1.1d – Explain how their previous experiences, attitudes and beliefs may affect the way they work

Every worker in health and social care brings something unique to their role. This includes their background, life experiences, beliefs, and values. It’s important to recognise how these can influence the way you work, the decisions you make, and your relationships with people who need support. This guide covers how your previous experiences, attitudes, and beliefs affect your practice.

What Are Previous Experiences?

Previous experiences are events and situations you have been part of before starting your current role. These may include education, jobs, volunteering, family life, and difficult or positive events that stand out in your memory.

Examples of previous experiences:

• Working in a school or nursery
• Caring for a relative at home
• Volunteering in a charity shop
• Being bereaved or experiencing illness
• Attending community groups

Each experience can shape your skills, your way of seeing the world, and your approach to new situations.

Experiences can teach valuable lessons, strengths, and coping strategies. On the other side, they can create habits or views that make you less flexible or open to change.

How Previous Experiences Affect Work

The impact of experiences is often seen in everyday choices, routines, and reactions. For example:

• If you cared for a grandparent with dementia, you may be more patient with service users showing memory loss.
• If you had strict routines during your own hospital stays, you might expect all clients to follow structure, even if flexible support is better for them.
• If you faced discrimination, you might be more sensitive to equality issues.
• If you have not encountered certain illnesses or disabilities, you might assume things about those conditions that are not true.

Both positive and difficult experiences can shape your confidence, attitude, and judgement. They can also influence your willingness to try new approaches.

What Are Attitudes?

Attitudes are your settled ways of thinking or feeling about particular topics or people. They often develop over years and are shaped by what you have seen, heard, and lived through.

Types of attitudes that can affect care:

• Positive attitudes, such as seeing the best in people
• Negative attitudes, such as thinking a certain group is ‘difficult’
• Neutral attitudes, where you try not to judge at all

Attitudes can show in the words you use, your body language, and the way you treat others.

How Attitudes Affect Work

Attitudes have a direct effect on your actions and how you deliver care. Here are some examples:

• If you strongly value independence, you may encourage clients to do things themselves, even if they ask for help.
• If you think young people are more challenging, you may unintentionally avoid offering them support.
• If you feel strongly about a particular diet or faith, you could overlook someone else’s choices without meaning to.

Attitudes can influence how fairly you treat people and whether you follow person-centred care—the approach that sees each person as an individual with unique needs and wishes.

What Are Beliefs?

Beliefs are deeply held views that you accept as true. They might be shaped by culture, religion, family, education, or personal experiences. These shape your sense of right and wrong, good and bad, and what matters most.

Types of beliefs:

• Religious or spiritual beliefs (such as about prayer, rituals, or dietary rules)
• Beliefs about health (such as the cause of illness or the value of certain treatments)
• Beliefs about ageing, disability, gender, or culture

Beliefs can influence both small and large decisions in care settings.

How Beliefs Affect Work

Beliefs shape the assumptions you make and your willingness to accept other points of view. Some examples include:

• If you believe that only certain treatments work, you may not offer choices from the full range available.
• If you believe older people always need protection, you may restrict their independence more than is helpful.
• If your faith means you avoid certain foods, you may project your preference onto service users.

Being clear about your beliefs and how they differ from professional standards is part of reflective practice.

Self-Awareness and Reflection

Self-awareness means recognising your own feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and triggers. Being self-aware helps you spot when your past or your views are shaping your actions, so that you can act professionally and fairly.

Reflection is about thinking back on what went well and what could be better. It includes asking questions such as:

• Did my own attitude help or hinder that person?
• Did I let my personal beliefs override the client’s wishes?
• Was there a moment when my own experiences shaped my advice or actions?

Workers use supervision, training, and reflective writing to become more aware. In care, no one is perfect, but reflection helps you keep improving.

Bias and Stereotypes

A bias is a preference for or against something or someone. It can be conscious or unconscious. Stereotypes are oversimplified ideas about groups of people.

For example:

• Thinking men are less emotional than women
• Believing young mothers are irresponsible
• Assuming people with learning disabilities cannot make choices for themselves

Bias and stereotypes can lead to unfair treatment and poor care. Being aware of your own biases is the first step in challenging them.

Case Example: Positive Impact

Fatima works in a residential care home. She grew up in a multi-generational home, caring for younger siblings and elderly grandparents. These experiences have given her strong skills in patience and empathy.

Fatima often uses her experience to build trusting relationships with residents. She can spot when someone is lonely and understands the importance of cultural traditions during family visits.

Her positive attitude means that residents feel listened to, understood, and respected.

Case Example: Negative Impact

James had only ever worked with older people before moving to a service for adults with learning disabilities. He found it hard to change how he spoke and the type of activities he planned.

James sometimes used long sentences and assumed everyone could follow instructions. His lack of experience in this area made him less able to meet people’s needs.

After feedback and reflecting on his approach, James learned more about person-centred communication. He asked colleagues for help and attended training. Over time, his practice improved.

Developing Professional Behaviour

To deliver quality care, it helps to:

• Notice where your own past experiences might be guiding your actions
• Listen to feedback from individuals, their families, and colleagues
• Stay open-minded when someone makes choices that are different from your own
• Take regular opportunities for learning and development

Professional boundaries and codes of practice give clear guidance where personal experiences and beliefs risk affecting care. Always follow these standards to avoid discrimination and keep people safe.

Supporting Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

Every service user is different. What matters to you might not matter to them, and vice versa. Health and social care staff have a duty to support:

• Equality (treating everyone fairly)
• Diversity (respecting differences)
• Inclusion (making sure nobody feels left out)

This means putting aside your own preferences where necessary. For example, if you are vegetarian but support someone who enjoys meat, you must support their right to choose their meals.

It is your job to create an environment where everyone feels welcome and respected.

Managing Conflicts Between Personal and Professional Values

Sometimes your beliefs or attitudes may not match the choices or values of a person you support. In these situations:

• Focus on the service user’s rights, not your own opinion
• Speak with your line manager or supervisor if you find you may not be objective
• Follow the organisation’s policies on equality, respect, and dignity
• Seek support if you experience strong feelings you cannot manage alone

It is natural to have reactions to behaviours or decisions. The key is to recognise these moments and act in a way that keeps the service user at the centre.

The Importance of Policies and Training

Following organisational policy helps you provide safe and effective care. Regular training makes sure your knowledge stays up to date and your beliefs do not conflict with good practice.

Training can help challenge myths and stereotypes, for example:

• Mental health awareness
• Dementia care
• Protecting people from abuse and neglect
• Communication and language
• Safeguarding children and adults

Always ask for help if training or policies are unclear.

Using Supervision and Team Support

Supervision is a regular meeting between you and your manager, where you can discuss difficult cases, seek advice, and reflect on how your values may influence work. Team meetings are another chance to share ideas and learn from mistakes.

Supporting one another as a team helps everyone grow and stay focused on best practice.

Personal Action Plan

To check your own attitudes and beliefs:

• Write down your values and where they come from
• Think about how these may affect your expectations of service users
• List areas where you feel confident and areas where you could be biased
• Set goals for learning more about cultures, beliefs, or abilities you know less about

Use feedback from service users and colleagues to keep improving. Small changes, over time, lead to better care.

Final Thoughts

Every person working in health and social care has a personal story that shapes the way they see the world. By understanding your own experiences, attitudes, and beliefs, you reduce the risk of unconscious bias affecting those you support. Reflection and supervision give you the tools to check your practice and grow as a professional.

The most effective health and social care workers are those who value difference and put the needs and wishes of service users first, even when these differ from their own. This leads to fairer, safer, and more caring services for everyone involved.

Example 1

A Positive Experience
“Having previously volunteered at a community centre, I interacted with a diverse group of elderly people. This positive experience expanded my appreciation for the rich histories and unique stories every individual has to share. It taught me the value of empathy and patience in my caregiving role. This understanding has directly influenced the way I work by encouraging me to always take time to listen to the service users’ stories, which fosters a deeper connection and helps me provide more personalised care.”

A Negative Experience
“Early in my career, I faced challenges when I was inaccurately informed about a patient’s care plan due to a communication breakdown. This could have resulted in improper care. Although it was a negative experience, it highlighted the importance of clear communication and diligent record-keeping. To ensure this did not affect my work moving forward, I initiated a double-check system for care instructions and advocated for regular team briefings to confirm that all care workers were updated on any changes in care plans.”

Your Positive Attitude
“My positive attitude surfaces in my belief that every day is an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. In practice, this means that I approach each task, no matter how small it may seem, with a sense of purpose and an upbeat outlook. This has led to creating a warm and encouraging environment for service users, and inspires my colleagues to adopt a similarly optimistic approach to their work.”

Your Personal Beliefs
“One of my core beliefs is that every individual deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. This belief affects my work by ensuring I remain mindful of the language I use, show consideration for service users’ preferences, and uphold their choices as much as possible. It also means I advocate for their rights and ensure that any signs of disrespect or violations are promptly addressed to maintain a safe and supportive environment for all.”

Example 2

A Positive Experience
“During a summer job at a care facility, I was involved in a project that sought to improve the residents’ outdoor space. Witnessing the joy and excitement on the residents’ faces when the garden was completed was an awe-inspiring moment for me. It reinforced the idea that every aspect of care contributes to the well-being of service users. This experience has ingrained in me the importance of considering the holistic needs of the individuals I care for—stretching beyond basic care to include their environmental and emotional well-being. As a result, I integrate elements of nature and outdoor activities in my care plans whenever possible, understanding how this positively impacts their mental health and overall happiness.”

A Negative Experience
“In my early days as a care worker, I had a situation where I felt unprepared to handle the complex needs of a service user with profound communication difficulties, leading to feelings of frustration and inadequacy. I reflected on this negative experience, realising that to prevent it from affecting my work, I needed to proactively seek training opportunities in communication strategies for those with special needs. I attended several workshops and practiced with seasoned colleagues. Now, I’m able to confidently engage with all service users more effectively, ensuring that communication barriers don’t compromise the quality of the care provided.”

Your Positive Attitude
“My optimistic outlook stems from the belief that every day is a new opportunity to learn and grow, both professionally and personally. This translates into my work as I consciously foster a learning environment within the care team. My positive attitude helps in overcoming challenges and finding constructive solutions to problems. For example, when faced with staffing shortages, I took the initiative to create a mentorship program where experienced carers could guide newer staff, helping to fast-track their competencies and create a sense of unity and support in the workplace.”

Your Personal Beliefs
“I have always believed in the power of inclusive care that acknowledges and celebrates diversity. This personal belief strongly influences my professional conduct. I ensure that my interactions with service users and their families are culturally sensitive and respectful of their diverse backgrounds. By advocating for and implementing personalised care that respects each individual’s cultural preferences, I help create a more welcoming and comfortable environment that resonates with the diversity of those we care for.”