding procedures to identify and report signs of potential abuse or neglect.
• Completing risk assessments before outings or activities in a day centre to ensure safety while still allowing service users to enjoy new experiences.
• Maintaining hygiene and health-and-safety routines (e.g., washing hands, clearing trip hazards, storing cleaning chemicals safely).
Key Takeaway: These 6 core values ensure care workers see the person first, uphold their basic human rights, and deliver safe, dignified, and personalised care.
Evaluating the Impact of Values on Well-Being (The PIES Framework)
In your CCEA portfolio, simply describing what a care worker does is not enough. You must evaluate the impact on the service user's well-being across all four PIES areas:
1. Physical Well-being (P)
When values are upheld: Proper safety routines prevent injuries; dietary choices ensure good nutrition; assistance with hygiene maintains physical comfort and health.
When values are neglected: Poor hygiene leads to infections or pressure sores; safety failures result in falls or physical injury.
2. Intellectual Well-being (I)
When values are upheld: Effective communication keeps service users informed about their care, encouraging mental stimulation, problem-solving, and active decision-making.
When values are neglected: Failing to communicate clearly leaves service users confused, misinformed, and unable to make sense of their daily care.
3. Emotional Well-being (E)
When values are upheld: Respecting dignity and privacy makes individuals feel valued, safe, and respected, boosting their self-esteem, confidence, and sense of identity.
When values are neglected: Intrusive or dismissive care causes embarrassment, anxiety, depression, anger, and feelings of worthlessness.
4. Social Well-being (S)
When values are upheld: Promoting equality and choice encourages service users to build positive relationships with staff and peers, join group activities, and avoid isolation.
When values are neglected: Individuals may withdraw, feel excluded or alienated, and struggle to form trusting relationships with caregivers.
Connecting Values to Northern Ireland Quality Standards & Regulators
Values of care do not exist in isolation. They are embedded directly into regional quality frameworks and workplace procedures across Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Context (Examiner Warning!)
Because CCEA is based in Northern Ireland, you must refer to the correct local regulatory bodies and standards:
• RQIA (Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority): The independent body responsible for inspecting and regulating the quality of health and social care services in Northern Ireland.
• Department of Health (Northern Ireland) / HSC Trusts: Set the regional Quality Standards and guidelines that govern health and social care delivery across Northern Ireland.
Common Mistake to Avoid: Never reference English regulatory bodies like the CQC (Care Quality Commission) or Ofsted in your CCEA coursework. Always cite RQIA and the Northern Ireland Department of Health / HSC Trusts!
How Workplace Policies Put Values into Action
Every health and social care setting creates policies to make sure staff adhere to the core values:
• Safeguarding Policy: Puts the value of Protecting from Harm into standard operational steps for reporting abuse.
• Confidentiality Policy: Details how personal records are stored and shared, enforcing the value of Confidentiality.
• Equality and Diversity Policy: Outlines non-discriminatory recruitment and service delivery, ensuring Equality and Diversity.
• Whistleblowing Policy: Empowers staff to report unsafe or unethical practices without fear of retaliation.
• Complaints Procedure: Gives service users a clear voice if their rights or dignity have been compromised.
Top Tips for Your AS 1 Controlled Assessment
Keep these handy tips in mind when writing up your portfolio:
1. Avoid Generic Definitions: Do not just write a dictionary definition of "dignity" or "confidentiality". Always describe concrete, day-to-day care actions in your chosen setting (e.g., "In a nursing home, a care assistant knocks on room doors and closes privacy curtains before assisting with bathing...").
2. Always Link to PIES: Whenever you explain a care practice, immediately explain how it positively affects the service user physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
3. Reference NI Standards: Highlight how daily care practices meet the standards expected by RQIA and the Department of Health (NI).
Quick Review Summary
• Values of Care are the core principles (such as dignity, choice, and confidentiality) that govern professional behaviour.
• Policies are the formal written rules created by organisations to enforce these values.
• Applying values directly benefits a service user's PIES (Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social well-being).
• In Northern Ireland, health and social care standards are inspected and monitored by the RQIA.