Jargon Buster - Equality, diversity and inclusion Category

Being worthy of respect as a human being, and treated as if you matter. People should be treated with dignity by everyone involved in their care and support. If people are not treated with dignity, they may feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and unable to make decisions for themself. Dignity applies equally to everyone.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

A national campaign to put dignity and respect at the centre of care services in the UK.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Treating a person, or a group of people, differently to other people because of their sex, age, race or other things. It usually means treating the person unfairly and not offering them the same opportunities as other people.

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• Discrimination
• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Recognising, respecting and valuing differences in characteristics of people, including race, gender, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief, and making sure people are included and can participate.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality means treating people as equals. This means people are treated fairly and have equal chances and choices.

Equality does not mean treating everyone in the same way. Some people may need extra help or support to have the same chances and choices as everyone else.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Equity

A process of considering the impact that a new policy, project or change will have on all groups of people, and making sure that no-one is left out or worse off. The aim is to see whether changes to the way things are done will have a good or bad result for people from particular groups, such as disabled people, older people and people from different ethnic groups.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Discrimination
• Protected characteristics
• Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

Equity is about fairness. It recognises that everybody is different and will require different opportunities, support etc to live a good life and do the things that matter to them. Some people prefer the term ‘equity’ to ‘equality’ – as equality can be interpreted as treating everyone in the same way, whereas equity acknowledges that some people may need to be treated differently to ensure they have the same opportunities as other people.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Able-bodied
• Abuse
• Accelerated access pathway
• Adult Social Care Charging Reform

Ensuring that everyone has fair and equal opportunities to access social care support, regardless of factors such as socioeconomic status, geographic location, ethnicity, disability, or cultural background. Barries to access can include things like language or cultural differences, digital exclusion, and lack of awareness about entitlements and support available.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Ensuring that social care support results in comparable and fair improvements in people’s quality of life and well-being, regardless of their starting point or background. Challenges to equity of outcomes can include things like variations in the quality of care and support available, and social determinants of health.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

“Categories used to identify and record people’s ethnicity.

People may identify with a particular ethnic group due to their culture, family background, identity or physical appearance.

The main ethnic groups established by the Office for National Statistics and used in the 2021 Census are:
– Asian or Asian British
– Black, African, Caribbean or Black British
– Mixed or multiple ethnic groups
– White
– Other ethnic group

People should be able to identify their own ethnic group and assumptions should not be made about a person’s ethnicity.”

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

A person’s ethnicity is determined by multiple factors including their country of birth, nationality, language spoken at home, skin colour (an aspect for consideration for some and not for others), national/geographical origin and religion.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

How someone chooses to express their gender identity.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

How a person feels about their gender.

Terms people might use to describe their gender identity include female, male, trans or transgender, non-binary, cisgender or gender fluid.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

A term that is increasingly used in place of ‘ethnic minority’ and ‘black, Asian and minority ethnic’ or ‘BAME’ to refer to people with African, Asian, Indigenous or Latin ancestry, who comprise approximately 85 percent of the global population.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Unfair and avoidable differences in health across the population, and between different groups within society.

Health inequalities can include differences in things like life expectancy, access to care and support, and experience of care.

Health inequalities are due to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, which impact on their health and wellbeing.

These conditions are sometimes referred to as wider determinants of health.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion
• Health and health care

The basic rights and freedoms available to everyone, regardless of their age, nationality, race, ethnicity, gender or religion and beliefs. Human rights protect people in their every day life.

In the UK, human rights are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998. The Act sets out 16 human rights in a series of articles. These include the right to life, freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, right to liberty and security, right to respect for private and family life, and protection from discrimination.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Rights

The human rights model of disability is based on basic human rights principles. It recognises that disability is a natural part of human diversity, and that physical or mental impairments must not be used as an excuse to deny or restrict people’s rights. This model puts the person at the centre of all conversations and decisions about them. Like the social model, it locates the ‘problem’ outside the person and within society, emphasising the responsibility of the state to remove barriers and ensure full respect for the dignity and human rights of all people.

Other models include the medical model, charity model and social model.

Categories

• Disability
• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Charity model of disability
• Medical model of disability
• Social model of disability

Meeting the needs of everyone in a community by taking action to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable, respected and able to achieve their potential. It means treating people as equals and removing barriers that may stop them participating in an event or activity.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

When a person has choice and control over their life, and access to the support they require to live the life they choose to lead.

Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) recognises the equal right of all disabled people to live independently and be included in the community, with choices equal to non-disabled people. It says that people should be able to choose where they live and who they live with, and should have access to the support their require – including personal assistance – to live independently.

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• Disability
• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Independence

When people are treated differently because of things like their age, race or disability, because of the way an organisation works rather than because of the way that individual people behave, and when an organisation’s routines and procedures become more important than individual people’s needs.

Categories

• Discrimination
• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Discrimination

The relationship between characteristics such as race, gender, and disability, and how they overlap and interact with each other to affect people’s experiences and outcomes, linked to systemic disadvantage and discrimination.

Categories

• Discrimination
• Equality, diversity and inclusion

The Equality Act 2010 sets out nine protected characteristics. These are: age; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; disability; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation.

It is against the law to treat a person differently because of a protected characteristic.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

The law says that public sector organisations have to think about the needs of everyone when they make decisions about how they provide services, and must not discriminate against anyone. The aim of this duty is to prevent discrimination, increase people’s opportunities, and improve relationships between people. Private organisations do not have the same legal duty.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Discrimination
• Protected characteristics
• Public sector
• Reasonable adjustments

Changes that employers and service providers have to make so disabled people can access the same opportunities and services as non-disabled people.

Reasonable adjustments can include things like changes to recruitment processes and working conditions, or the provision of an advocate, support worker or specific equipment or technology.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

When a person is treated well and as if they, and their views and feelings, matter.

Under the Care Act 2014, local councils have a duty to promote people’s wellbeing, which includes making sure people are treated with dignity and respect.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Rights are legal or moral rules about how people should be treated, and what they are entitled to do or have.

Rights may be put in to law. For example, the Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to, the Care Act 2014 sets out people’s rights to care and support, and the Equality Act 2010 sets out people’s rights to fair treatment and protection from discrimination.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Related Jargon

• Human rights

The emotional, romantic or sexual attraction, or lack of attraction, that a person feels towards other people.

Heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual and asexual are all types of sexual orientation.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

When people are not able to participate fully in economic, social, political and cultural life, for example due to poverty.

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• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Buildings, environments and products that are designed to be accessible to the maximum number of people possible, regardless of age, disability or social situation.

Categories

• Equality, diversity and inclusion