Essay On Diversity And Diversity

Dental professionals have a commitment to respect diversity and create equity of access to dental care for everyone (GDC, 2014). Diversity describes any dimension that can be used to differentiate an individual from others. It requires understanding that each individual is unique and accepting and respecting these individual differences (QCC,2013). These differences could be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, age, socio-economic status or other ideologies (QCC, 2013). Understanding the impact that these differences may pose is vital in dealing professionally with people from diverse backgrounds and delivering equal treatment for all. Equality refers to identical treatment in dealings quantitates and values (Braveman, and Gruskin, 2003). Thus, creating equality for all might not mean that there are no disparities between different groups. Equity on the other hand refers to fairness and the equality of outcomes and involves recognizing aspects of a system that may disadvantage a certain group and correcting them (Braveman, and Gruskin, 2003). Therefore, in order to overcome potential pitfalls that may create inequity to access, there is a need to explore the different factors encountered in our diverse society that may create these issues. As an example, patients from different ethnic backgrounds may be faced with barriers accounting for the less frequent use of dental care (CQC. 2010). This group will be used as an example and some of the issues behind this inequity of access will be looked at further.

Ethnicity is a self-defined social construct; it is a shared sense of belonging to a social group (Scheppers et al. 2005). Ethnic minority groups are individuals within a soci...

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...nto consideration when encountering patients (Scheppers et al. 2005). The barriers are all tied to the particular situation of the individual patient and thus only through good communication and rapport can the dentist get an accurate picture of the individual patients approach to life (Chambers. 2001).

In conclusion, dental professionals need to recognise, understand, address and respect the issues that may arise within the diverse range of patients that they encounter. Being aware of the nature of the diversity of patients will help manage trans-cultural issues that may arise during the utilization of dental services and better accommodate individual patient needs and concerns while reducing health inequalities (CQC. 2010). However, it is extremely important to recognize that these are only possible barriers and are not fixed to all patients within ethnic groups.