As we focus this issue on equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), Skills for Care shares some of the support they have available for fostering EDI in social care.
At Skills for Care one of our strategic priorities is supporting culture and diversity to ensure the workforce is treated equally, feels included and valued, and is supported to stay well and pursue their careers in social care.
We have a range of resources and support available for social care managers and teams to help create inclusive organisations and to ensure people working in social care and people who draw on care and support from all backgrounds are treated fairly and are supported to flourish.
We’ve rounded up some of the support available.
Development for managers
The Moving Up programme is aimed at leaders from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds who want to take the next step in their career, with an understanding of the specific barriers which people from a diverse background may face in progression.
The Moving Up programme includes a mix of self-learning modules and live online sessions, and covers topics and skills including networking, building self-confidence, leadership skills, creating a personal brand, and identifying your own skills and weaknesses.
Additionally, it offers an opportunity to network with like-minded people in the sector, learn from others, and share experiences and ideas.
Creating an inclusive workplace
Our recently updated ‘Creating an inclusive organisation’ programme supports people to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion across their organisation.
The programme consists of two eLearning modules which are designed to develop leadership skills and promote career progression. All topics covered in the modules form part of an action plan which can be used by the participant to improve their learning and understanding but can also be used to educate colleagues and improve EDI within their organisation.
Topics covered include discrimination; promoting EDI; leadership and management, and personal branding.
Understanding racism
On the Skills for Care website you can find our understanding racism guide which provides an introductory overview of what racism means and offers current thinking and understanding about racism.
This guide is a useful tool for reflection and discussion. You can use this guide to prompt conversations around racism at team meetings to increase everyone’s understanding of what racism is.
The guide also provides an action template which you can complete as group to plan positive changes for your organisation.
Being confident with difference
Our ‘Confident with difference’ resource is a collection of four short films about diversity in the workplace.
Topics covered include what being confident with difference means and how to engage with you community.
Each film is accompanied by an activity to generate discussions to consider how well diversity is embraced within your organisation and how you could improve. These can be used to aid conversations around diversity with your team and to identify successes and areas for improvement.
Providing culturally appropriate care
East Sussex County Council Adult Social Care Training Team, funded by Skills for Care, have developed a range of resources to support care workers in providing culturally appropriate care to people from different backgrounds.
This includes an in-house training session helping staff to think about direct and indirect discrimination, and giving a broader understanding of how to relate to and work more effectively with people from diverse cultures.
Supporting Race Equality Week and Black History Month
At Skills for Care, we regularly support advocacy days such as Race Equality Week and Black History Month.
During Race Equality Week in February, we ran a challenge encouraging teams to take on an EDI learning activity. On our dedicated Race Equality Week webpage you can find out more about the challenge.
For the most recent Black History Month in October 2023 we created a webinar speaking with Black female leaders in social care, to hear about their experiences, challenges, and successes in the workplace. The webinar celebrates the contribution of Black women in social care and provides an opportunity to reflect on obstacles and challenges faced by people from diverse backgrounds.
It’s important to continue to utilise these resources and activities all year round.
SC-WRES – a future tool to support the achievement of equality in the social care workforce
Developed by Skills for Care, the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES) is a tool which can be used to identify issues, take action and measure improvements in the workforce with respect to the experiences of people from a Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic background.
Initially piloted by 18 trailblazing local authorities in 2021-22, the tool has been rolled out further throughout 2023-24. Data from workplaces is collected against nine key metrics and can then be used to create action plans and monitor positive change over time. We’ll be publishing our findings from the latest data collection in March 2024.
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