1.1 Explain models of practice that underpin equality, diversity and inclusion in your area of responsibility Our organisation is built upon person centred practice and which I uphold this in my daily practice. Person centred practice is defined as the belief in the others potential and ability to make the right choices for him or herself, regardless of the therapist's own values, beliefs and ideas (BAPCA, 2013). In applying this to people who access our service users this means that care plans are designed with the individual at the centre presenting both choice and control to our clients. This is reflected in legislation produced by the UNCRC which states that people have the right to say what they think should happen when making decisions that affect them and that people with any kind of disability should have special care and support so that they can lead full and independent lives (2011). This model celebrates diversity and conforms to the idea of egalitarianism by recognising that everyone is equal in social status; therefore people are treated in the same way because although people differ they all equally deserve (Arneson, 2013). Conversely this also means removing the inequalities that affect people so that they can achieve similar life circumstances and present be presented with equal life standards. This is applied to my practice by considering a person’s preferences, for example the way each individual prefer to communicate and be communicated with and their likes and dislikes in relation to community activities. Taking individual’s preferences into account when designing and operating a service recognises a service user’s wishes, needs and rights. Therefore this helps to diminish the production of a generic ‘one size fits all’ provision which does not value the individual. This way of designing services also gives power to the client, moving away from the idea of the professional as the expert, and takes into account their desired level and type of involvement within the community activities. By valuing and including the individual at every level of their service from design to implementation and then regularly reviewing their service maintains client position of being in control of and truly involved in their service. These personal choices connect to making sure that everyone receives the same rights relating to inclusion within the community and a provision that treats each individual with dignity and respect. Another model of practice that underpins our service is the Social Model of Disability which sites disability as a creation of society’s shortcomings by resisting adapting and changing to include people with disabilities (Carson, 2009). Society is therefore the cause of a person’s disablement rather than solely belonging to the person themselves. With this in mind, my area of responsibility encompasses accessing mainstream services and including service users in daily activities within the community to establish connections, build familiarity and promoting independency. This is not without obstacles as services and locations must be risk assessed, taking into account an individual’s personal preferences as well as the suitability of a place, to ensure that service users have fair and equal access to environments and opportunities.
Arneson, R. (2013) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/ [Accessed 25 August 2014] BAPCA (The British Association for the Person-Centred Approach) (2013) What is the Person-Centred Approach? Available from: http://www.bapca.org.uk/about/what-is-it.html [Accessed 19 August 2014] Carson, G. on behalf of the Scottish Accessible Information Forum (2009) The Social Model of Disability. Available from: http://www.ukdpc.net/site/images/library/Social%20Model%20of%20Disability2.pdf [Accessed 25 August 2014] UNCRC (The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) (2013) Your Rights. Available from:...
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