Equality is ensuring individuals or groups of individuals are treated fairly and equally and no less favorably, specific to their needs, including areas of race, gender, disabilities or belief, sexual orientation, and age, and that 'every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents.' (high-speed training. 2016) this means that, for example, no matter what disability a person has they have the right to be considered for fulfilling their dreams and desires with the support they need such as completing their education and achieving their future goals or providing the relevant requirements for their spiritual needs. Eventually, there are laws in place like the Equality Act 2012 because, to follow the law, health and social care settings should have equality policies to ensure that everyone is treated equally. It's important to promote equality to meet every person's needs because, they should feel they are equal and feel treated with the dignity and respect they deserve, prevent discrimination. This is because, in some health and social care settings, people may be discriminating against a patient involuntarily, especially if the adult is vulnerable because of their age, health, or disability therefore, having an awareness of the potential barriers and how to remove them is crucial.
Diversity is about recognizing that everyone is different in some way, it also means valuing and respecting the differences between people such as values, beliefs, cultures, and lifestyles with respect' (High-Speed Training. 2016). Professionals must consider every individual's matter in their life to treat them with dignity and respect for example, they should consider diversity for support when creating a service user's health care plan to meet their needs and celebrate their differences. To promote diversity in a health and social care setting. Staff members should follow legislation, principles, and practices such as the equality and diversity policy. It is also important to promote diversity because every person should have access to the care and support that they need despite their circumstances. This also avoids any practice of discrimination and makes the individuals feel valued, respected, and treated with dignity and therefore they will have a positive attitude.
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The importance of promoting equality and diversity for individuals with different needs.
Since Derek is a transvestite so healthcare professionals must promote equality and diversity for him. Because he is a transvestite, the professionals in his multidisciplinary team treat him, they should acknowledge his choices, but refrain from judging or disrespecting him for them. For example, when helping Derek change into his preferred clothing, the professional would refrain from giving their personal opinion and not refuse to help because of his preferred clothing. This ensures that Derek feels his lifestyle is being respected and he is being valued as a person with the right to make his own choices. However, In the case of Jim, Jim is a devout Methodist who regularly attends his church. Professionals in his multidisciplinary team respect Jim's religious beliefs and make sure they treat him according to what his religion allows, acknowledging him as a unique human being who has his own beliefs. Jim also has a preferred name, so the healthcare professionals need to refer to him as Jim instead of James to show respect for him. The health care professional must treat him not any differently from others. This is important to make sure there is diversity and equality. Not being promoted with equality and diversity can have a very negative impact on both Derek and Jim. This can result in a discriminatory practice both of them can experience very stressful and traumatic times at the community hospital as they are alone and vulnerable to fight against the health professionals who may not be doing their job as it should be done. For example, Derek has communication difficulties and finds it hard for him to use his speech, if Derek isn't supplied with an advocate this means that his disability was neglected, and this makes him struggle with getting his point across as well as what's going on in his meetings with the health professionals. This could affect Derek negatively as he feels like he is not being heard this can lead to him having a low self-concept and not feeling included because he cannot communicate properly therefore, it can lead to depression because he does not have an advocate to support him. Jim is sometimes incontinent due to frusemide however he is embarrassed about this and will refuse to wear a pad he also does not change his clothes when soiled. If the health care professionals did not encourage Jim to change his clothes and clean them for him, that would result in not promoting equality and diversity, they should not also force Jim to wear any pads as no Discrimination
Discrimination is treating people or a particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way than how you treat other people based on their skin color, sex, sexuality, culture, beliefs, ability, health, family structure, etc (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019). It occurs when someone has a feeling against a person or group of people unreasonably which is also called prejudice. There are four types of discrimination: unfair discrimination, direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, and positive discrimination.
Unfair discrimination is when an individual is treated unfairly compared to another individual such as being withheld from something or having reduced opportunities. For example, when a person is not considered for a job because of their age and is labeled as 'too old' or 'too young' then another candidate despite having the same qualifications and experience.
Direct discrimination is when someone is rude, hostile, or offensive to an individual because they can see them as being 'different'. For example when someone who is overweight is called by names. This form of discrimination is easy to prove because it is heard or witnessed by other people. This is when someone treats you treats you differently and worse than someone else for certain reasons like age, disability, gender, pregnancy, race, or religion. These are called 'protected characteristics' from the Equality Act 2010 because a person is protected under the Equality Act 2010 from these types of discrimination.
(equality and human rights commission, 2019) Indirect discrimination is when a health care or care provider has a practice, policy, or rule that applies to all their patients and clients, but they have a worse effect on some people than others because of who they are. For example, when a job place requires a minimum height for a job where 'height is not relevant to carry out the role'. Such a requirement would likely discriminate against women, and some minority ethnic groups, as they are generally shorter than men. It is harder to prove a more difficult-to-spot direct discrimination.
(University Cambridge, 2019) positive discrimination is when a decision is made in a person's favor because there is something they have a relevant protected characteristic rather than because they are the best candidate for the role and it is unlawful because they recruit and promote a specific number or proportion of people with a particular protected characteristic.' This can happen when an advertising agency hires a person who has red hair and fair skin because they are to play the part of the sister of someone who has these characteristics.
Importance of preventing discrimination.
It is crucial to prevent discrimination so that everyone receives a service of equality, which meets their personal needs. For example, in a healthcare setting, professionals should respond to the individual needs of each patient during healthcare activities and recognize that these needs vary due to their protected characteristics like their religious beliefs. (epub, 2019) this type of practice promotes a culture that values equality, diversity, and dignity. Care workers need to understand the importance of avoiding discriminatory language and behavior to avoid the effects of discrimination on service users such as depression and anxiety, loss of self-esteem, stress, loss of confidence, fear of seeking support and treatment, feeling unable to work, mental illness triggered by stress, injury and death, living in fear of others, losing sense of who you are and withdrawal from social activities.
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