Taking a human rights based approach is about making sure that people’s rights are put at the very centre of policies and practices. The Scottish Human Rights Council, Human Rights Based Approach is a way of breaking down what this means in practice.
Everyone has the right to take part in decisions that affect their human rights. Participation must be active, free and meaningful. It should focus on accessibility. This means making information easy to understand and available in clear language.
Accountability
We need to take accountability to properly monitor human rights standards. It also requires effective remedies for any breaches.
Non-Discrimination
A human rights approach aims to ban, prevent and end all discrimination. This way, everyone can enjoy their rights. It also prioritises those in the most marginalised situations.
Empowerment of rights holders
A human rights approach means people and communities should understand their rights. They should get full support to help create policies and practices that impact their lives. They also need to claim their rights when necessary.
Legality of rights
A human rights approach sees rights as legally enforceable entitlements. It connects to both national and international human rights law.
When changing health and social care services it’s important that we are planning and designing services that meet the PANEL principles, from the Scottish Human Rights Council. This means that the approach to transformational change also needs to embed a focus on human-rights.
Insights to support change
It’s important to understand the demographics, characteristics and needs of the people who need, access and use services.
You should engage with people who need, access and use services in their planning and design. This will help you to understand:
- the needs of the people and demand for the service
- whether the needs could be met in an alternative and more effective way
- whether all demographics and population groups can easily access the services that they need
- whether there are accessibility, cultural, language or other barriers that prevent people from being able to easily access the services they need
- whether services are acceptable to all the people who need, access and use them
- whether services are sufficiently safe, effective, efficient, equitable and timely for all the people who need, access and use them