Learning aim A: Examining the principles, values and skills which underpin the meeting of the
care and support needs of the individual.
For this learning aim assignment, I have been asked to complete an assignment on the importance
of meeting individual care needs. This will include equality and diversity, along with a lot of other
factors. I will be focusing on two cases of two men at my workplace, Swindon care at home, who
both have disabilities and therefore are unable to live independently as a result of those
disabilities. These men include Jim, who has heart failure and Riley, who has previously suffered a
stroke, haemorrhage, and epilepsy. Below is some brief details about them:
Riley Daughter – Renee Smith
Riley Smith
26 Fishponds way, Dr Kentucky White British
Bristol The multihealth centre
Bristol Atheist
0984 - 391754
0374 - 385016
Equality = equality in health and social care means everyone having access to the services they
may require. This could include mental health services for any mental illnesses, physical health
services like the doctors and hospital, or social care services like therapy and social workers, and so
many more. Both Jim and Riley’s personal needs must be met no matter their life factors, including
religion, income, family status and age. One of the most crucial things when caring for a patient is
considering their beliefs and abilities – these must be acknowledged to determine which extent of
,care a patient may need. The role of me being their carer is to protect them from discrimination
and unfair judgement.
Diversity = diversity in health and social care means a variety of differences. If you are good at
valuing diversity, it means that you appreciate and respect all cultures in the environment around
you. It is vital to understand the roots o0f diversity when working and caring for people in the
health and social care sector, as you must know how to care for each individual appropriately and
accordingly to their culture and religion. It is a huge requirement for all health and social care
workers to respect every single individual within their job, regardless of their sex, gender, disability,
race, religion, or social status.
Discrimination = the overall definition of discrimination. Is when someone has a prejudice
against a person or a group of people due to certain factors in the victim’s life. This could include
age, gender, race, ethnicity, social class, religious beliefs, family structure, sexuality, ability, health,
disability, address, or appearance. The victim could then be treated differently because of this.
Unfair discrimination – someone being treated unfairly compared to someone else, despite
having the same/similar characteristics.
Direct discrimination – when someone is rude to someone else because they see them as
being different and having a different feature to them.
Indirect discrimination – ‘two-faced’. Being nice to someone to their face but secretly being
horrible about them behind their back.
Positive discrimination – a decision being made in the persons favour due to something
being different about them. Someone being chosen over someone else due to a desired
characteristic. Could encourage the person experiencing this to become self-conscious
about their appearance and could bring on depression.
P1: Importance on promoting equality and diversity to individuals with different needs:
Modern Britain is multicultural society with more than one culture in these days. In the 1900s,
lots of ethnicities moved over to Britain for a better life. This can include Asians, native
Americans, and eastern Europeans. Each of these cultures may follow a different religions
therefore have different beliefs, including what is right and wrong for their care. As a health
and social care worker, you must be able to understand and learn about their beliefs to be able
to deliver the best possible care to them. It is also important to learn as you must treat
everyone equally, regardless of their beliefs.
Health and social care workers must have the ability to create new opportunities that are
suitable for all services users. Therefore, they must have expertise in a wide range of cultures.
They have to be open to other people’s life experiences and differences to be able to design
new ways of caring such as new treatments and activities. If these are created correctly, the
services user will be able to be treated equally to everyone else across different cultures and
will be able to access the needs they require. When providing care, there has to be multiple
ways of each activity/procedure to ensure it is suitable and inclusive to everyone.
It is very important that all health and social care workers encourage all service users to speak
up about their beliefs and different and to respect them. This will then hopefully empower the
service user to speak up about anything they think they’re being disrespected about and
anything they’re unhappy about in their care. This then gives reassurance that the service user
feels comfortable and happy.
, Importance on promoting equality and diversity to Jim and Riley:
As shown in the case study, Jim is religious, a Methodist. This will mean that he may have
different beliefs about his care than other service users. It is important that all of his care
workers learn about his belief before getting involved in his care so that they know what they
can and can’t do with him. They must also explain any treatments or procedures he may need
to make sure that it doesn’t cross his boundaries and that he is fully aware of what he’s going
through. It also explains that Jim has heart problems and kidney problems – this may mean he
is not able to partake in as much physical activity as other service users are. This would mean
that all of his care staff would have to adapt any opportunities or activities so they are at his
level. This would then ensure that he is not left out and he is still being treated equally like all
of the other service users.
Riley is an atheist. This means that he is not a religious person which means he generally will
not have any religious beliefs or preferences, excluding his personal preferences. This means
that he could potentially be able to partake in more of the care workers’ activities and have
more opportunities than any other service users, which means equality may not be too much
or a problem for him. However, he does have physical needs which could restrict him. In the
case study, it mentions that riley has communication problems. This could stop him from
doing any team opportunities, so therefore, the care workers would need to design more
activities for Riley which are inclusive for him and everyone else. This could include any IT
related games as it does mention that he uses IT for his speech. It also says he has some
problems moving around. Like Jim, this could restrict the number of physical activities and
opportunities that he is able to partake in and could lead to being left out. Therefore, it is
important that all of his care workers understand and learn this so they can create more
exciting opportunities and treatments that involve him and make him feel comfortable and
respected in his care.
M1: Impact on preventing discrimination for individuals with different needs.
Impacts of discrimination on an individual
If someone is being discriminated, it can cause them to become extremely
Depression and depressed as they might feel lonely, and uncared for. It may also trigger
anxiety anxiety when out of their safe space as they might feel as if they don’t have
anyone and will therefore stop them from being social or from seeking any
help and support, they may need.
Discrimination may trigger someone’s confidence to drop down to a very
Loss of confidence low level. This could mean confidence in themselves to complete everyday
tasks and be independent or their confidence to speak to a professional
about how they feel and any type of extra service they may require.
When someone is being discriminated against, they may then cancel on any
Withdrawal from upcoming social activities as they feel like they’re not wanted there and will
social activities therefore end up in them being in their own little bubble and may become
depressed due to them feeling trapped and unable to go out.
When someone is being discriminated, they’ll constantly be worried and
Stress self-conscious as to what is around them so may stress about going out or
in social situations.
Injury and death When someone is being discriminated against, it can lead to lots of mental
actions, such as self-harm and suicide, in the long run.
