There are many economic benefits of diversity, these can be seen everywhere. The clothes that we wear, the food that we eat and the people who we work with are all factors that are the economic rights of diversity. There are now many diverse shops these range from big names on the high street to small independent manufacturers and those who sell products on the internet all add up to a richly varied community. In relation to health and social care professionals, new techniques, equipment and software developments are being sheared around the world this all means that people are benefiting from diversity. Employment and expertise- Organisations including the health and social care services have realised that all their customers come from different diverse backgrounds and therefor their employees should reflect that. Organisations also have come to realise by positively encouraging potential employees to apply for jobs that it will increase the chance of getting the right person for the job that they may not have got otherwise. The Race Relations Act 2000 promoted race equality, equality of opportunities and good race relations in public bodies including health and social care services. This had helped to build an appropriate diverse workforce. If a work force in health and social care only consisted of women aged 20-30 who were white British this would be discriminatory.
Using the correct terminology is important in any health or social care situation especially in words regarding equality and diversity. Without knowing the correct meaning of the terminology you may find yourself in embarrassing situations if you use words incorrectly. The word diversity means fairness and justice. This means that everyone is entitle to equal access to any service when needed and that they should get high quality care they deserve no matter where they live or how they live their lives. Opportunities mean that everyone working in or using the health and social care services should have the same opportunities. These opportunities may range from job opportunities to medical treatment. This may involve you talking to clients for example telling them what they are entitled to, possible effects of the medication they are taking or the medical procedure they may be having. The word difference is related to diversity whereby each person has to be respected and their differences recognised. |each individual needs to be acknowledged and valued for who they are. This applies to people working and people using the health and social care services.
It is important to actively promote equality and individual rights of a person in the health and social care setting. The four main types of care settings are residential care, day care, nursing care and domiciliary care. Residential care is where a person lives and is cared for in a safe and secure home environment. People who use this type of care are not able to live on thir own and maintain their health but they do not necessarily need nursing care. Residential care setting caters for the persons social care needs which may include personal care, ensuring they take their medication at the required time and the right amount, arranging health visits and encouraging independence. Day care is a type of care for people who need caring for a a daily basis but not in a residential home. They still live in their own home but can success the day care they require to maintain their health. This may include physiotherapy and occupation services, visiting a local community day care centre for social reasons and visits to see health care professionals in hospitals. This person may have carers during the day to help with personal care for example bathing their self. Each person is assessed on his or hers needs. Domiciliary means ‘at home’ so this is care carried out at home. This may be thee persons choice for example giving birth at home, a health visitor visiting someone released from hospital, visiting a terminally ill person who wants to die at home or a meal service provided for a person who cannot cook at home. There is a wide range or nursing services available to suit the service user.
Active promotion of equality and individual rights
When working in the health and social care sector it is important to have a good understanding of key concepts. Health and social care professionals need to actively promote equality rights and diversity of individuals whether they are working in or using services. ‘Active’ emphasises the need to ensure that action is taken on these issues. The principles of the care value base are seven principles that put the individual at the heart of health and social care provision. They are all equal importance and should form the basis of all your relationships with clients and colleagues. The seven principles are the 1) promotion of anti-discrimination practice, an example of this could be providing service users with all the information needed to make an informed decision about their personal care and the way the service is run 2) the promotion and support of dignity, independence and safety, 3) respect for and acknowledgement of personal beliefs and an individual’s identity, 4) the maintenance of confidentiality 5) protection from abuse and harm, 6) the promotion of effective communication and relationships, 7) the provision of personalised care.
Promoting the rights, choices and wellbeing of individuals- If a person follows the seven principles of the care values in their everyday work they will automatically be promoting individuals rights and choices. This has been proven to positively impact on people’s feelings of well-being and their sense of control over their lives when they may have been in vulnerable stages. Dealing with tensions and contradictions will happen many times in a health and social care workers career. The only way of dealing with this is to use your team and colleagues to support you. By asking for help in situations like this situations are dealt with in a professional manor and you should feel supported and good about yourself and will encourage the team to work together. If you maintain high-quality professional standards between colleagues it will be easier to deal with tensions when they arise. Staff development and training is important for all health and social care professionals as they need to keep up with training and skills and up to date with new technologies and procedures. Health and social care workers also need to be familiar with the new legislations and new terms that should be used when working with individuals. Training can be gained from a variety of sauces including the internet, journals and magazines, mentoring and television.
Practical implications of confidentiality, e.g. recording, reporting, storing and sharing information- The law states that health and social care professionals maintain people confidentiality at all times. Confidentiality refers to all information related to those using health and social care services and all records associated with them to be maintained confidential no matter what format the records are in. Whenever a health and social care professional is handling records they must respect peoples wishes and privacy, follow the guidance and procedures of the organisation and comply with any requirements of the law. When a health and social care professional is gathering confidential information they must insure that only information that is needed is collected, the data is only used for the purpose it is intended, all records are kept safe and secure, each workplace has a policy or guidelines for staff to follow. The confidential records are a huge concern for the people managing them an example of this is where can the paper based records be stored? Who should have access to them? How can they be kept secure? How long should they be kept? What sort of information should be stored? How often should the records be updated and reviewed? There are many more concerns for records that are kept on computers examples of there are who has access to passwords? What happens when the system fails? Who will carry out the necessary training? And who carries out repairs and can they see the information? These are all important concerns when maintaining a service user’s private confidential information in health and social care setting.
by
georgina1996 (student)
