Diversity and Equal Opportunities - General issues
This Resource Guide provides general information on Diversity and Equal Opportunities. The accepted definitions for equal opportunities and diversity are:
Equal Opportunities: The term used to describe ‘policies and practices that tackle inequalities, aiming to ensure that all staff are treated fairly, and that service users do not experience discrimination’1.
Diversity: Defined as 'the differences in the values, attitudes, cultural perspectives, beliefs, ethnic backgrounds, sexuality, skills, knowledge and life experiences of each individual in any group of people.' This term refers to differences between people and is used to highlight individual need2. It is inappropriate to use ‘diversity’ as an alternative to ‘equal opportunities’.
Practical tips and information
- People can belong to several equality target groups and should not be pigeon-holed by the most obvious characteristics, for example, an impairment.
- Most anti-discrimination approaches in organisations emphasise processes. For best results, focus on actual outcomes.
- Working effectively in multi-disciplinary teams or accessing additional support can assist in better understanding individual needs and developing services that are acceptable to different groups.
- Think of diversity as an opportunity for continuous improvement as opposed to an onerous task.
- Support service monitoring and patient/service user surveys, which could provide greater insight and appreciation of patients’ needs and service improvements.
- Address people by their title and surname unless invited to call them by another name and, wherever possible, accurately pronounce names.
- Be aware of people’s preferences about touching and personal space.
- Be aware of practical issues that will make services more acceptable to particular service users/patients, for example, clinic times and prayer times - Muslim prayer times change slightly each day and in winter and summer. (See www.islamicfinder.org for more information.)
The web links below provide good practice guidance and case studies from organisations attempting to engage with and respond to patients, service users and their carers, supporters, families and advocates.
Key Web Links
General issues
The following are links which will take you to resources on external websites.
The Health and Social Care portal for Northern Ireland has sections on a range of topics including patient information.
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network was established to improve the quality of healthcare in Scotland. The site features a large number of Guides or Full Guidelines on a range of topics including Diabetes, Mental Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
The NHS Centre for Equality and Human Rights was established by the NHS Wales Equality Unit for sharing and promoting best practice and includes a case law digest, publications and research, information on learning sets etc. The site contains an Equality Audit Tool (2003) which covers the main services provided by NHS organisations, and workforce issues.
Children and young people
Hosted by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children NHS Trust, this site provides general health information for children and young people. It has fact sheets in English, with some also available in Arabic, Greek, Persian and Turkish.
The Moving On Up website has information in several languages about all the changes that happen to a young person as they move into adulthood.
Rural communities
The Rural Health Forum promotes the health and well-being of rural communities. Through its free membership scheme, the Forum provides opportunities for individuals to network and make enquiries.
Self-Help groups
This site provides comprehensive web links to UK self-help groups.
Victims of torture
The Medical Foundation - The Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture - provides care and rehabilitation to survivors of torture and other forms of organised violence. The site has a useful clinical bibliography, with some downloadable material.
Viewing the resource guides
Return to the list of resource guides.
Footnotes
- Equality and Diversity: Learning from Audit, Inspection and Research (Audit Commission, 2002), para. 16. (return to paragraph containing footnote 1)
- Equalities Toolkit (Greater London Authority, 2002), p66. (return to paragraph containing footnote 2)