Raising awareness on Dignity Action Day
Dignity Action Day, which was held on Friday 1st February, is an opportunity for staff working in care services to highlight the importance of dignity in care and inspire people to take action to ensure it.
To raise awareness about Dignity Action Day staff and service users from the Trust’s inpatient rehabilitation wards at Mount Vernon hospital enjoyed a day of activities and celebrations. Organised by staff; service users and their families were encouraged to take part in group activities including quizzes, a raffle with prizes that had been donated and reminiscence groups. All the activities planned aimed to highlight the importance of individuals being engaged in meaningful activities and having choice and control over their care.
An information display was also created on the wards to highlight the Dignity in Care campaign, its aims and to highlight examples of good practice within care services. As part of this, staff and visitors were asked to sign the Dignity pledge to show their support for the campaign.
People were also invited to share their thoughts with staff about what dignity in care should look like, to ensure that the services provided are meeting the needs and expectations of those using them.
Carol Nayeri, assistant modern matron on the wards said, “Dignity Action Day is a great opportunity for us to raise awareness about the Dignity in Care campaign and the importance of ensuring that dignity and respect are always present in the care we provide. We work hard to ensure that dignity is part of everything we do and that everyone takes a responsibility to protect and provide it.
“The activities that we organised during the day were really well received by people on the wards and it was lovely to see families get involved with these in the afternoon.
“We will use the feedback gathered from people throughout the day to ensure that we are providing services that meet their expectations.”
During the day, staff were also encouraged to get involved by wearing a pair of glasses that created a visually impaired 
environment and trying to carry out basic tasks. Carol explained, “The point of this exercise was to raise awareness amongst staff of some of the difficulties that people with visual impairments can experience, and to ask them to consider where we could make improvements to the ward environment and activities to make it easier for them.”
The Dignity in Care campaign was launched in November 2006, and is hosted by the Social Care Institute for Excellence, and aims to put dignity and respect at the heart of UK care services.
The campaign has over 40,000 registered Dignity Champions including individuals and care organisations that work individually and collectively, to ensure people have a good experience of care when they need it.
The Dignity in Care campaign is led by the National Dignity Council which works to:
• Raise awareness of Dignity in Care
• Inspire local people to take action
• Share good practice and give impetus to positive innovation
• Transform services by supporting people and organisations in providing dignified services
• Reward and recognise those people who make a difference and go that extra mile.
To find out more about the Dignity in Care campaign visit www.dignityincare.org.uk
