1.4 Describe the impact of legal, societal and historical influencers on own role in promoting a culture of equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights

This guide will help you answer 1.4 Describe the impact of legal, societal and historical influencers on own role in promoting a culture of equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights.

Your work as a leader in adult care is shaped by laws, social expectations, and the lessons of history. These influences guide what you do every day and how you lead your team. They help define your responsibilities towards both staff and the people you support.

Legal Influences on Your Role

UK legislation draws clear boundaries for what is acceptable in health and social care settings. Key laws such as the Equality Act 2010, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Care Act 2014, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 require you to act in ways that protect and promote each person’s rights.

These laws affect your role in several ways:

• Setting standards for practice: You must make sure that your workplace complies with the law. This covers policy development, recruitment, day-to-day decision making, care planning, complaints handling, and supervision.
• Duty to act: You are responsible for preventing and challenging discrimination. This means putting in place systems to enable staff and people using your service to report concerns safely.
• Promoting fairness: Your actions—or failure to act—can lead to positive or negative legal consequences. Ignoring your responsibilities may expose you, your team, or your organisation to investigation, fines, or public criticism.
• Reasonable adjustments: You must ensure that people with disabilities have equal access. You need to identify barriers and remove or adapt them.
• Duty of care: Living up to legal expectations is part of your duty to protect safety, well-being, and dignity.

In practical terms, you review and update policies, train staff, create inclusive environments, investigate incidents, and monitor for unfair outcomes. Legal influences mean that promoting equality, diversity and human rights is not a choice—it is a mandatory part of your leadership.

Societal Influences on Your Role

Your role sits within a wider society, which is always changing. Public attitudes, cultural diversity, and expectations of what “good” care looks like affect how you lead.

Societal influences include:

• Increased diversity: UK society now has a wider mix of ages, backgrounds, religions, genders, and family structures. This diversity means that care practices need to be flexible and responsive.
• Changing expectations: People now expect to have a say in their own care and for services to respect their individuality. They expect fair treatment, accessible services, and respect for their rights.
• Public scrutiny: News stories, inspection reports, and social media mean that the public can hold services accountable. Closed or discriminatory cultures are more likely to be reported.
• Demand for inclusion: Campaigns and social movements keep equality, diversity, and inclusion at the forefront. Pressure from the public encourages higher standards in care.
• Community engagement: You may be expected to work with a wider range of partners—community groups, advocacy organisations, or faith leaders—to support your service users.

You must respond to these societal changes by reviewing your team’s practice, consulting with different groups, listening, and being open to feedback. The expectations of society drive you to create an environment where everyone feels safe and accepted.

Historical Influences on Your Role

The lessons of history add a deeper layer of understanding to your work. How society has treated people in the past affects how you promote equality and human rights today.

Historical influences include:

• Awareness of past discrimination: Recognising that people have faced exclusion, institutionalisation, and abuse helps you spot and challenge these risks in your own service.
• Learning from inquiries: Public inquiries into care scandals, such as abuse at Winterbourne View or Mid Staffordshire, highlight the consequences of closed cultures. These events show why openness, accountability, and staff empowerment are vital.
• Campaigns for rights: Historical activism by disabled people, minority ethnic groups, and others has shown the need to listen to lived experience. You are called to ask, not assume; to listen, not ignore.
• Evolving professional standards: Care practice has moved from a medical model—seeing people as problems to be managed—to a person-centred approach. This shift challenges you to value individuality and partnership.
• Refining systems over time: Having systems for reporting, whistleblowing, complaints, and continuous improvement is a direct result of lessons learnt from the past.

As a leader, history influences your approach to risk, your willingness to challenge, and your openness to hearing from people who may otherwise go unheard.

Your Role in Promoting a Positive Culture

These legal, societal, and historical influences shape how you:

• Set expectations: You make clear, through policies and your example, that discrimination is unacceptable.
• Empower staff: You provide training and support so teams understand their responsibilities.
• Value difference: You create opportunities for staff and people using services to share their backgrounds, beliefs, and opinions.
• Support choice: You help people to express preferences and make decisions about their care.
• Encourage speaking up: You welcome complaints and suggestions, viewing them as sources of learning, not threats.
• Tackle barriers: You identify and remove obstacles to participation for all individuals, whatever their needs or circumstances.
• Build relationships: You promote open communication within the service and with external partners.

In all these areas, your leadership shapes the culture. A culture where equality, diversity, inclusion, and human rights are lived values leads to better care and greater satisfaction for everyone.

Specific Actions Influenced by These Factors

In concrete terms, legal, societal and historical influences mean that you:

• Review and update policies so they align with current law and reflect the diversity of your service users.
• Organise mandatory and ongoing staff training in equality, diversity and human rights.
• Adapt recruitment and workplace policies to encourage a representative and inclusive workforce.
• Take immediate, appropriate action about discrimination or complaints.
• Stay informed about changes in law, best practice, and wider social trends.
• Monitor outcomes to check all groups benefit equally from the service.
• Regularly collect and act on service user and family feedback.
• Promote openness in meetings, communications, and record-keeping.
• Lead by example, treating everyone with integrity and respect.

Reflecting on Your Practice

Legal, societal, and historical influences mean that reflecting on your practice is not optional. You need to recognise your own attitudes and be willing to challenge habits or assumptions.

Key reflective questions might include:

• Do my actions and words support inclusion every day?
• How accessible and fair are our processes and communications?
• Are there any unintentional barriers in our service?
• Are the voices of minority or less-heard groups valued?

Reflection ensures you do not repeat mistakes from the past and stay compliant with both the law and current professional standards.

Wider Impact of Your Leadership

Your approach as a leader has a knock-on effect:

• On individuals: Service users and staff feel valued, respected, and safe.
• On staff: Morale, motivation, and retention improve when staff feel supported and treated fairly.
• On service quality: Person-centred and legally compliant care reduces complaints and improves outcomes.
• On the organisation: A positive reputation attracts new clients and staff.

By using lessons from law, society, and history, you help build an environment where everyone can flourish.

Final Thoughts

Legal, societal, and historical influences give you both the framework and the drive to lead inclusively. They remind you of past injustices, current challenges, and the standards you must achieve. By embracing these influences in your leadership, you create a culture in adult care where equality, diversity, inclusion, and human rights are put into practice, every day.