Health and Social Care AS Level- Promoting Quality Care

it is important to develop trusting relationships between workers and service users. Attitudes develop in early years and are developed through values and beliefs that we obtain during socialisation, as socialisation goes on throughout our entire life, it is important to recognise that for this reason attitudes can change.

attitudes:  A settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behaviour. 

attitudes involve beliefs and values. beliefs and values concern issues which are considered to be of fundamental importance. we all make unconscious judgements about people, based firstly on initial appearance, body language and expression. we instinctively like people who are similar to ourselves as they would most liekly share our values and beliefs.

Prejudices:Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

a prejudiced person may have a favourable attitude towards groups with who they identify and a negative attitude or prejudice towards other groups, who are seen as different: such preconcieved opinions are usually based on stereotypes.

Stereotyping can be defined as simplified or generalised image or idea, which is applied to individuals or groups. when applied to humans, stereotyping is like labelling a set of characterisitics to a whole group of individuals despite it only being a few members of the group who fit these characteristics.

Stereotypes are based on uneducated information but they are difficult to eridicate once set.

primary socialisation: this is a process in which young children learn the cultural values and norms of society into which they are born, primarily from their parents. Therefore primary socialisation refers to the child's growing understanding of the language, customs and practices of their particular family.

socialisation starts from birth, and as there is little interaction with the outside world when they are young they learn things in the home environment and whatever they learn they believe everyone else has the same experiences as them. children learn how to behave through this way also this is done by observing how their parents or carers act and rules in the household, examples include whether to say please or thankyou. any prejudices are passed down from parents to the child and the child believes them as they have no experience themselves.

an example of primary socialisation is learning what it means to be a boy or girl, this is also referred to as gender socialisation

humans have basic needs which need to be met in order to stay healthy. most people manage to meet their own needs through work, home life and leisure pursuits. some of these needs include: the need to give and receive attention, the need to take care of the body, the need for challenge and finally the need for meaning and purpose.

the effects of attitudes and prejudices on health and well when these needs are not met are profound. the effects of discriminatory actions are both physical and psychological. when prejudiced attitudes affect the way individuals behave towards other people, this is known as discrimination

to discriminate means to show preference. it is important to understand that discrimination can be in favour of someone as well as against. Care work promotes anti-discriminatory practice, which means not treating any person more favourably than another. Discrimination is defined as actions that deny to the members of a group resources or rewards which can be obtained by others. it is important to recognise that prejudice is linked to discrimination, however if someone is prejudice it does not necessarily mean that they are discriminating against someone. discrimination can occur because of the differences between people e.g. race, age, appearance, ability, ethnicity/culture and religion.

types of discrimination include; devaluing people, physically assaulting them, making assumptions about them, excluding people from activities and opportunities, negative non-verbal communication, avoiding people because they are different, verbally abusing them etc.

anti discriminatory practices promote; open mindedness, fairness, respect, consideration and care

discriminatory actions resulting from uninformed attitudes and prejudice have a significant impact on an individual's self-esteem. self esteem is the ability to have confidence in yourself and your abilities a sense of self-assurance and self-respect. discrimination lowers a persons self-esteem. can lead to depression. the negative effects on self-esteem and sense of empowerment for service users who are ill and experience prejudice and discrimination can delay the healing process because psychological health and well being are linked. service users are likely to feel a sense of helplessness which affects their ability to be independent and contribute to their own care and they may feel unable to ask for help for fear of recrimination or afraid of being a nag. if they are not consulted about their care and treatment, they are likely to feel devalued.

direct discrimination

this occurs when the actions of the individual are done to deliberately disadvantage another. e.g. refusing to consider a muslim for a job because of their religion.

indirect discrimination

this is much less obvious and occurs when certain conditions are in place that demonstrates preference from some people over others. e.g not providing female toilets and childrens facilities. or requiring all members of staff to be clean shaven when it is against muslim religion to shave.

all members of our society have fundamental human rights that are grounded in moral, ethical and philosophical ideas, such as the principle that all people are of equal value and the sanctity of human life.

these universal rights are protected by laws [legislations] concerning human rights and the right to equal treatment; they are intended to protect individuals from physical and emotional harm and exploitation.

many of these laws were influenced by European Union Law, e.g. article 141 of the Treaty of Rome [1957] states that: 'each member state shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for work of equal value is applied'

the SDA covers discrimination of the following areas;

all areas of employment, including job advertisments, with some particular exemptions, such as where it would be detrimental to have a member of the opposite sex in a particular job. any contract of employment which contravenes the Act is invalid.

all educational establishments designated by the secretary of state fro education, except single-sex schools and colleges

a wide range of goods, facilities and services come under the act including clubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels, transport, banking, insurance, hire purchase, recreation and entertainment.

housing including renting, managing, sub-letting, or selling accomodation. single sex housing associations are exempt

the act makes the distinction between direct and indirect discrimination

direct sex discrimination

this occurs when a person is treated less favourably in the same circumstances than someone of the opposite sex, just because of their gender. e.g charging men more for the same service for example mortgages or pensions. sexual harassment as defined by the europena commission code of practice is 'unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, or other conduct based on sex, affecting the dignity of women and men at work' both men and women can suffer from sexual harassment.

indirect sex discrimination

this happens when, despite the same criteria, service or provision being applied to both sexes, far fewer members of one sex can take advantage of it. housing associations excluding single parents are indirectly discriminating against women as the majority of single parents are women.

the strengths of the SDA:

the act applies to both men & women, although women have probably benefited more.

the burden of proof lies with the perps not the victims

the act covers both actions and behaviour such as harrassment. it is unlawful for someone to assist another person to carry out the discriminatory act

in a significant development aimed at securing equal treatment for gay men, lesbians bi sexuals and transgendered people the act has been amended to bring discrimination against transexuals within the scope of the act

it is now the responsibility of the employer to provide training courses for equality to ensure that their employees do not discriminate against others.

weaknesses of the SDA:

there are important areas not covered by the act, such as income tax, social security benefits, immigration and nationality, including asylum seekers

although it is unlawful to discriminate against marrie dpeople in the areas of employment and training, this does not apply to the other areas of the act

the status of single people is not covered by the actt

it is not a statutory requirement under the act for local authorities to eliminate unlawful sex discrimination and promote equal opportunities

the act does not change deeply held attitudes, values and beliefs

the sources of redress that one can use if they feel they have been discriminated against include:

the european court of human rights

industrial tribunals

the county court

the court of justice of the european commission

article 14 of the human right act states that no one should be discriminated against as a result of skin colour, ethnicity/culture, sex, age etc

The Human Rights Act is based on the European Convention on Human Rights and adds protection for workers' rights and freedoms. Provisions within the Act deal with work-related matters. If you work in the public sector, it's unlawful for your employer to violate your human rights under the Convention, unless an Act of Parliament means it has no choice.

For example, you have the right to a private and family life. So an employer who discriminates against a gay worker, for example, may be violating that worker's right to a private life.

You have the right to see any info held about you (for example, emails or CCTV footage). Your right to a private life means you have the right to some privacy in the workplace. You can't be monitored everywhere. If your employer doesn't respect this, they will be breaching human rights law.

the disability discrimination act 1995:

made it unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport. the Act placed duties on service providers and required "reasonable adjustments" to be made when providing access to goods, facilities, services and premises. The duties on service providers have been introduced in three stages:

since 1994 it has been illegal to treat disabled people with less favourablity than others

since 1972 it has been the responsibility of the service provider to make reasonalble adjustments to their services to accomodate disabled people

since 2004 Service providers may have to make other 'reasonable adjustments' in relation to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.

the Act was created with a certain set of goals. Its primary purpose was to give boundaries and help for local authorities and/or other entities to better regulate official intervention in the interests of children. The Act also made changes to laws that pertain to children, notably on foster homes, adoption agencies, babysitting services, and the handling of child-related crimes and crimes against children

This Act's ultimate purpose is to make the UK better and safer for children of all ages The idea behind the Act is to promote (co-ordination) between multiple official entities to improve the overall well-being of children. The 2004 Act also specifically provided for including and affecting disabled children.

the main principles of this act are:

the welfare of the child is paramount

wherever possible, children should be brought up and cared for within their own families

children in need and their parents should be supported in the upbringing of their child, by the local authority social services department. local authorities have the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child, and promote the upbringing of such children by their families

children should be kept safe to be protected, if they are in danger

courts should ensure that delays are avoided

children should be kept informed of what is happening to them

parents will continue to have parental responsibility