Lesson 4 : IAG Policy and Practice
It is important to understand the principles that are relevant to good IAG work. These must be in place from the initial contact with a client. This includes being aware policies such as: equal opportunities, confidentiality, and complaints procedures.
Equality and Diversity is the term used for ‘Equal Opportunities’. It is the legal obligation to protect against discrimination. Discrimination can be against a person’s sex, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, race or age.
Advice and guidance involve more than treating all clients as equals. it also involves supporting clients to overcome any barriers that may prevent them from accessing services.
Read your organisations equality policy and pick out and make note of the key features.
Advisors need to be aware of confidentiality policies.
Confidentiality is keeping something confidential between the client and the practitioner which is an important part of good practice in IAG. A breach of confidentially occurs when a client’s private information is disclosed to a third party without his or her consent. There are limited exceptions to this, including:
- Disclosure to state health officials
- Court orders requiring medical records to be produced.
As a practitioner is it important that you make clients aware of any confidentiality limitations.
Reflect: In what situations might you not be able to keep client confidentiality?