Disability – This is potential source of discrimination. More people realise that children often behave differently to other children who have physical or mental disabilities even adults. Health care workers could discriminate either positively or negatively depending on ability of an individual.
Age – By 2050 one in the five people will be over the age of 60 in developed counties. However, age is already another cause of discrimination with developed countries and is an issue that has already caused a great deal of debate with health and social care systems. There are some service provides who would argue that it is possible to be old for certain kind of treatment and that resources should be used on those young people enough to benefit from treatment provided.
Social class – the registrar general’s scale of social class is one way of grouping people according to their occupations. Social class can be basis of discrimination for a variety of reasons. The higher social classes are said to ‘look down’ on the lower social classes. This could be because of different speech patterns, levels of power or the amount of money earned.
P3.B: Explain the potential effects of discriminatory practice on those who use health and social care service.
Discriminatory practice:
Discriminatory practice can be demonstrated through wide variety of actions and behaviours. Sometimes this happens through simple thoughtlessness and sometimes, sadly, intentionally.
Infringement of rights – Discrimination whether overt or covert is an abuse of power. Very often, when an individual has experienced discrimination it also leads to an infringement of rights. This refers to an individual or group being denied the right to participate in society fairly and equally in areas such as education, employment, politics etc.
Covert or overt abuse of power – covert mean hidden and overt means out in the open. Using and abusing power and authority to discriminate against individuals is not acceptable behaviour. Health and social care professionals have to use their power when working with individual in a variety of ways. For example, social workers and carers have to make decisions about the level of care an individual will receive each day, and doctors make decisions, as part of their everyday function, about who will receive treatment, and when. However, if this power is used negatively, individuals can be disadvantaged in their access to health care.
Prejudice – is predetermined judgement (pre-judgements) about people and their characteristics or behaviours. We know that decision are often made in the health and social care sector prior to meeting an individual – this is because information is usually provided beforehand. For example, if you visit your GP and ask for a referral to the local hospital, the doctor will send the request to the patients Referral Unit who must then decide if you really need a appointment. It is possible to find prejudice occurring at this and other levels.
Stereotyping – occurs when assumptions are made about groups based on information relating to just a small number of people. As a result, many individuals or groups of the population might have labels applied to them which could affect the health care they receive.
Labelling – the action of giving people labels is usually carried out by people who hold power in society. The labels are mostly negative and can place individuals outside social acceptance. Within health and social care, giving an individual a label can certainly affect the care they will receive. Many care givers are accused of seeing the label and not the individual.
Abuse and Bullying – two other forms of discrimination worth mentioning are abuse and bullying. Abuse and its various forms have already been covered. Bullying refers to harassment, threats, intimidation or physical violence shown by one person or more towards to another person. Although most reported cases of bullying involve children or adolescents bullying can occur in any environment. Acts of bullying may involve name-calling, text messaging or simply ignoring the individual.
The effects of discriminatory practice in health and social care settings:
Discrimination has the potential to affect people in wide-ranging ways. In the health and social care, the effects of discrimination can be catastrophic and even end in the death of a service user. Anyone planning a career in health and social care should be aware of the potential negative effects caused by discrimination.
Marginalisation – marginalisation means being pushed to the boundaries of society. In other words, you are unable to participate fully in health and social service that is available. Marginalisation can occur are both micro and macro levels. Governments have been accused of marginalising groups of the population in terms of their health and social care needs.
Disempowerment – people who are discriminated against especially by powerful groups in society such as health care professional are often totally disempowered. This means they are not able to take action for themselves, have no way of fighting the discrimination and, sadly, lose the will to do something about it. People can be disempowered through another form of discrimination – ‘the health worker knows best’ syndrome.
