Privacy, dignity and active participation are essential parts of high-quality health and social care. They help ensure that people who use services are treated with respect, supported to make their own choices, and involved in decisions about their care and daily lives.
This free Care Certificate Standard 7 online course introduces the principles of privacy, dignity, informed choice and active participation in health and social care settings in England. It explains how these values apply in day-to-day practice, how workers can protect people’s rights, and how person-centred care supports independence, inclusion and wellbeing.
Why Take This eLearning Course?
Respecting privacy and dignity, supporting informed decision-making, and encouraging active participation are central to safe, lawful and compassionate care. These principles help people feel valued, listened to and in control, while also supporting workers to meet legal, ethical and professional responsibilities.
This free course will help you to:
- Understand what is meant by privacy and dignity in care.
- Recognise situations where privacy and dignity may be compromised.
- Learn how to maintain privacy, dignity and confidentiality in the workplace.
- Understand why private information must not be disclosed without consent.
- Recognise when and how to report concerns about privacy, dignity or choice.
- Explore how to support individuals to make informed choices about their care and lives.
- Understand how risk assessments can support decision-making rather than restrict it.
- Learn why personal views must not influence an individual’s choices or care.
- Recognise how to support individuals to question or challenge decisions made by others.
- Understand the importance of valuing people and promoting active participation.
- Learn practical ways to support people to take part in their own care.
- Explore how self-care skills and community connections support independence and wellbeing.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Describe what is meant by privacy and dignity.
- Identify situations where an individual’s privacy and dignity could be compromised.
- Explain how to maintain privacy and dignity in the work setting.
- Demonstrate how actions can maintain an individual’s privacy.
- Show how privacy and dignity can be upheld at all times during care.
- Explain why private information must not be disclosed without consent unless there is a lawful reason.
- Describe how to report concerns to the relevant person.
- Explain how to help individuals make informed choices.
- Describe how risk assessment processes support the right to make decisions.
- Explain why personal views must not influence an individual’s own choices or decisions.
- Describe why individuals may need support to question or challenge decisions made about them.
- Demonstrate how to support individuals to make informed choices.
- Ensure that risk assessment processes are used to support, not restrict, decision-making.
- Reflect on how personal views may affect active participation in care.
- Explain the importance of valuing people in promoting active participation.
- Identify ways to support individuals in developing self-care skills and maintaining community links.
- Recognise when and how to report concerns where rights, dignity or participation are not being respected.
Care Certificate Standard 7 Course Outline
Module 1: Privacy, Dignity, and Respect in Care
Learners will explore what is meant by privacy and dignity in health and social care and why both are essential to safe, respectful, and person-centred practice. This module explains privacy as giving individuals control over personal information, personal space, and private moments during care, while dignity is described as treating each person with respect, compassion, and value. Learners will examine how privacy and dignity can be compromised in everyday care situations, such as poor handling of confidential information, rushed care, lack of choice, or failure to respect boundaries. The module also explores practical ways to maintain privacy and dignity in the workplace through communication, consent, confidentiality, respectful support, and sensitivity to individual needs and preferences.
Module 2: Confidentiality, Consent, and Reporting Concerns
This module focuses on the importance of protecting private information and maintaining professional confidentiality at all times. Learners will examine why private information must not be disclosed without consent unless there is a lawful or safeguarding reason to do so, and how confidentiality supports trust, rights, and professional boundaries. The module also explains how workers demonstrate privacy through their everyday actions, including speaking discreetly, using private spaces, protecting records, and seeking permission before sharing information. Learners will explore how to recognise situations where privacy, dignity, or an individual’s rights may not be respected, and how to report concerns appropriately by following workplace procedures, recording information factually, maintaining confidentiality, and informing the correct person without delay.
Module 3: Supporting Informed Choice and Decision-Making
Learners will explore how to support individuals to make informed choices about their care and lives. This module explains the importance of providing clear, accessible information, checking understanding, allowing time to decide, and involving family members or advocates where appropriate and agreed. Learners will examine how informed choice is linked to independence, empowerment, and person-centred care, and how communication methods may need to be adapted to meet sensory, language, or learning needs. The module also covers why workers must remain impartial, ensuring that their own beliefs, values, or preferences do not influence the choices of others, and why individuals may sometimes need support to question or challenge decisions made about them by professionals, carers, or family members.
Module 4: Risk Assessment, Rights, and Positive Support for Decision-Making
This module explains how risk assessment processes can support, rather than restrict, an individual’s right to make their own decisions. Learners will examine how risk assessments help balance freedom, independence, and safety by identifying possible hazards and agreeing practical ways to reduce harm while still respecting personal choice. The module explores the principle of positive risk-taking and shows how reasonable risks can be managed in ways that support autonomy and confidence. Learners will also consider the importance of respecting rights, supporting lawful decision-making, and ensuring that safety measures do not unnecessarily limit independence or choice.
Module 5: Active Participation and Valuing Individuals
Learners will explore what active participation means and why it is central to high-quality care. This module explains active participation as involving people in planning, decision-making, and carrying out aspects of their own care wherever possible, rather than doing everything for them. Learners will examine how valuing people as individuals contributes to confidence, inclusion, equality, and greater involvement in daily life. The module also explores practical ways to promote active participation, such as offering choices, involving people in care planning, encouraging social involvement, recognising achievements, and supporting informed choices about routines, care, and lifestyle. The role of respectful communication, encouragement, and accessible information is emphasised throughout.
Module 6: Independence, Self-Care, Reflection, and Professional Responsibility
In the final module, learners will explore how supporting self-care skills, community involvement, and personal networks contributes to independence, wellbeing, and inclusion. The module explains why it is important to encourage individuals to develop everyday living skills and maintain relationships and social connections within their community. Learners will also examine how workers can support active participation directly in care practice by encouraging involvement, providing information, and adapting support to individual preferences. Reflection is an important part of this module, with learners considering how their own personal views, assumptions, or biases could restrict an individual’s participation or choice. The module concludes by reinforcing the responsibility to report concerns where an individual’s rights, dignity, or active participation are being limited, ensuring that care remains respectful, lawful, and person-centred.
Target Audience
This course is suitable for:
- Health and social care workers.
- Care assistants and support workers.
- Senior carers and team leaders.
- Social care practitioners.
- Managers and supervisors.
- Anyone involved in supporting individuals with dignity, choice and active participation in care.
No previous specialist knowledge is required.
FAQ
Is this course relevant to health and social care in England?
Yes. The course reflects current health and social care practice in England and refers to key legislation and guidance, including the Care Act 2014, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010, the Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR, and relevant CQC standards.
Does the course cover confidentiality and information sharing?
Yes. It explains why personal information must be kept private, when consent is needed, and the limited circumstances in which information may be shared lawfully, such as safeguarding concerns.
Will this course help with person-centred care?
Yes. The course supports person-centred practice by focusing on privacy, dignity, informed choice, independence, and active participation in care.
Does it explain risk assessments and positive risk-taking?
Yes. It explains how risk assessments can support people to make their own decisions safely, rather than unnecessarily limiting choice and independence.
Does the course cover active participation?
Yes. It explores how to involve individuals in care planning, daily routines, decision-making, self-care and community life, so that care is done with them rather than for them.
How long does the course take?
The course is self-paced and typically takes 1 hour to complete.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. A certificate is issued after successful completion.
Is the course CPD accredited?
Courses are not currently CPD accredited, but accreditation is planned.
Respecting privacy and dignity, supporting informed choice, and promoting active participation all help to create care that is more compassionate, empowering and person-centred. By applying these principles in everyday practice, health and social care workers can help individuals feel respected, included and in control of their own lives.
Enrol now to build your understanding of privacy, dignity and active participation in care.
Care Certificate Standard 7 Training Course CPD Accredited and Government Funding
We’re working on getting this Care Certificate Standard 7 Training Course CPD accredited, and any course that’s approved will be clearly labelled as CPD accredited on the site. Not every health and social care course has to be accredited to help you meet CQC expectations – what matters is that staff are competent, confident and properly trained for their roles under Regulation 18. Our courses are built to support those requirements, and because they’re not government funded there are no eligibility checks or ID needed – you can enrol and start learning straight away.
