Unit 5: Meeting individual care and support needs
Equality and diversity
Introduction:
P1
Equality is ensuring that individuals or groups of individuals are treated fairly and equally
and no less favourably, specific to their needs, including areas of race, gender, disability,
religion/belief etc. Promoting equality should remove discrimination in all areas. Bullying,
harassment or victimization are also considered as equality and diversity abuse. The Equality
Act 2010 was an act in which covers the same groups race, religion or belief, sex, sexual
orientation marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity. These are now
called ‘protected characteristics’. In a health and social care environment it is important that
equality is used as the patients and service users are individual people. We can promote
equality by; by treating all staff and students fairly, creating an inclusive culture for all staff
and students, ensuring equal access to opportunities to enable students to fully participate
in the learning process etc.
Diversity is the ways in which people are different from one another. Recognising that
everyone is different in some way. It also means valuing the differences between people.
There are so many benefits of diversity such as culture/music. The UK is well known for its
Grime, the USA for its Rap music and Bollywood came from India. All genres of music are
now listened to by many people in different areas across the world. Another example of
diversity is of languages. England and the USA population usually speak English but having
people coming into these countries like Asians coming from Pakistan and India bring the
languages Punjabi, Hindko etc to Britain. Mexicans moving to America bring in languages
like Spanish and Portuguese. We can promote diversity by; equipping staff and students
with the skills to challenge discrimination to their work/study environment, ensuring
policies, procedures and processes don’t discriminate etc.
Discrimination is the practice if unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from
other people or groups of people. There are 4 main types of discrimination. These are as
follows;
1. Unfair discrimination. This is when someone is treated differently compared to someone
else. An example of this is when two people are applying for a job, they both have the same
qualifications and experience, one candidate is black and one is white, the managers chose
the white candidate over the black one because they are being racist.
2. Direct discrimination. This is when someone is rude, violent and aggressive towards another
person because they act a different way. An example of this is when someone is doing
physical activities and they are being judged by others by their physical appearance.
,Unit 5: Meeting individual care and support needs
3. Indirect discrimination. Is a more difficult situation to prove. An example of this could be
indirectly being racist towards someone and making sure they could hear everything you say
about them.
4. Positive discrimination. This is when a someone is getting a decision in their favour. An
example of this is when someone has a disability and they apply for a job and get it straight
away.
There are also many effects of discrimination and these are as follows; loss of self-esteem,
stress, mental illness triggered by stress, reluctance to seek support, feeling unable to work,
living in fear of others, withdrawal of social activities etc. This can be supported by initiatives
aimed at preventing discrimination such as access. The environment can be adapted, for
example, having wide corridors, ramps, disabled toilets, lifts, automatic doors, counters and
signs at wheelchair level, no obstacles or clutter, hearing loops. Another way is by having
support. Appropriate resources and information are provided in a wide range of formats
and languages to reflect local cultures with advocates, translators, interpreters and careers
available to help. The use of advocacy services is when someone is referred to as an
advocate and can speak on there behalf of someone else. And finally, there should be a
choice for those with medical conditions, religious requirements or cultural preferences or
simple those who are on a diet.
There are many anti-discrimination laws such as the Title VVI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
which stops discrimination in employment, the Age Discrimination Act stops discrimination
against employees aged 40 years and older. There is other discrimination acts aswell as
these.
Nusrat Patel
Treating service users in this case Nusrat, as individuals is important because it shows them
that they are independent and they are capable of doing a task by themselves. Considering
the service users abilities is also important because the professionals must take into
consideration what they can do and not discriminate them because they have a disability.
Valuing and respecting their differences is important because the service users who have
disabilities must feel like they are equal to the ones who don’t. It is important for Nusrat to
be promoted with equality because she is a 19-year-old girl who has a disability and may not
feel like she is valued and understood. This could be because of the activities she may not be
involved in, friendships which she does not have or experiencing situations that teenagers
who don’t have a disability experience such as; going to University, drinking and going on
nights out with friends etc.
Alice Fernandez
Allowing service users in this case, Alice, to choose their own treatments is important
because the service user mustn’t feel like they are being treated as if they are a child, being
spoon-fed and actually treated by her age; a 74-year-old women – who can make her own
,Unit 5: Meeting individual care and support needs
decisions. Whether it be taking medication or choosing to be seen to get help of a
professional. Valuing and respecting their differences is important because the service user
mustn’t feel like they being different is a bad. Promoting diversity and being a unique
individual should already be taught in the centre. It is important for Alice to be promoted
with equality because she is 74-year-old women going through a very hard time as her
husband has recently passed away. She maybe drinking to get mind of that. Telling Alice
that the only way she can stay in the Aerobics class is that she must ‘stand away from other
in the group’ is not away of promoting equality as even though she may smell of alcohol she
should be treated fairly like the rest of the members. Pushing Alice away will cause more
distress to her as she maybe looking for a friend in the Aerobics class to help her in stray
away from her husbands death.
Martin Smithers
Allowing service users in this case, Martin, to choose their own treatments is very important
because the professionals mustn’t pressure Martin to make a decision which helps him to
get out of debt they should give him a list of ways in which he decides what it best for him.
By forcing him to do what the professionals want would make him feel like he isn’t being
respected, as he is 45-years-old and probably older the professionals he may feel like he
knows more than them and what they say is wrong. Valuing and respecting their differences
is important because it doesn’t push them away from opening up to the professionals. This
is because if the service users don’t feel like they are being respected they are most likely
not going to listen to the professionals and do what they want which in some cases isn’t the
best for them or their health. It is important for Martin to be promoted with equality
because he is a 45-year-old man with a skin condition. This could make Martin very
distressed and it is important that he is treated equally along side his companions in the
centre. The professionals must make sure that Martin isn’t getting picked on or judged by
his fellow peers as this could knock his self-esteem.
P2
Nusrat Patel
The professionals working with Nusrat will be patient and work flexibly whilst working with
her. This is because she has learning disabilities and epilepsy. They will be patient with her
as they know it will be very hard for her to learn something new or something she must
follow whilst at the community centre as she may not understand certain rules. They will
also be flexible whilst with Nusrat as she may not complete a certain task to the best of her
ability or may take time doing this set task. It is important that the professionals promote
equality whilst working with Nusrat and treat her like she is a 19-year-old girl and not a
child. This may be because the professional might feel sorry for Nusrat and help her in a task
, Unit 5: Meeting individual care and support needs
which she is comfortable doing by herself and not understand that she may be capable of
doing it on her own.
Alice Fernandez
The professionals working with Alice will have to be honest and be patient whilst working
with her. This is because Alice has recently lost her Husband to Cancer and is drinking
heavily. They will be honest with her and tell her that she smells of alcohol anytime she
walks into the aerobics class at the centre and it is making other members of the class
uncomfortable as some may not drink and don’t like the smell. They will also be patient with
her as they know it will take time for her to stop drinking and get into the good habit of
eating healthy. It is important that the professionals promote equality whilst working with
Alice and not treat her like she is doing something bad and let her (in her own time) give up
drinking as it is impacting her health.
Martin Smithers
The professionals working with Martin will be patient and use their problem-solving and
negotiating skills. This is because Martin needs help structuring when to pay his rent, needs
help looking for a job and completion of a CV and application forms, interview skills, time
management, dressing for interviews. They will be patient with Martin as the process of
looking for a job and getting ready for interviews takes along time. They will also use their
problem-solving and negotiating skills to secure Martin a good deal with his rent situation. It
is important that the professionals promote equality as Martin may feel like he is the 45-
year-old struggling and in fact should tell him that hes not alone or the only one.
Care is to look after someone, making sure that the person who you are looking after is safe.
Care is a focus of any organization the care they deliver helps the individual and improves
their health.
In this section I will be explaining what the 6 C’s are and how they link to each case study.
Compassion is how care is given through the relationships between the professionals and
the patients.
Competence means all the professionals in a health and social care role must have the
ability to understand an individual need. They also must have clinical and technical
knowledge to evaluate a situation.
Communication is key for a good relationship between a professional and a patient.
Listening and acting is very important in a health and social care setting.
Courage is to do the right thing for the individuals in care. To speak up and inform those
above them that something is wrong for the benefit of those in care.
Commitment to the patients that are in care. To act and make a strategy to support
challenges.
