Equality, Divesity and rights

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Page 2 Introduction

Page 3 Tasks A

Page 7 Tasks B

Page 16 Tasks C

Page 24 Bibliographies

This assessment is about promoting the equality and diversity to service users in a care setting and there are 3 tasks to it.

Task A

P1, Use recognised terminology to explain the importance of promoting equality, recognising diversity and respecting rights in health and social care settings.

P2, Explain the benefits of diversity to society.

P3, Explain the potential effects of discriminatory practice on those who use health or social care services.

Task B

P4, Explain how legislation, codes of practice, charters and organisational policies are used to promote anti-discriminatory practices

M1, Explain the influences of a recent or emerging national policy development on organisational policy with regard to anti-discriminatory practice

D1, Evaluate how a recent or emerging policy development influences organisational and personal practice in relation to anti-discriminatory practice

Task C

P5, Explain how those working in health and social care settings can actively promote anti-discriminatory practice

P6, Describe ways of reflecting on and challenging discriminatory issues in health and social care

M2, Explain difficulties that may be encountered when implementing anti-discriminatory practice

M3, Analyse how personal beliefs and value systems may influence own anti-discriminatory practice

D2, Explain practical strategies to reconcile own beliefs and values with anti-discriminatory practice in health and social care

P1

Use recognised terminology to explain the importance of promoting equality, recognising diversity and respecting rights in health and social care settings.

The promotion of equality, diversity and the rights of individuals is important in all care settings because each and every person is unique and different in a multitude of ways. What is equality? I think that it can best be described as treating people fairly. This is not the same as treating all people in the same way as this could in fact be unfair. To give a brief and simplistic example, in a care home, all of the bedrooms are situated on the top floor of the building and there are no lifts to the upper floor. A disabled service user comes to stay at the care home who is wheelchair bound, they are unable to access the bedrooms due to their disability. Everybody in the home is being treated in the same way, but the disabled service user is not being treated fairly.

How can service providers in care settings ensure that there is equality for all service users? The answer to this question is simply to ensure that all service users are treated fairly by the organisation or service provider and that none of them are treated differently perhaps because of prejudices about their sex, race or religion etc. Differences in sex, race and religion etc should be recognised and acknowledged. This is diversity, the respect for people. Every person also has individual rights. The Human Rights Act 2000 incorporates 16 different rights in the UK into the legal system.

* The right to life

* The right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

* The right to freedom from slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.

* The right to liberty and security of person.

* The right to a fair and public trial within a reasonable time.

* The right to freedom from retrospective criminal law and no punishment without law.

* The right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.

* The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

* The right to freedom of expression.

* The right to freedom of assembly and association.

* The right to marry and found a family.

* The prohibition of discrimination in the enjoyment of convention rights.

* The right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions and protection of property.

* The right of access to an education.

* The right of free elections.

* The right not to be subjected to the death penalty.

These basic human rights have been implemented to ensure that all UK citizens are free to live their lives in any way that they choose as long as it does not affect anybody else's quality of life.

P2

Explain the benefits of diversity to society.

There are many moral, legal and business advantages to having a diverse society. Take for instance healthcare. There are many doctors and nurses from other countries working in the United Kingdom. The expertise of these overseas health professionals enriches the Great British National Health service, as they bring with them a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Businesses may also re-locate to the UK from abroad bringing with them much needed job opportunities etc. A multicultural UK brings with it a multitude of different views, which in turn promotes tolerance between different cultures and valuing their uniqueness promotes respect between cultures.

Other advantages include things such as different types of food, clothing and languages, all of which broaden the horizons and minds of others and in general tend to make life more interesting. Exposure to these differences in cultures helps to make people more tolerant and less ignorant and in turn friendships can be made and barriers broken down.

From the disability point of view businesses have a moral and legal duty to provide access for example wheelchair users. This can be ramps, lifts or doors that open automatically. Businesses also need to promote health and safety. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires everybody who owns a business to carry out health and safety checks so it can protect its workforce from harm or injury. In hospitals and nursing homes etc there is another Act called The Waste Management and Environmental Protection Act 1992. This Act means that all employers that have clinical waste etc have to do it in a safe and proper manor. This can be incineration of the clinical waste.

The other legal benefits to diversity are the legislations that support the codes of practices.

P3

Explain the potential effects of discriminatory practice on those who use health or social care services

In any health and social care sector it is important not to discriminate against anybody as discrimination can very easily offend and make people feel uncomfortable. Everybody has the right to live and work in a discriminatory free place.

Below are some of the Acts that are in force to protect people.

* The Race Relations Act 2000

* The Human Rights Act 1998

* The sex discrimination Act 1975

* The disability Discrimination Act 1995

In a health or social care setting such as hospitals, nursing homes or schools etc the above Acts are there to both protect people and make them feel safe and secure.

Discrimination can damage someone's self esteem, self worth or self-concept. If a persons confidence is affected because of discriminated they can feel isolated and depressed which could lead to suicide. In terms of the socio economic affect a person who has low self-esteem and lacks confidence could be at risk from a low-level of success in the education system, which could then lead to unemployment, poor health and early death.

In British hospitals information leaflets are available in several languages. Without this service anyone who does not speak English can fail to receive or understand the correct information or treatment. Therefore a persons needs may not be met.

Women used to very unfairly treat in an anti discriminatory way, for example in the work force. Women were rarely able to climb up the careers ladder because it was widely thought that they would take too much time off with their children, for example when they were poorly. The effects this had were women began to demand more and more in the way of equal rights.

With the Sex Discrimination Act employers were not allowed to discriminate against anybody because of their sexual orientation or gender. Before this Act came in people were treated unfairly because of their gender or sexual orientation for example gay men were advised not to work with children because it was assumed that all gay men were paedophiles.
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Task B

P4

Explain how legislation, codes of practice, charters and organisational policies are used to promote anti-discriminatory practice.

The choices I have made to explain these practices etc are

> The Care Standards Act 2000

> The Mental Health Act 1983

> Nursing and Midwifery Council

> No Smoking

> Sex Discrimination

All of the above can be used in many settings but especially care setting's such as schools, hospitals. Care homes etc.

The Care Standards Act 2000

The Care Standards Act 2000 is aimed ...

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