Case Study 3
In case study 3 it talks about a young man called David who has spina bifida and is a wheelchair user. He lives in a residential unit for people with severe disabilities. He also attends a local youth centre one evening a week. The residential unit say that David is very quiet and understanding; they allow the residents to go to bed whenever they wish although the evening staff put a lot of pressure on the residents to go to bed when the staff wants them to. This is against what the residential states and the residents should be aloud to attend bed when the please like the unit says. As David is understanding and quiet the staff know that he will do as they say without any hassle as he will not speak up, and say when he wants to go to bed. At the local youth centre that David attends once every week, The case study says that he can only get part in the activities upstairs if he uses the lift with assistance, this is discrimination against wheelchair users, and it is un equal as David should be able to access all activities and be treated the same as everyone else. There should be some sort of ramp for David to use when he’s on his own, as if he didn’t have assistance he would not be able to attend the other activities which is against his rights, David has the right to attend and participate in all activities there.
Explain the effects of discriminatory practice on the individual involved.
Case study 1
Sexism and racism are examples of discriminatory practices from this case study which undermines the individuals who are the victims. Sexism may make the victims very nervous affecting their self confidence meaning that they may not be able to function as efficiently as they did in their daily routines . This means that they wont perform to their best abilities no matter where they work or what or what they do and this also means that it will be very hard for them to get back to the way they used to be if that is even possible.
Racism is just as serious and cant be prevented just like sexism. Its genetics we cant decide what sex and race we are. Staff who leave or treat others differently because of their race arent doing their job properly because as a staff member in the health and social care setting they should respect others especially as society today is so diverse. Due to this fact the UK has many religions like; Christianity 71.7%, Muslim 3.1%, Hindu 1.1%. Skin 0.6%, Jewish 0.3% and buddhist 0.3%.(social trends)
The last practice highlighted in this first source involves equality but how the service users arent being treated as equals. The manager and staff expect the service users to eat the same meals as each other and probably just consider allergies or have plain basic meals to avoid this issue. Im sure being treated like this makes the individuals in the Day centre feel like a number not an individual who can make their own choices.
Case study 2
Patricia wont realise what she has done to the patient who has HIV but her action of putting their letter to the bottom of the pile means that the patient wont receive the most efficient treatment that could be provided. She doesnt realise that the patient may not be gay and even if the patient is they may have HIV from another means possibly through sharing needles or they may have been born with the disease or contracted it early on after birth through breast feeding. Sterotypes can exist in society in all forms against people of a certain race, sexuality and age. Patricia doesnt know if this patient is a teenager who takes drugs or someone who is older who simply caught AIDS from having unprotected sex. 'Infection rates [of HIV] among heterosexuals in the UK rose from 740 in 2004 to 1,130 in 2008.' showing that heterosexuals not just homosexuals and those of african descent can have HIV.
Patricia is compromising this efficiency of her treatment as a potential worker for the health and social care sector. If she continues the way she does with preconceived ideas and judging patients before she even finds out their history or background story then she wouldnt treat patients properly. For patricia to contiune on her career path she needs to learn tolerance.THis is important to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities leading to social cohesion. For tolerance to take place a staff member must not be racist, sexist or homophobic amongst other discriminatory practices.
Case study 3
THe staff members of the residential care home are rather stressed out due to the fact that they have tasks to do by a certain time for the daily routine to progress through the rest of the day. To complete their job they need to do what they can but the only thing which is possible is for them to put the service users to when it is best for them not when the service users decide they want to go to bed. These members of staff need to get their job done otherwise they could get in trouble with the manager of the care home but the stress suggests the home may be understaffed and can be dangerous as staff may be have more sick days due to stress. THe staff are also more likely to put in a sick line meaning the government is paying more temporary staff to step in for those who went off sick.
The staff in the youth centre may feel like they are not giving DAvid the full support they can by not having the correct equipment necessary for him to visit the Day Centre. If this is reported the manager may get in trouble because it is up to them to make the arrangements for disabled people like ramps, rails at the right level for support and a lift to allow service users to go up to the upper floors.
David will feel undermined that he has to depend on others to do tasks for him instead of allowing him to necome independant. According to the government from the Human Rights Act we all have the right to be treated as an individual. This means that the staff should try their best to provide for all of Davids needs as best as they can.
Identify and briefly describe the potential effects of the discriminatory practices on each of the individuals involved.
Case study 1
The first case study affects the male and female service users of the Ashbridge day resource centre due to the decision of manager relating to the discriminatory practice. The manager believes that men are sportier or want to do sports more than women and that all women want to do craft work which relates to stereotyping. The manager should be asking the individuals what they want to do and provide them with more activities so that the self-esteem of the individuals and the staff is high because they can have fun and enjoy their work because the service users get a lot out of it.
Everyone should also be asked what their individual tastes are because some people may not like certain food so they may not eat and receive the essential vitamins and nutrients they need for their diet. The activity that the individual does should also be taken into consideration. The diet may not actually be balanced because the men are exercising while the women just sit about and do tasks as they have no need to get up and exercise while doing craft work.
The staff members assume that the way they treat ‘Art’ is okay because he doesn’t speak up if he has any problems. They don’t seem to try and pronounce his name as they just give him a nickname to make things easier for them but not think about how he feels. This is also the same approach to his needs, we don’t know what race he is but he may have certain foods that he can and cannot eat related to his religion and the staff will not know about this as he doesn’t speak up.
Case study 2
Patricia is a student on work placement in a hospital and she has no experience or qualifications unlike the other colleagues who have went to university and qualified. Due to her lack of experience and knowledge she may compromise a patient’s health slightly because she read the individuals letter assuming that they are gay only with the information that they have HIV. Due to Patricia’s actions this patient could be deprived of necessary medication if the letter was for a checkups’ where the doctor is going to re-examine the treatment the patient is receiving.
Case study 3
David and the other residents of the unit may feel like they are not being heard because their decisions concerning bedtime are being made for them. It can also embarrass David when he is at the youth centre that the only way for him to take part in the activities upstairs is if he uses the goods lift. This could have a bad effect on this confidence because he could feel like a burden to the residential unit and the youth centre because extra time or plans have to be made around him and the other patients in the residential unit. The youth centre staff may feel terrible that there is no other means for David to go to the upper floor and they may face this problem with future residents. The residential unit staffs is put under more stress because of the daily routines they have to follow which means that they can listen to possible complaints service users may have concerning bed time but can’t do anything to change this.