Palliative care strategy: equality impact assessment
Equality impact assessment (EQIA) of Scotland’s Palliative Care Strategy setting out aims, evidence and engagement, and outlining how the strategy assesses potential impacts on protected groups.
Key Findings
Our assessment indicates that the new palliative care strategy will not have a negative impact on any of the protected characteristics included in the Equality Act 2010.
The Strategy makes specific reference to protected characteristics, particularly in relation to the collection of data for the purposes of improving the planning and delivery of services, and there is an acknowledgment of the differing needs of various age groups who require palliative care, and consideration around how best to meet these needs.
The actions in the delivery plan which accompanies the strategy are intended to have a positive impact for the population of palliative care users as a whole, and it is expected that some of the actions may positively impact some protected characteristic groups in particular. For example, more people who are older or have some long term conditions and disabilities may benefit from improved palliative care, whilst others (e.g. LGBTQI+) may benefit from addressing barriers to uptake.
Actions taken to improve the knowledge and skills of the palliative care workforce, increasing their understanding of the differing needs of people of different races or religions, may also have a particularly positive impact on the experiences of those groups.
Some of the actions are specifically intended to have a positive impact on the experiences of children and young people who use palliative care services, as well as their families.
Key findings from the literature review
The key findings from the literature review, in relation to protected characteristics, were that:
- Some groups, including people with intellectual disabilities or severe mental illness and people who identify as LGBTQ+, receive less palliative care or find palliative care difficult to access.
- There are many differences in how people from minority ethnic groups approach declining health, death, dying and bereavement, with cultural and religious sensitivity from staff and involvement of the family being important for them.
- Some trans and gender diverse people had experienced palliative care services which they did not feel were inclusive, with examples of insensitivity, misgendering and instances of poor physical care.
Key findings from the strategy public consultation question on equality and inclusion
- Respondents welcomed recognition of the wide range of factors such as age, sex, gender, disability, ethnicity, faith or belief, culture, poverty, other personal characteristics and location that affect people’s experiences of living or dying with life-shortening conditions.
- Some emphasised that inclusive palliative care should extend to marginalised groups such as LGBTQ+ individuals, ethnic minorities, people with severe mental illness, intellectual disabilities, non-verbal individuals and people who are homeless or in prison.
- Several respondents commented that older people are often overlooked. People may assume that declining health from untreatable conditions is an inevitable part of ageing.
- Older individuals from certain minority ethnic groups tend to experience poorer health outcomes than the population as a whole.
- One respondent noted that the populations in rural and island communities are ageing at a faster rate compared to urban areas.