Equality, Diversity and Rights within a Health and Social Care setting. In this essay, I will explain Equality, Diversity, and out Rights as human beings, I will also talk about how these things can affect us as individuals, and also how they can affect our communities. Equality is when all people are treated fairly and have the same value as others, however, this does not mean that everyone should be treated the exact same. With equality we have to recognise that different people have different needs. According to Stretch B’ and Whitehouse M’ ‘The word ‘equality’ is often linked to ‘opportunity’.
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005 The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) aims to protect disabled people from discrimination. This Act was extended in 2005 and now gives extra rights in areas of employment; education; access to goods, facilities
In 1997, the New Labour government set up many different policies targeted to get rid of inequality within educational achievement, by targeting and supporting disadvantaged groups. This was with general policies such as the national literacy strategy and reducing primary school class sizes that are for all schools and can benefit all disadvantaged children. As well as more individual policies such as designating some deprived areas as Education Action Zones and providing them with additional resources, and introducing the Aim higher programme to raise the aspirations of children to get them to want to get into higher education. As well as other policies such as raising the school leaving age to 18 and introducing EMA’s (educational maintenance allowance). Labour government has also tried to promote greater choice and diversity by trying to become a post-comprehensive educational era.
There are various pieces of legislation which have been put in place to promote equality and reduce discrimination. These include: - The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 - The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 - The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 - Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 - Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989) - The Human Rights Act 1998 - The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (as amended) - Employment Equality Regulations 2003 Inclusive practice is about the attitudes, approaches and strategies taken to ensure that people are not excluded or isolated. This means welcoming people's differences and promoting equality by ensuring equal opportunities for all, most of all, aspects of diversity. Inclusive practice is about providing the
Mental Health Act 1983 This allows action to be taken, when necessary to make sure that people with mental health difficulties or learning difficulties get the care and treatment they need for their own safety and the safety and protection of others. Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Ensures civil rights for people with disabilities and protects them from any form of discrimination. It encourages organisations and health authorities to overcome barriers and make reasonable adjustments to ensure full accessibility. Mental Capacity Act 2005 The act provides a framework to empower and protect vulnerable people who can’t make their own decisions. It states who is allowed to make decisions and in which situations, and how they should go about it.
SHC 33 Promote Equality and Inclusion in Health, Social Care or Children’s and Young People’s Settings TASK 1A Explain what is meant by: • Diversity • Equality • Inclusion Diversity Diversity literally means difference. Diversity recognises that though people have things in common with each other, they are also different and unique in many ways. Diversity is about recognizing and valuing those differences. Diversity therefore consists of visible and non-visible factors, which include personal characteristics such as background, culture, personality and work-style in addition to the characteristics that are protected under discrimination legislation in terms of race, disability, gender, religion and belief, sexual orientation and age. By recognising and understanding our individual differences and embracing them, and moving beyond simple tolerance, we can create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued.
Diversity therefore consists of visible and non-visible factors, which include personal characteristics such as background, culture, personality and work-style in addition to the characteristics that are protected under discrimination legislation in terms of race, disability, gender, religion and belief, sexual orientation and age. By recognising and understanding our individual differences and embracing them, we can create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued. b. Equality means treating everyone equally regardless of their colour, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability etc. it is different to treating people the same; different people have different needs, so individuality should be taken in to account.
The anti-bullying policy should also address what children and young people should do if they are bullied, it is important that the setting regularly communicates this to children and young people. * Child Protection Policy * According to (Children Act 1989) all staff are to pass information which raises concern that a child may be at risk from non-accidental injury, neglect, emotional or sexual abuse. * Equal Opportunities Policy * According to (The Equality Act 2006) it is unlawful to discriminate on grounds of religion or belief in a number of circumstances. * SEN (Special Educational Needs) Policy * According to the (Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001) disabled students are not to be discriminated against in education, training and services provided. It is unlawful to treat a student differently from their peers due to disability.
Unit 6 D2 The effectiveness of Legislation and Code of practice or Charter in promoting diversity A human rights based approach adds practical value to equality and diversity work in a number of ways, including: Greater protection against discrimination: Human rights belong to everyone; the Human Rights Act therefore provides important protection for groups who may face discrimination or poor treatment but are not covered by existing equality legislation, for example carers, homeless people, asylum seekers. Protection against universally bad treatment: If everyone is being poorly treated without distinction, this will not qualify as discrimination for example if all residents at a care home are being mistreated by staff. The Human Rights Act can be used to address this kind of situation by judging poor treatment against a fixed standard, rather than requiring a victim to show they are being poorly treated in comparison to others. Protection against other forms of ill-treatment: Disadvantaged groups may face forms of ill-treatment besides discrimination. The Human Rights Act goes beyond discrimination, providing a minimum standard below which public authorities must not go.
The Equality Act 20102 encompasses and simplifies the previous Acts governing Race Relations, Sex Discrimination and Disability Discrimination, and the trainer must create an environment that complies with each of these components. For instance, ensuring that racist or sexist comments are not made in the classroom, or inappropriate images are not used in presentations. Furthermore, they may have to think of alternative techniques that a disabled person might use in a first aid situation. 4. Where children under 19 or vulnerable adults under 25 are students, the trainer must be complaint with the Protection of Children Act 19993.