Human Rights and Dignity  are an important element of social care. Whether it is working alongside those who are in hospital or those who are in care homes it is important that staff are supported to understand their role in creating caring environments which are based on the principles of human rights and human dignity.

Dr Donald Macaskill of Equal and Diverse has been involved in the national Care About Rights  project developed by the Scottish Human Rights Commission.

Equal and Diverse  offers a half day or one day training programme on the theme of human rights in social care. Using interactive exercises, DVD material and case scenarios the courses help staff explore their role in human right dilemmas and enable staff to reflect on practice and policy.

In developing a course for you we always attempt to ensure that the issue of human rights is examined as it fits into your organisation. However, amongst the typical themes and issues explored we examine:

• What are human rights?
• The story and history of the development of human rights.
• Absolute and qualified rights.
• The principle of proportionality.
• Putting human rights into practice in a social care setting.
• Creating a human rights based working and service environment.
• The role of policy in embedding human rights.
• Building confidence around human rights