In this section we will explore the importance of your personal values and beliefs in relation to your practice in terms of care & compassion. We will also consider the importance of organisational cultures in terms of care & compassion. It is also worth reflecting on how values, beliefs and behaviours link to compassionate leadership. There are two core elements to complete on this page.

Before engaging with the materials you should complete the Care & Compassion presentation and the associated reflective exercises on the Becoming a Caring & Compassionate Practitioner page. You may also find it useful to have completed the Therapeutic use of Self presentation and accompanying reflective questions on the Exploring what Caring & Compassionate Practice Looks Like page. If you have not completed the latter, then please consider doing this as your third activity.

By the end of this page you will be able to:

• Define values and beliefs and understand the relationship between beliefs, values, attitudes & behaviour
• Understand why values & beliefs are important qualities to consider in health and social care practitioners and organisations
• Understand how values & beliefs can influence organisational cultures and care & compassion
• Reflect on and be aware of your own personal values & beliefs and how they impact on your attitudes to and relationships with others
• Reflect on and be aware of, how your own values & beliefs influence and shape your personal moral and ethical frameworks
• Identify a positive moral compass for a practitioner and an organisation providing health & social care services. You will find this exercise in the SWAY presentation below.
• Develop and reflect on your own moral compass and identify areas that need developing or change (i.e. cognitive restructuring).

Please click on the image below to begin working through the presentation on ‘Your values & beliefs’ and complete the reflective questions you will find in the presentation.

When you have worked through the values & beliefs presentation and completed the reflective exercises about the moral compass, take a look at the TED Talk below by Canadian psychologist Barry Schwartz to help you reflect on values & beliefs in individual workers and organisations.

• Particularly consider what values & beliefs the ‘janitors’ described by Barry Schwartz used. What would their moral compasses look like? How did they challenge the bureaucracy of the organisation? Think about what you would have done in the same situation. Would you have put being caring & compassionate behaviours and values before organisational bureaucracy?
• Think about the janitors’ behaviour in terms of what you learned about the Mid Staffs, Andrews, Winterbourne view and Haringey Inquiries highlighted in the care & compassion presentation.
• Reflect on how you could put patients/clients and carers needs first in your everyday practice. If appropriate, link this to the principles and practice of compassionate leadership.

Thank for engaging with the materials here and completing the exercises. We hope you have found it useful. Don’t forget to add your personal reflections to your CPD portfolio. If not already completed, please consider visiting the Understanding why Caring & Compassionate Practice is Important page where you will find a presentation on the therapeutic use of self. If you have done this, visit Exploring what Caring & Compassionate Practice Look Like and engage with Lara’s Story Parts 1 & 2.

To reference written materials on this page please cite:

Clouston, T.J. 2018. Exploring Understanding Personal Beliefs, Values & Behaviours.  Available at: https://caringpractitioner.wordpress.com/exploring/ [Accessed: date].