Equality, Diversity and Rights Essay

Diversity overall is what makes everyone a unique human being, for example the human race is incredibly diverse. There are different aspects of diversity in a contemporary British Society, which could be skin colour, religion, heritage, hair colour, education, gender, social class, race, political opinion, marital status and family structure could be some for example. It is important to be open to differences and celebrate it because that way you can take advantage of everyone’s talent. You need to be prepared for changes as things are changing within the whole of Britain and working population, for example people from ethnic minorities make up 7.9% of the UK population and in London its 31%. It is an advantage living in a diverse society as everyone is different and everyone has their own opinions. Equality overall is about fairness which means making judgements from discrimination it is also about natural justice which is basic/fundamental judicial extended to a person with rights at issue, it is also about being impartial and reasonable which means showing lack of favourism and being liable to give a account of one’s actions. The British society is viewed as one that tolerates the beliefs and values of others; tolerance means to tolerate unfavourable conditions. Although there are those who are intolerant to others, our laws and the way we live in society means that we are a society tolerant to others differences and we are open-minded. There are people within society that pre-judge which means that you judge without knowing the facts, they may also generalise which means having a general overview of something, there is also attitude which people may do which is a mental state involving beliefs and feeling, all these three things are negative to society as this could l ead to discrimination towards some-one. We all have the right to be respected, treated equally and also not discriminated against, treated in a dignified way, allowed privacy, protected from danger or harm, allowed access to personal information (confidentiality), allowed to communicate using preferred methods and cared for in such ways that means our needs and takes account for our choices. We also need to have respect this is being polite, having open body language, being an active listener, being honest, by asking them if they are ok, addressing the person with their preferred name, give them a choice, and most of all give them dignity and privacy. Everybody as a British citizen has their own right, which could be to be the religion you want to be, the right to be free from discrimination, a freedom of speech, a right to education, the right to choice your lifestyle and your clothing, the right to work, the right to be in a relationship and to get married, right to have children, right to be treated medically, and the right to have the right trial. You also have the right to be protected from danger and harm. Care Value Base The care value base is a range of standards for health and social care. It is designed to guide the practice of professionals working in the area. The aim of the standards is to improve client’s quality of life, by ensuring that each person gets the care that is appropriate for them as an individual. This care value base offers guidance in three main areas of health and social care it also sets standards, these three areas are: * Fostering equality and diversity – which is recognising and supporting people’s individual needs. * Fostering people’s rights and responsibilities – which means supporting a client’s right to choose their own life style and helping them to accept their responsibilities. * Maintaining confidentiality of information – which means that any information client’s give you is private and confidential whether it is verbal, written or electronic. You have to avoid a lot of things on the Care Value Base which are: * Stereotyping because you may make assumptions on them based on their sex, race, age nationality or sexuality for example. * Prejudice because you can’t not like some-one just on how they live or their personal background and carers have to ensure prejudice doesn’t affect the quality of care given to service users/clients * Discrimination because there are so many ways of discriminating against some-one as there are so many different types of people. Discrimination is overall the result of prejudice and stereotyping but worse and it also means providing poorer or better care to some people. * Race Discrimination because you can’t treat some-one differently because of the colour of their skin or their racial background * Sex Discrimination because you can’t treat different genders (male or female) differently you have to treat them in the same way. * Age Discrimination because you can’t treat some-one less favourably because of their age. * Disabili ty Discrimination because if some-one has a disability it doesn’t mean they are any different to us therefore you have to treat them the same. You also need to make sure that service users/clients are aware of their rights and responsibilities in care setting, which are: Clients have the right to: Clients have a responsibility to: * Not discriminate against others * Respect the confidentiality of others * Do no harm to others * Not be discriminated against * Confidentiality * Their own beliefs and values There is also a legal requirement to keep all personal records confidential. The 1998 Data Protection Act states that date has to be secure, accurate, and that it can only be used for limited purposes. Potential Affects on Service Users when Discriminated Against If a service user has been discriminated against or not been able to their right or not been treated equally to all the other service users then the service users may feel a lot of feelings and may not want to be there, there are many emotions the service users may feel such as: * Distress because they are not getting the full attention they could be getting from their carer’s, and they might need the attention they require which they are not getting. * Not want to be there, this is because they are not being treated as though they deserve to be there; therefore they will feel like they shouldn’t be there like every other service user is. * Embarrassed because other service users may be always looking at them and they may be thinking that they are getting treated probably whereas they aren’t. * Scared because something might be wrong with them, however the service user is not being told because they are not being treated equally. * Might bring back previous exper iences this is because they may have been through this experience before at another occasion. * Be out of his/her comfort zone, this might be because they are used to being treated equally and right by family/friends however where the service user is now they are not. * Worried because the service user is not getting totally cared for therefore he has got no-one to talk to about things such as things he worries about therefore the service user is going to worry more. * Cry for help, this might be because they may have got that worried, stressed, angry etc. that they need to cry and plead for their attention from carer’s. * May be in pain, this may because the service user hasn’t been checked out by carers and they wouldn’t have access to pain killers etc. * May even be scared of dieing, this is because they haven’t been comforted by carers/friends in the care home, hospital etc. * Upset because they don’t know why they are being treated differently to everyone else and why they are not getting the right service they should be getting. * Angry because they are not getting the professional service that should be given to them. There will be many other emotions the service user will be feeling and this would but the service user in a very awkward way of feeling and may start to not eat, or not take part in any activities or may make him just want to sit down all day and do nothing which is not good for the service user. The service user would expect a lot of things from the carer such as: *Respect towards them- because they this is what they expect from the carer and this is the way they would like to be treated as they treat the carer with respect * Politeness- because if the carer is not polite it wouldn’t be a professional attitude towards the service user. * To be told what or what’s going to happen to them- this would be rude and the service user would want to know what is going on and what they are going to do or what they are doing to them. The service user would also need to give consent that they are willing to do this. * To be reassured- if the service user is upset, angry, scared etc, the carer would be expected to reassure them, and tell them everything will be okay and to talk to them politely and not to make them more upset. * A clean bed- the service user will expect a clean bed, if this is not done then the service user could be laid in their own soil/sick etc. * Clean equipment- should be used as cross contamination could happen between certain services users, clean equipment should also be used because one of the service users may have something contagious therefore it would pass onto another service user. * Appropriate language- because this would be unprofessional if the carer was talking to a service user with inappropriate language therefore appropriate language should be used at all times. * Treated with profession- because the service user expects this. * Privacy- because the service user may feel embarrassed other service users/carers watching them being treated or getting changed for example therefore when privacy is need by the service user the carer should always give them it. Privacy may be letting the service user have some time to themselves. * To be informed- this should be done to every service user because the service user needs to know what is wrong with them, what is going to happen, when they may be able to leave if they are in a hospital for example. * Given a choice- the service needs to be given a choice because what they may need to happen may be against their religion, they also may not want this to happen, they may be allergic to what they need to do, however these are only a few examples of why service users need to be given a choice. It is also known as discriminated if this does not happen. * Basic needs- the service users needs to have basic needs such as clean water for them to shower/bath in, they also need basic facilities such as a clean toilet/wash basin. The service user will also expect drinks/food to eat. * Trust- the service user will also expect trust from the carer because the service user will tell their carer things, that may be private or they may not but whether they are or not the carer should not tell any-one else unless it could cause harm to other service users or anybody else. * Equal opportunities- the service user will also expect to be treated equally to every other service user as the service user will be discriminated against. * Good hygiene- the service users will expect the carers and the surrounding to be hygienic. * Dignity- the service user will expect the carer to treat them with dignity because they expect respect, politeness etc. * Confidentiality- the service user will expect their individual files to be kept confidential, they will also expect their carers to be confidential about them out of work therefore they shouldn’t say to anyone out of work who they are and what’s wrong with them. The Importance of Promoting Equal and recognising Diversity & Respecting Rights Promoting equality is a very important issue in the health and social care sector; this is because equality in a health and social care setting means the right for all staff and patients to be treated as equals. This also means that you should treat some-one the way you would like to be treated however as a carer this can not apply to you because if a service user was speaking to you impolite, this doesn’t mean you can talk to them rudely aswell as you are a professional. The main reason inequality exists is the misunderstanding by today’s society towards diversity. Diversity can be a lot of things it can be from the classic norms, and can be used in the form of age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation aswell as many other equal unfair reasons. Also by promoting equality you are allowing growth and freedom of an expression for each person.