Client Empowerment

Client Empowerment

In general terms, empowerment is a degree of self-reliance and determination by an individual, a group, or a community. Client empowerment is, therefore, a process by which a counsellor or a healthcare provider and their client establish a nourishing relationship within a supportive social climate distinguished by trust, proper information sharing, and mutual agreement in decisions and decision-making. This process should result in the client being self-reliant, determined, and self-managed, and they should have gained elevated self-esteem. According to McClair et al. (2021), client empowerment has been associated with better and improved health outcomes. Empowered clients have achieved their health goals better than those not authorised. This essay will expound on the techniques that can be used to empower clients.

Community nurses, healthcare providers, or counsellors could use several techniques to empower their clients. These techniques include setting realistic goals, building rewards, and measuring the client’s progress. Firstly, a provider should be able to set realistic goals for their clients. These goals should be SMART; this means specific, measurable, achievable, practical, and timely goals. Additionally, the provider should adequately asses the client to establish the goals that would work best for the client, and this is because all individual clients and groups are abled differently, requiring different approaches to getting them empowered. Secondly, it is highly recommended for a counsellor or provider to build on rewards and positively reinforce clients. Positive reinforcement and rewards help strengthen new and good behaviour in clients. This could be achieved by praising the client, allowing the client to engage in an activity they enjoy doing or giving the client a tangible gift. Reward and positive reinforcement leave the client feeling encouraged, and, in response, they do their best to sustain the good behaviour. Lastly, the counsellor, nurse, or healthcare provider should measure the client’s progress. Measuring progress ensures accountability and helps to notice even the slightest changes because the provider can compare previous and current performances.

References

McClair, T., Sripad, P., Casseus, A., Hossain, S., Abuya, T., & Gottert, A. (2021). The Client Empowerment in Community Health Systems Scale: Development and validation in three countries. Journal of Global Health, 11. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.11.07010

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Client Empowerment

A major component of client advocacy in the behavioural health field involves increasing empowerment within our clients.
What two or three techniques or methods can we use to increase client empowerment?
Explain how these techniques or methods can increase the empowerment of our clients.