It is about valuing variety and individual differences and creating a culture, environment and practices which respect and value differences for the benefit of society, organisations and individuals. The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. Staff that work in care settings must value diversity, and not give favourable treatment to certain groups of people at the expense of those whom they hold prejudice. Understanding equality and diversity is vital if we want to deliver person centred, safe and effective care. Delivering on equality and diversity in health and social care services means that we are tackling barriers that could prevent some groups of people from accessing
Unit 2 – EDR – Task 1 P1 Why is EDR important in a health and social care setting It is important to promote equality in a health sector because every patient needs to be treated the same in order to meet their needs correctly. Recognising Diversity is important whilst working in a health and social care sector because you need to be able to value every individual’s differences, including talents so that you are able to create a happy environment where every individual can participate. The way people dress, their appearance, age, race, skin colour, background and religion are all ways in which people can diverse against others. Recognising Diversity and Promoting Equality policies are put in place to ensure that all individuals receive fair and equal treatment in all aspects of employment. Respecting individual’s rights when working in a health and social sector is important as you need to ensure that all of your patients/customers are happy with the level of care and support that they are receiving.
Unit 4222-305 Explain how and why person centred values must influence all aspects of health and social care work. Person centred care is about providing care and support that is centred or focused on the individual and their needs. We are all individual and just because two people might have the same medical condition, for example, Dementia and/or learning/physical disabilities, it doesn’t mean that they require or want the same level of care and support. We will need to develop a clear understanding about the individuals we are working with. This includes their needs, their culture, their means of communication, their likes and dislikes, their family and other professionals’ involvement in order that we can promote and provide person centred care and support to the individual.
In hospital care settings staff can put anti-discrimination into practice by carrying out different duties, following different policies and procedures and genuinely having a good attitude. Staff should treat everyone equally but not the same, the health care professionals should provide support to those who need it in order for them to have equal opportunities and access to their specific needs. For example
We must ensure that we are not marginalising against the people at the centre, this means that if people are from poor backgrounds we are providing services which are appropriate and that we are still providing equally to that of others in the centre. The community centre should ensure that they care for all people of different economic well-being and that we offer the same services to all. As well as this there are other areas where equality is are key, an example of this would be a non-English speaker going to the doctor and finding it difficult to communicate. It would be our duty at the community centre to find a person that can speak different languages and help them communicate with the doctor. We would also ensure that the interpreter would be able to work with the non-English speaker to ensure they would be able to access the treatments required.
Social inclusion is generally seen as a description of activities aimed at removing barriers such as discrimination, isolation, poverty and fear to enable individuals and communities to fully participate in civil society. 1.1 Explain models of practice that underpin equality, diversity and inclusion in own area of responsibility In my role as a Care Coordinator I have a responsibility to ensure that service users, their families, friends and staff members and other professionals I’m working with, are treated equally. Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. There are many legislation, Codes of practice and also my workplace Policies which regulate equality, diversity and inclusion within my area of responsibility. Some
Good communication with service users encourages participation in activities therefore promoting equality within the care setting. The service user can gain the trust and understanding from the care worker and therefore communicate the needs that individual requires. Good communication amongst staff encourages a better working relationship and ensures all tasks are completed to a high standard. Good communication between staff members is important to ensure problems are picked up and solved quickly. Such as an elderly service user having a preference to a bath rather than shower, the service user can then communicate this information effectively to staff and pass this information on to their colleagues.
Explain the role of supportive relationships in reducing the risk of abuse and neglect (P6) Discuss the role of supportive relationships in reducing the risk of abuse and neglect, using examples (M3). There are many roles within the health and social care sector that professionals must cover in order to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect. In order to provide this, carers must obey the individual’s rights – firstly professionals must ensure clients are aware of their rights. “Individual rights refer to the liberties of each individual to pursue life and goals without interference from other individuals or the government.” http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper29.html A part of each and every individual’s rights is their human rights, which was enforced by ‘The Human Rights Act 1998’. “The Act sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals in the UK have access to.
We must adhere to the policies and procedures of our setting. It’s also important to remember that our work is in a regulated setting and requires the confidence of our service users and families. Therefore our behaviour outside of work may also affect our work status. To maintain good behaviour and to keep good standard of work whilst complying with the codes of conduct, we have produced the following information for in-house training in order to promote good practice in health and social care .The coming up programme entitled “Equality, Diversity and Rights in Health and Social Care” covers the following. The idea of diversity is to embrace or encompasses acceptances and respect by understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences.
REFLECT ON AND DEVELOP YOUR PRACTICE 1 Legal and organisational requirement on equality, diversity, discrimination and rights when working with individuals others to improve your knowledge and practice: The way we respond to people is linked to what we believe in, what we consider to be more important or what interest us. As a professional career we need to be aware that we work with vulnerable people so it is very important to make them feel good and provide our services to meet their needs. Careers should provide the same quality of care to all service user, not just for those who share their beliefs or view but to other service user from other culture or religion background. It is the right of service users to expect the best possible quality of care from those who provide it and high quality care requires all practitioner to regularly reflect on their own practice and look at ways of improving The care standard Act 2000 lay down the rule of trained staff which all care organization or establishment must have. The Human Right Act 1998 gives all service user the right to be treated with respect, dignity and receive the best possible care they deserve.