I will be working closely with and forming a care plan for my patient Jim. I will be doing
my best to meet his care values and offering the best care possible for him. Jim is a
91-year-old, white British male and a Methodist. He is diagnosed with heart failure and
stage 3 renal failure and has high blood pressure which is controlled by medication:
Frusemide, Nifedipine and Iron tablets. He was referred to Care at Home for support
with personal care, cooking, cleaning. He was recently admitted into hospital after a
fall at home.
In the care sector, all service users, regardless of their characteristics are entitled to
equality. Equality is treating all people alike according to their needs and providing
both equal treatment and equal opportunity. They should have access to the same
resources, regardless of lifestyle, ability or background. Diversity is about showing
respect for and recognising individual views, beliefs, values and cultures. Not doing
so, results in a breach of The Equality Act 2010. It applies to all service providers,
private and public sectors and legally protects people from discrimination on the
broader society. It replaced previous anti-discrimination legislation with a single Act,
making it easier to understand and increase protection overall. The Equality Act
protects those receiving care and the workers that provide it from being treated
unfairly because of any characteristics that are protected under the legislation. It now
also includes discrimination due to perception, association or third party
9 Protected characteristics.
- Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage and civil partnership,
pregnancy and maternity, Race. Religion or Belief, Sex and Sexual
orientation
Anti-discriminatory practise is about empowering individuals and remaining true to
the base principles and conditions of care practice at all time. In the health and social
care settings, staff can empower its staff by encouraging them to promote individuals
rights, choices and well being at all times. It must be promoted to ensure
discrimination does not take place. The service provider needs to show interest in the
service user’s beliefs, culture, values and likings, talk to them about it, ask questions
and help them go about achieving these, also show that you respect all these aspects
of them and don’t impose your values and beliefs on them and keep that separate.
Another way is the Advocacy Services, these ensure that patients and workers voices
are heard on issues ranging from experiences to goals and feelings. This stop
discrimination as it ensures all issues are heard, understood and listened to. Inclusive
practice is about ensuring that there are no barriers to exclude.
Promoting independence helps individuals to maintain a sense of self-esteem and
confidence. Individuals from making their own choices and participating fully in their
own lives. Individuals must be included in all aspects of their lives and be able to
participate as fully as possible within society. This will support their diversity, respect
their rights while promoting equality. If the anti-discriminatory practise is not
promoted, then discrimination could occur.
