The main pieces of legislation which apply to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are the Equality Act 2010 and The Human Rights Act 1998.
Some of the older laws such as the Disability Discrimination Act can still be relevant, although generally the Equality Act includes and updates most of the older legislation.
You can find more details about the Equality Act here.
Think about a time when you have been working with a person who has dementia and describe how you have met their equality and diversity needs.
Equality means treating everyone fairly e.g. if you have a vicar coming in to see some of your residents and providing a Church of England service you should also be able to meet the needs of other religions such as Hindu (if this is required) and have someone come to the home to provide them with what they need to follow their religious needs and preferences. The same applies to activities there should be a range so that people have choices to meet their equality needs.
Diversity means recognising that everyone is different – no two people are the same. Everyone has their own needs, preferences, aims, goals and wishes and we need to help and support all individuals to meet their diversity needs.
Inclusion means – enable, encourage and empower people to be included in everything they want to do.
People with dementia are sometimes excluded because it is thought they are unable to participate because of their illness. However, this is not the case, it is just a matter of finding what they like to do and different ways of them doing things whilst taking into account the risks which are involved and reducing them as far as possible in line with all your policies and procedures at your work place.
