Alice: Learning Aim A
Introduction
Equality is when all individuals receive the same opportunities and are treated the
same, regardless of their characteristics. Diversity is a range of characteristics, or
things, amongst a group of people or society. Equality and diversity are important
for service users as it ensures they receive the correct treatment and medication
opportunities as anyone else would, regardless of their characteristics. This
shows how equality is important as it ensures everyone has the same
opportunities within receiving the correct healthcare they need in order to remain
healthy. Furthermore, diversity is also important for service users as it means that
they have a wide range of specialists who can support them with their health,
therefore they have the option of which specialist they prefer to see. In addition,
it's important to have diverse healthcare professionals as they will specialise in
different areas of health, which is important so service users have access to all
areas they need in order to improve their health. Furthermore, there will also be a
diverse range of skills, which will give a diverse range of opinions when making
decisions for caring for individuals with different needs and service users. The
equality act of 2010 ensures that all health and social care services are treating
all individuals with the same opportunities. The act protects individuals with nine
specific characteristics, and ensures that all healthcare professionals are trained
on how to treat people with equality, and know how to care for individuals with
different needs without discriminating.
AP1: How is equality and diversity illustrated in the case study
Equality is illustrated in Alice's case study in several different examples. For
example, Alice has access to all of the healthcare services she needs, such as
the GP and nutritionist, and receives the correct care and treatment she needs.
This is an example of equality as it offers equal opportunities within receiving
healthcare. Although Alice is discriminated against in her aerobics class as he is
made to stand away, equality is also shown, due to the manager not wanting to
discriminate. This is shown when the manager suggests to Alice that she attends
, Alcoholics Anonymous instead of aerobics, to which Alice refuses, so they let her
carry on attending aerobics. This is equality as she is given the equal opportunity
of being able to attend the aerobics class, despite the discrimination she received
whilst there. Finally, the GP suggests that Alice would benefit from sheltered
accommodation. Furthermore, Alice is also provided with a volunteer advocate to
accompany her at home prior to the meeting in order to discuss her wants, needs
and wishes. This is an example of equality as she is receiving equal opportunities
by being offered sheltered accommodation, and by being supported by an
advocate due to her struggling with expressing her needs.
AP1: Why is it important for Alice for equality to be promoted?
It is important that equality is promoted for any individual as it makes them feel as
though they are being accepted and not being discriminated against for their
individual characteristics. Therefore, it's important that Alice is treated with
equality as she may feel self conscious, due to her drinking problem. As a result,
if she is still treated with equality, despite her addiction, she will feel like she is
being accepted and not being judged for the problems. This will have a positive
impact on her self concept and could make her feel more confident, instead of
making her feel ashamed. This shows why its important that Alice is treated with
equality as it ensures discrimination is avoided, as well as the negative impacts it
would have on Alices self concept and mental wellbeing.
AP1: How is diversity illustrated in the case study?
Diversity is presented in the case study several times. Firstly, there is a diverse
group of people available to support Alice and give her advice on how to improve
her health and get over her addiction. These people include her GP, the centre
manager, Alcoholics Anonymous, nutritionist, specialist consultant, the volunteer
advocate and the sheltered accommodation representative. These individuals
and healthcare professionals are examples of diversity as there is a range of
expertise and skills within the group, due to them all working in different areas in
order to support Alice. For example, the nutritionist has advanced knowledge on
healthy eating, whereas the specialist consultant is to assess her liver function.
