Safeguarding Adults At-risk: Advocating for Their Protection

One in every five adults experience abuse, neglect, and harm in their lifetime in the UK according to Domestic Abuse Statistics UK.

Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of adults at risk is a cornerstone of a compassionate, ethical society.

However, abuse, exploitation and neglect of at-risk groups still persists. Effective safeguarding is essential to protect the human rights of those unable to advocate for themselves.

Safeguarding adults at risk must be a shared priority. It starts with understanding how important Safeguarding is to the society.

Barnsley Safeguarding Adults Board

In this article, we will explore the critical importance of safeguarding adults with care and support needs across the UK. We will examine why robust procedures and practices are needed, highlight key legislation, and outline how to properly report any concerns.

The goal is raising awareness so that all of us can contribute to a culture of vigilance and ensure every adult can live with dignity.

Table of Content for Safeguarding Adults at risk

• What is Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults?
• Who are the most vulnerable adults in our society?
• Why is it important to Safeguard vulnerable Adults?
• Top 5 challenges vulnerable adults face
• The role of advocacy in protecting vulnerable adults
• How does the UK legal framework protect vulnerable adults?
• How to Report Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults
• The challenges of protecting vulnerable adults
• How can we address these challenges to protect at-risk adults?
• Five Key Pillars to Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults

What does safeguarding adults at risk mean?

If you work within the health and social care, there is possibility you must have heard the word, ‘Vulnerable’, ‘Vulnerable Adults’, and ‘Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults’. Those are old terms used in Safeguarding Adults.

This change in language moves away from calling certain groups weak or helpless, which can make them feel less powerful. The Care Act 2014 highlights that abuse towards adults is more about the situation they are in, not about who they are.

The Care Act 2014 says that safeguarding adults at risk means protecting adults who need care and support, are going through or could go through abuse or neglect, and can’t protect themselves because of their care needs.

The Act defines an adult at risk as someone over 18 who fits these three conditions. It focuses on the idea that it’s not about being weak but about how certain situations can put adults in danger.

With the rise in abuse, harm, and neglect of adults at risk, the need for safeguarding is critical in order to reduce these figures.

The ultimate goal is enabling adults to live free from harm and fear. This requires a coordinated societal approach to identifying and addressing risks proactively.

Who are the most at-risk adults in our society?

28 million adults in the UK are now considered vulnerable ( Age UK Report).

Adults at-risk encompass a diverse group of individuals who, due to various factors, are at increased risk of harm or exploitation.

This can include elderly individuals, individuals with disabilities, those with mental health conditions, survivors of abuse or trauma, and individuals experiencing homelessness or poverty.

Older adults are particularly at risk, with 63% of adults being over the age of 65.

To identify adults at-risk, we look for signs that show they might need help.

This can include physical or mental difficulties, having few friends or family to rely on, depending on caregivers, or experiencing abuse or neglect.

It’s important to be kind and understanding.

Vulnerability can change, and people may go in and out of vulnerable situations at different times in their lives.

We should always treat everyone with compassion and support.

Why is it important to safeguard adults at risk?

Safeguarding requires a shared vigilance so that the most vulnerable members of society are not left isolated and exposed to preventable harm.

A compassionate and just system depends on safeguarding.

Key reasons why safeguarding adults at risk is critically important:

• Protects Their Rights: Every adult has the right to live safely, free from abuse or neglect, no matter their ability. Safeguarding helps keep their dignity.
• Prevents Suffering: Safeguarding stops vulnerable people from experiencing pain, sadness, or financial trouble due to mistreatment.
• Saves Lives: Stopping abuse can sometimes save lives. Safeguarding aims to prevent serious harm.
• Promotes Wellbeing: When people feel safe and supported, they can lead happier and healthier lives.
• Allows Choices: With the right help, adults at risk can stay independent and make their own decisions.
• Provides Support: Safeguarding ensures that any concerns are looked into and that victims receive help.
• Deters Abusers: Strong safeguards make it less likely for potential abusers to act, as they fear the consequences.
• Reassures Families: Safeguarding gives peace of mind to family members who can’t always be there to protect their loved ones.
• Fulfills Responsibility: Caregivers and society have a duty to keep everyone safe.

What challenges do vulnerable people face?

Vulnerable people face a multitude of challenges that can impact their well-being and safety.

These challenges may include limited access to resources and support, social isolation, discrimination, abuse, neglect, and barriers to healthcare and education.

In addition, addressing these challenges is crucial to ensure the protection and empowerment of vulnerable individuals in our society.

Barnsley Safeguarding Adults Board

Top 5 challenges adults at risk face

At-risk adults face a range of challenges and risks that can significantly impact their well-being and overall quality of life:

1. Abuse and neglect:

Adults at-risk are susceptible to physical, emotional, and financial abuse, as well as neglect by caregivers or institutions responsible for their care. In 2020-21, concerned individuals raised 498,260 cases of abuse regarding adults at risk. (NHS, Safeguarding Adults, England, 2021-22)

2. Financial exploitation:

Individuals with limited financial resources or cognitive impairments are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, including scams, fraud, and undue influence.

3. Social isolation:

Many at-risk adults face social isolation and loneliness, often due to limited mobility, lack of access to transportation, or diminished social networks. This isolation can contribute to a decline in mental and physical health.

4. Limited access to healthcare:

At-risk adults may encounter barriers in accessing healthcare services, resulting in inadequate medical attention and untreated health conditions.

5. Discrimination and stigma:

Individuals with disabilities or mental health conditions may face discrimination and stigmatization, which can further marginalise and isolate them from society.

Vulnerability can seriously harm adults’ well-being and quality of life. Without support, they may face physical and emotional harm, which affects their independence and dignity.

The stress from being vulnerable can make their mental and physical health worse. Also, being left out of society prevents them from getting the help and opportunities they need to thrive, creating ongoing challenges.

How can a Social Worker Safeguard Adults At Risk?

Social workers play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and well-being of at-risk adults.

As a social worker, you can follow these series of steps to identify and protect individuals who may be at risk due to factors like age or disabilities.

Here are the 12 steps you can take as a social worker to safeguard at-risk adults within your vicinity:

1: Identify Vulnerability

• First, you need to recognise individuals who may be vulnerable due to factors like age or disabilities.

2: Assessment

• Conduct assessments. This means evaluating each person to understand how vulnerable they are and what they need.

3: Build Trust

• Building trust is key. You want the person to feel comfortable talking to you.

4: Risk Assessment

• Look for potential risks like abuse or neglect by observing their living conditions and talking to them.

5: Care Plan

• Create a personalised care plan. Think of this as a roadmap for their well-being. Include the person in planning their care.

6: Support Services

• Arrange services they need, like medical help or counseling.

7: Regular Check-Ins

• Schedule regular visits to make sure they’re safe and well.

8: Documentation

• Keep careful records of everything, from assessments to any concerns or incidents.

9: Reporting Concerns

• If you think someone is being abused or neglected, report it following the rules of your agency.

10: Collaboration

• Work with other professionals, agencies, and the person’s support network to keep them safe.

11: Empowerment

• Help them make decisions about their life and care. Empower them to have a say.

12: Review and Adjust

• Periodically, review the care plan. Make changes as needed to ensure their safety and happiness.

These steps ensure that social workers can effectively safeguard at-risk adults, making a positive impact on their lives.

What is the role of advocacy in protecting At-risk adults?

Advocacy means actively supporting and representing the rights and needs of at-risk adults.

It involves speaking up for them, raising awareness about their challenges, and working for changes that help keep them safe and included.

Advocacy includes many activities, such as changing policies, educating the community, providing direct support, and empowering at-risk adults to advocate for themselves.

Also, Advocacy plays a critical role in safeguarding the rights and well-being of at-risk adults. This is important for helping at-risk adults.

It gives a voice to people who are often overlooked. By sharing their stories, advocacy challenges negative attitudes and helps others understand and support them.

Advocacy also helps create change. Advocates work to fix problems in services that don’t support adults at-risk enough. They call for better laws and improved services.

Through these actions, advocates aim to make things better and ensure at-risk adults get the help they need. By working with policymakers and community groups, advocacy helps protect the rights of adults at-risk.

How does the UK legal framework protect At-risk adults?

In the United Kingdom, the protection of At-risk adults is supported by a comprehensive legal framework and a range of policies.

The key safeguarding legislations include:

1. Care Act 2014:

The Care Act 2014 is a legislation that outlines the legal duties and responsibilities of local authorities. It focuses on providing care and support for adults with care and support needs. It emphasizes person-centred care, safeguarding, and the promotion of well-being.

2. Mental Capacity Act 2005:

This act provides a framework for decision-making on behalf of adults who lack the capacity to make specific decisions. It establishes safeguards to ensure decisions are made in the best interests of the individual while promoting their autonomy and dignity.

3. Equality Act 2010:

This act prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability, age, or other protected characteristics. It ensures that At-risk adults are protected from unfair treatment and have equal access to services, employment, and opportunities.

The laws in the UK help protect at-risk adults, but we need to keep checking how well they work. It’s important to see if these laws are being followed in different areas and by different groups.

We should look at how consistent they are, how resources are used, and whether professionals are properly trained.

We also need to make sure that information and resources for adults at-risk and their caregivers are easy to find and understand.

Building stronger partnerships between different agencies—like social services, doctors, police, and community groups—can help improve the support and care we provide to adults at risk.

How to report safeguarding At-risk adults

If you are concerned about the safety or well-being of a at-risk adult, you can report it to the appropriate authorities.

The following are the ways to report safeguarding at-risk adults in the UK:

• If the person is in immediate danger, contact emergency services on 999.
• If the concern is urgent but not an emergency, contact Adult Social Services in your local area. You can do a search here to find one within your location, click this link.
• Clearly describe the specific concern, providing key details like names, dates and what occurred. Stick to only factual information.
• If contacting by phone, follow up the verbal report with a written account via email or using an incident report form.
• For non-urgent concerns, reporting can also be done using Adult Social Service’s online forms or email if available.
• When reporting, include any evidence that supports the concern, such as photographs of injuries or screenshots of messages. But do not attempt to investigate yourself.
• Identify any additional agencies involved with the at-risk adult that should be informed.
• Maintain confidentiality. Only share details with the adult safeguarding team and other necessary agencies.
• Be responsive to any requests for additional information from investigators.

Overall, the goal is to promptly alert authorities through proper channels so they can address threats to that vulnerable individual’s safety and wellbeing. Speaking up saves lives.

The challenges of protecting at-risk adults

Protecting adults at-risk can be hard because they face many different problems in their lives.

Here are some key issues that need to be addressed:

1. Financial Exploitation: at-risk adults can be tricked by fraudsters or even people they know who take advantage of their limited understanding of money. This can lead to big financial losses and put their security at risk.
2. Neglect and Poor Care: Som adults may not get the care they need because of issues like not enough resources or caregiver burnout. This neglect can cause physical harm and worsen their health.
3. Social Isolation: Many adults that needs support feel lonely and isolated, which can hurt their mental and physical health. Limited mobility and negative attitudes from others make it hard for them to connect with people.
4. Lack of Training for Caregivers: Caregivers play a key role in helping adults, but many do not have the training to spot signs of abuse or know how to help properly. For example, only 25% of caregivers are trained in safety, and only 21% in self-care (Caregiving.com survey, 2021). This can stop them from providing good support.

How can we address these challenges to protect at-risk adults?

To protect adults at risk adults, we need to use different strategies together.

First, we should make more support services available and give extra training to caregivers and health professionals.

Also, it is important to strengthen laws to prevent exploitation and neglect, ensuring that adults at riskadults are safe.

The Six Principle of Safeguarding

To safeguard adults at risk, we need to include the six principles of safeguarding (the six key pillars of safeguarding) in our plans.

These pillars help ensure that everyone receives the care and support they need.

So, let’s look at the six pillars.

1. Empowerment

The first principle of safeguarding focuses on supporting people to make their own choices and feel confident in their decisions.

Key points to consider include:

• Support people to make their own decisions
• Give individuals as much control as possible
• Ensure informed consent
• Help people feel confident about choices

Example: A caregiver helps a adults at risk choose their own meals from a menu. This makes them feel in control and helps them make their own choices.

2. Prevention

The second principle looks at helping people to know how to take steps to stop harm before it happens and raising awareness of potential risks.

Key points to consider include:

• Take action before harm occurs
• Raise awareness about risks
• Provide training and education
• Create safe environments

Example: A community group holds classes to teach adults at risk about common scams. This helps them understand risks and stay safe from being tricked.

3. Proportionality

The third safeguarding principle is about responding to risks in a way that is respectful of individual wishes while ensuring safety.

Key points to consider include:

• Use the least intrusive response for the risk presented
• Consider what matters to the individual
• Balance safety with respect for wishes
• Make sure actions match the level of risk.

Example: If someone is at risk of falling, instead of stopping them from moving around, a caregiver gives them a walker. This keeps them safe while allowing them to stay independent.

4. Protection

Fourth Safeguarding pillar looks supporting and representing those who are most at risk and knowing how to respond to abuse.

Key points to consider include:

• Support and represent those in greatest need
• Know how to respond to abuse and neglect
• Recognise when to involve other services
• Have clear procedures for emergencies

Example: If a caregiver thinks abuse is happening, they follow steps to report it and ask for help from social services. This helps make sure the adults at risk gets the support they need.

5. Partnership

The fifth Safeguarding principle after protection is about working together with various groups and communities to provide better support and care.

Key points to consider include:

• Work with local communities
• Share information appropriately
• Involve families and support networks
• Cooperate between different agencies

Example: A social worker works together with doctors, families, and community groups to create a care plan for a adults at risk. This teamwork helps provide better support.

6. Accountability

Lastly, the sixth safeguarding principle or pillar involves being responsible for actions, keeping clear records, and learning from experiences to improve care.

Key points to consider include:

• Be open about how safeguarding is done
• Make roles and responsibilities clear
• Keep good records of decisions
• Learn from experiences to improve

Example: A care home checks regularly to see how well they are taking care of people. They keep good records of what they find and what changes they make to improve care.

Best Practice Notes:

• All six principle should work together
• Regular training helps staff understand these principles
• Policies should reflect all pillars
• Each pillar supports person-centred care

Conclusion

Keeping vulnerable people safe should be a duty for everyone. While laws and rules help, real change comes from people being aware and taking action.

We should all have a caring attitude in our jobs and communities. Pay attention to signs of abuse or neglect and report any concerns. Most importantly, remember to see the person in everyone, no matter their ability.

Treating vulnerable individuals with dignity and respect helps everyone feel valued. With determination and teamwork, we can create a society where no one is overlooked.

It takes commitment from all of us to protect adults at risk. Their well-being is a shared responsibility.