Transcript Human Needs Teresa Rogers Butler County ATC Summer 2010 Objectives The student will: • Evaluate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs • Identify and explore commonly used Defense Mechanisms.

Human Needs
Teresa Rogers
Butler County ATC
Summer 2010
Objectives
The student will:
• Evaluate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Identify and explore commonly used Defense
Mechanisms
Contents
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Defense Mechanisms
Abraham Maslow
• A noted psychologist who developed a
Hierarchy of Needs.
• According to Maslow, the lower needs must be
met before a person can work towards meeting
the higher needs.
• Have significant relevance for health care
workers who care for individuals with a variety of
health care needs.
SelfActualization
Esteem
Love and Affection
Safety and Security
Physiological
Physiological Needs
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Food
Water
Oxygen
Elimination of waste
Protection from temperature extremes
Sleep
• If any of these needs are not met, death
will occur
Safety and Security
• Free from fear and anxiety
• Feel secure in the environment
• Order and routine help an individual to feel
safe and secure
• Illness is a major threat to one’s security
and well being as patients face the
uncertainty of the outcome
Love and Affection
• Individuals need to feel a sense of
belonging
• Can both give and receive friendship and
love
• Illness can interfere with relationships and
lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation
Esteem
• Feeling important and worthwhile
• When others show respect, approval, and
appreciation, the individual gains a feeling
of esteem and self-respect
• Illness can lead to a loss of self-esteem as
normally independent individuals must rely
on others for basic care.
Self-Actualization
• Individuals have:
• Obtained their full potential or that they
are who they want to be
• Are confident and willing to express their
beliefs and stick to them
• All other needs must be met, at least in
part
Implication for Health Care
Professionals
Healthcare workers must:
• consider patient needs and their hierarchical
order.
• know what their patient’s needs are.
• must develop, encourage, enhance, and
provide a means of stimulation in a variety of
settings.
Physiological Needs
Healthcare workers should provide adequate:
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Food, water, oxygen
Sleep
Elimination
Protection from extreme temperatures
Sensory needs - hearing, seeing, feeling,
tasting, and mental stimulation
• Motor needs - if muscles are not stimulated,
they will atrophy
Safety and Security
Healthcare workers should:
• Relieve anxiety and fear by explaining
procedures and answering questions
• Provide security in the environment
• Provide order and routine by meeting
patient physiological needs
Love and Affection
Healthcare workers should:
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Get to know patient’s likes, dislikes, & concerns
Be willing to spend time with the patient – avoid
a hurried or rushed attitude
Support the patient’s need to spend time with
others
Encourage participation in facility activities
Be empathetic, considerate, patient, fair,
Have a positive attitude
Esteem
Healthcare workers should:
• Focus on strengths and assets
• Take individual needs and abilities into account
• Be available and approachable
• Encourage patient participation
• Respect individual differences and values
Self-Actualization
Healthcare workers should:
• Give patients freedom to explore and discover
on their own
• Make learning meaningful - connections to
“real” life
• Allow time for self-expression
• Allow patients to be involved in creative
activities and projects
Meeting Needs
• When needs are felt, individuals are
motivated, or stimulated, to act.
• If the need is met, satisfaction, of a
feeling of pleasure or fulfillment occurs.
• If a need is unmet, tension, or frustration
occurs.
• May be met by direct or indirect methods
Direct Methods
Direct methods include:
• Hard work
• Realistic goals
• Situation evaluation
• Cooperation with others
Indirect Methods
• Indirect methods of dealing with needs
reduce the need and help relieve the tension.
• The need is still present, but the tension is
reduced.
• Defense mechanisms, unconscious acts
that help a person deal with an unpleasant
situation or socially unacceptable behavior,
are the main indirect methods.
Defense Mechanisms
• Everyone uses defense mechanisms.
• Some use is helpful and allows the
individual cope with certain situations.
• Can be unhealthy is they are used all the
time and are substituted for more effective
ways of dealing with situations.
Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious actions used to cope with
difficult situations.
Not always negative, unless their use begin
to interfere with an individuals sense of
reality.
Rationalization
Using a reasonable excuse or acceptable
explanation for behavior in order to avoid the real
reason or true motivation
Example: A patient who fears having laboratory
tests performed may say, “I can’t take time off
from my job.”
Purpose: Helps a person to cope with fear of the
test or test results
Projection
Placing the blame for one’s own actions and
inadequacies on someone else or on
circumstances rather than accepting
responsibility for the actions
Example: “The teacher failed me because she
doesn’t like me.”
Purpose: Allows the person to avoid having to
admit that they have made mistakes
Displacement
Transferring feeling from one object or person to
another object or person. Usually occurs
because individuals cannot direct the feelings
toward the person responsible, such as a boss
or teacher.
Example: A man is mad at his boss and goes
home and yells at his family.
Purpose: Allows feelings to be expressed through
or to less meaningful objects or people .
Compensation
Substituting one goal for another goal in
order to achieve success
Example: A student wants to become a
doctor, but does not have enough money
for med school and becomes a physician’s
assistant instead.
Purpose: Allows person to overcome
weakness or obstacle and achieve
success
Daydreaming
Dreamlike thought process that occurs when
a person is awake
Example: A person dreams of becoming a
dental hygienist and takes courses to work
toward the goal.
Purpose: Provides a means of escape is a
person is not satisfied with reality.
Repression
Transfer of unacceptable or painful ideas, feelings,
and thought into the unconscious mind. Occurs
when feelings or emotions become too painful or
frightening to deal with
Example: A person is terrified of heights by does
not know why.
Purpose: Allows the individual to continue
functioning and to “forget” the fear or feeling.
Suppression
Similar to repression, but the individual is aware of
the unacceptable feelings or thoughts and
refused to deal with them. The individual may
substitute work, a hobby, etc., to avoid the
situation.
Example: A woman ignores a lump in her breast,
refuses to see her doctor, and avoids thinks
about it by working overtime.
Purpose: The individual avoids dealing with the
stress by focusing on other activity.
Denial
Disbelief of an event or idea that is too
frightening or shocking for a person to
cope with.
Example: A mother, though told her
daughter has terminal cancer, continues
to plan for her daughter’s college entrance
Purpose: Temporarily isolates person from
full impact of a traumatic situation
Withdrawal
Ceasing to communicate or physically
removing yourself from a conflict or painful
situation.
Example: You work with an individual who
constantly criticizes your work, so you do
all you can to avoid him.
Purpose: Escape from an unpleasant
situation.
Minimization
Trivializing significance of one’s behavior
Example: I may miss a lot of school, but I
still get more work done than other
students.
Purpose: Helps one to feel better about
themselves.
Reaction Formation
Actions are opposite from how one feels.
Example: A woman is very angry with her
boss and would like to quit her job. Instead
she is overly kind and generous toward
her boss.
Purpose: Escape from one’s inability to face
conflict.
Intellectualization
Use of academic type explanation to
separate personal feelings from painful
events
Example: A person receives a diagnose of
a terminal illness and instead of
expressing grief, focuses on the small
details of the medical procedures.
Purpose: Escape from dealing with an
unpleasant situation.
Conversion
Emotional conflicts or tensions are
converted into physical symptoms that
have no physical cause
Example: Before giving a speech to her
class, a student becomes nauseous.
Purpose: Escape from unpleasant situation.
Regression
Reverting to an earlier stage of development
in the face of extreme stress
Example: After the birth of sibling, a child
suddenly starts to wet the bed after years
of not doing so.
Purpose: Returning to a time when the
person felt safer.
Implications for
Health Care Workers
• To effectively meet the needs of patients,
health care workers must understand and
recognize the actions that individuals take
to meet their needs.
• By doing so, health care workers can
provide more efficient and higher quality
care.