Promote Equality and Inclusion in Health

CU1532 PROMOTE EQUALITY AND INCLUSION IN HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE OR CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SETTINGS Understand the importance of diversity, equality and inclusion Explain what is meant by diversity; equality; inclusion Diversity can be defined in many different ways. What does it mean to us? Diversity is a commitment to recognizing and appreciating the variety of characteristics that make individuals unique in an atmosphere that promotes and celebrates individual and collective achievement.Examples of these characteristics are: age; cognitive style; culture; disability (mental, learning, physical); economic background; education; ethnicity; gender identity; geographic background; language(s) spoken; marital/partnered status; physical appearance; political affiliation; race; religious beliefs; sexual orientation. Equality is ensuring individuals or groups of individuals are treated fairly and equally and no less favourably, specific to their needs, including areas of race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and age.Inclusion at its simplest is ‘the state of being included’ but it is a bit more complicated than that†¦ It is used by disability rights activists to promote the idea that all people should be freely and openly accommodated without restrictions or limitations of any kind. Describe the potential effects of discrimination Physical effects: headaches, poor appetite, a change in eating habits, sleeplessness, loss/gain of weight, deterioration of health, bruises, ulcers, lack of personal hygiene and lack of energy.Emotional effects: low self-esteem, lack of confidence, feeling unwanted, insecurity, becoming withdrawn, depression/stress, anxiety, sudden change in behaviour, lack of co-operation and learned helplessness. Social effects: isolation, lack of friends, becoming withdrawn, unrecognized as an individual, feel like a stranger and inability to build relationships. the intellectual effects: res tricted access to education, poor performance in examinations, lack of achievements, poor job prospects, lack of skills, self-fulfilling prophecy, loss of motivation, lack of interest in anything and absence from work.Explain how inclusive practice promotes equality and supports diversity Inclusive practice is about the attitudes, approaches and strategies taken to ensure that people are not excluded or isolated. It means supporting diversity by accepting and welcoming people’s differences, and promoting equality by ensuring equal opportunities for all. Inclusive practice is best practice. Health and social care workers demonstrate inclusive practice by working in ways that recognise, respect, value and make the most of all aspects of diversity.Having a sound awareness of and responding sensitively to an individual’s diverse needs supports them in developing a sense of belonging, well-being and confidence in their identity and abilities. And it helps them to achieve th eir potential and take their rightful place in society. In addition, inclusive practice involves having an understanding of the disastrous impact that discrimination, inequality and social exclusion can have on an individual’s physical and mental health.Having such an understanding ensures appropriate, personalised care and support, thereby enabling an individual to develop self-respect and maintain a valued role in society. Because people who fail to support diversity or promote equality are usually entirely unaware of their attitudes and the impact of their behaviour, inclusive practice involves reflecting on and challenging one’s own prejudices, behaviours and work practices.It also involves challenging those of colleagues and other service providers, with a view to adapting ways of thinking and working and to changing services to build on good practice and to better support diversity and promote equality. Be able to work in an inclusive way Explain how legislation and codes of practice relating to equality, diversity and discrimination apply to own work role The UK has in place numerous pieces of legislation (laws), rules, regulations, guidance documents and statutory codes of practice, all of which are intended to promote diversity, ensure equality and end discrimination.In other words, they are in place to promote everyone’s right to fair and equal treatment, regardless of their differences. The Human Rights Act 1998. This covers many different types of discrimination, including some that are not covered by other discrimination laws. Rights under the Act can be used only against a public authority, for example, the police or a local council, and not a private company. However, court decisions on discrimination usually have to take into account what the Human Rights Act says. The Equal Pay Act 1970 (amended 1984).This says that women must be paid the same as men when they are doing the same (or broadly similar) work, work rated as equ ivalent under a job evaluation scheme, or work of equal value. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (amended 1986). This makes it unlawful to discriminate against men or women in employment, education, housing or in providing goods and services, and also in advertisements for these things. It’s also against the law, but only in work-related matters, to discriminate against someone because they are married or in a civil partnership.Race Relations Act 1976 (amended 2000). This states that everyone must be treated fairly regardless of their race, nationality, or ethnic or national origins. Disability Discrimination Act 1995. This states that a person with a disability must not be treated less fairly than someone who is able-bodied. Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003. This says it is unlawful to discriminate against people at work because of their religion or belief. The regulations also cover training that is to do with work. Employment Equality (Age) Regulatio ns 2006.This says it is unlawful for an employer or potential employer to discriminate against you at work because of your age. Show interaction with individuals that respects their beliefs, culture, values and preferences I encourage clients to be independent members of the community and to take as much charge for their own self-care as is possible, within their Rights And Responsibilities. In my work, I adhere to the Legal Requirements of the Care Standards Act. I meet the requirements of the Registering Authorities within my role and aim to improve on these requirements.I have a ‘duty of care’ to my clients. I will advise and support clients with any matter they may require assistance with, within my role and capability. I ensure that no personal information regarding a client is disclosed to a third party without prior agreement of the client concerned. Communication with clients should be at the level of their understanding and provide privacy and promote dignity a nd self-respect. Carers via communications with client’s family, previous recording assessment and observation will be aware of any associated difficulties. It may be necessary to remind e. g. onfused elderly clients from time to time and assist where necessary. The Home encourages care workers to take on the role of advocates to promote the awareness of clients’ rights and help them gain access to the services they need. The following set of values is supported for all clients: The freedom of choice on personal matters and preferences. The opportunity to fulfill personal ambitions and develop knowledge and skills. The right to the fullest expression of citizenship. The right to lead an independent a life as possible. The right to privacy and personal space without hindrance.To be treated with respect and dignity in a caring manner at all times. To be recognised as an individual with regard to personal needs irrespective of circumstances. The right of freedom of moveme nt from one place to another without restriction. It is necessary that all records be accurate, legible and complete and current in all circumstances including the promotion of rights and responsibilities. Be able to promote diversity, equality and inclusion Demonstrate actions that model inclusive practice The Equality Act became law in October 2010. It replaces previous legislation such as the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) and ensures consistency in what you need to do to make your workplace a fair environment and to comply with the law. The Equality Act covers the same groups that were protected by existing equality legislation – age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity – but extends some protections to groups not previously covered, and also strengthens particular aspects of equality law.The Equality Act is a mixture of ri ghts and responsibilities that have:  · Stayed the same – for example, direct discrimination still occurs when â€Å"someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a protected characteristic†  · Changed – for example, employees will now be able to complain of harassment even if it is not directed at them, if they can demonstrate that it creates an offensive environment for them  · Been extended – for example, associative discrimination (direct discrimination against someone because they associate with another person who possesses a protected characteristic) will cover age, disability, gender reassignment and sex as well as race, religion and belief and sexual orientation.  · Been introduced for the first time – for example, the concept of discrimination arising from disability, which occurs if a disabled person is treated unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of their disability. Demonstrate how to supp ort others to promote equality and rightsThe Home is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, tackling discrimination and welcoming and valuing the diversity of the communities we serve. This policy highlights compliance with anti-discriminatory legislation and regulatory requirements and our ongoing commitment to equality and diversity. It also acts as a framework for promoting and adopting best practice and delivering continuous improvement across all our key business areas. We believe that excellent customer service means providing a service that is accessible and desirable to all, that the promotion of equality and diversity is essential to our core business and that a diverse customer and staff base requires us to value those differences.We will drive commitment to equality and diversity in service delivery by providing accessible and customer focused services, improved understanding of the customer journey, build capacity to refer customers to other services and increas e methods of communication to meet our customer needs. The Home will aim to ensure that no person receives less favourable treatment from the organisation including on the grounds of race, colour, gender, transgender, marital status, religion, disability, age HIV status or sexual orientation. We will monitor all applications for housing and employment by ethnic origin, disability, age and gender to ensure we meet our objectives.Describe how to challenge discrimination in a way that promotes change Always challenge discrimination. Do it in a calm and professional way and tell the individual that what they are saying is unacceptable. You can also say that you are upset and offended by discriminatory words and actions. Also, that it is unlawful. In a work setting, discrimination can be a disciplinary matter and procedures should always be in place, in the form of written documentation, shared with the employee and employer. There should be support for you as an individual, if you are d ealing with discrimination. Challenging discriminatory behaviour means not letting this behaviour happen without taking some sort of action against it.There are many ways that people can be discriminated against. They include verbal or physical abuse, exclusion, labelling or stereotyping . It is important to challenge discriminatory behaviour because it can cause distress, ill health, isolation and stress to a service user. Discrimination usually arises from a lack of awareness and experience rather than deliberate intent. Each organisation needs a policy that will reflect its own ways of working, its community and constituency, activities and size. By examining in detail how you operate, you will learn to recognise how and where discrimination is manifesting itself and be able to deal with each instance.