The health and social care term usually are referred to the provision of health and social services. These services include activities that are performed by medical professionals in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Social care involves those that offer extra assistance in the form of practical and personal care, to those who are in need. In health and social care, there are concepts to be considered. They include equity, diversity and right. Equality means that every person in a particular setting receives equal opportunities regardless of their status or background.
Equity in a health and social care setting ensures that every person receives the services at equal levels all other factors remaining constant. On the other hand, diversity means the differences of people based on their cultural beliefs, their lifestyle and their values – Andersen & Taylor, 2007. Equity and diversity go together in a health and social care setting. It is very important to treat people equally regardless of their age, gender, race, cultures, and sexuality.
Equality and diversity are important in dealing with people. For instance, in a healthcare setting, different people with different diversities come to have a look at healthcare services. These people require to be treated on an equal basis. The main reason that equality and diversity should be upheld is to avoid discrimination against people. Therefore, any health and social professional should uphold equality and diversity in order to maintain respect and fairness to ensure effectiveness on these services. A right can be simply defined as a legal entitlement. Every individual has various types of rights. For instance, every individual has the right to live, the right to basic needs and the right to education, just to mention a few. In every service, there are rules and regulations governing the right of every individual involved in that organization.
There no different in a health and social care setting. Every individual in a health and social care setting has the right to be spoken to with respect, the right to be treated equally and fairly, the right to privacy, and the right to access the health care and social care services and. For example, when a patient goes to the hospital, he has the right to be treated and taken care of without discrimination. He also has the right to privacy, meaning that his ailment should not be disclosed to other third parties. In order to understand the relationship between equality, diversity and right in health and social care setting, we first have to understand the factors that contribute to equality and diversity.
Diversity comes from social factors such as culture, ethnicity, and gender. As well as, political factors such as rules, regulations, and policies contribute to diversity. Finally, biological factors such as physical features and disabilities also bring diversity. Therefore, diversity is inevitable and is experienced everywhere Braveman et al., 2011 Due to the nature of diversity, every individual and every patient should be treated equally. This brings the point that every individual has a right to be treated equally and fairly.
Therefore, understanding the concept of diversity, any health and social care setting should always want to show commitment towards equity, diversity and human rights values. Equity and diversity are key principles to delivering key quality services. When patients are treated equally and fairly they become satisfied with the healthcare services. Health and social care providers should also ensure they are able to cope and adapt to the diverse needs of the people. Diversity also involves the ability of the service providers being able to meet the diverse needs of individuals.
In conclusion, every individual has the right to receive equal treatment in the health and social care department. Equality reduces discrimination which might be caused by the nature of diversity among people. Ensuring these values are upheld contributes to quality services hence customer satisfaction.