Have your say

Submit your suggestions, compliments and complaints

Jewish Care is committed to providing you with the highest quality services. If you are a client of Jewish Care, a family member, carer, volunteer, supplier or member of the wider community and would like to tell us about any aspect of our work, we want to hear from you.

We welcome your feedback in relation to our services, enabling us to continually improve these services and ensure that we are meeting your needs. Any feedback you provide, will not adversely affect the level of care you or your loved one receives from Jewish Care. You may also provide feedback anonymously, however we cannot keep you informed on the progress or outcome of the Your Say feedback you have submitted.

Your feedback enables us to constantly improve the quality of our services to you.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this form, together we will strive for excellence.

With your feedback we will

  • Acknowledge it in a timely manner
  • Communicate with you throughout the process
  • Maintain confidentiality and privacy
  • Make improvements identified as a result of your feedback

Your details are optional, however we need them to contact you and provide you with feedback. All information will remain confidential.

*
*
*

 

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

I would like to provide Jewish Care with a...*

This field is required.

I am a...*

This field is required.

If you are NOT the resident/client, are they aware that you are making this complaint?*

This field is required.

What date did your experience occur?

If you have a complaint, how do you think we might best reslove it?*

I give permission for my feedback to be used in Jewish Care marketing e.g. website/newsletters*

This field is required.
Submit enquiry
We received your submission.

Have your say brochure Download
Donate now
Black White
A

Not all People Deserve the Same

22 November 2018

by Samuel Murray, Organisational Lead- Practice & Support

A Fishy Quote About Equality

Albert Einstein was rumoured to have once said: “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Whilst Einstein never actually said these words, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a good quote all the same.

What these words are trying to highlight is equality, or “treating everybody the same”, is exceptionally flawed and at times can even cause far more harm than good. 

Just take another look at the image above – taking a uniquely traditional view of fairness and equality will often give some people more than they need, at the same time as leaving others left with little or nothing at all.

At Jewish Care we have any number of examples where we most definitely do not treat people the same or equal, and for very good reason, too.

  • We provide greater levels of support to people with more profound disabilities – because not all people with a disability need the same support.
  • We have a Holocaust Survivor Support Program, as the unique experience of this trauma requires a particular type of support – because not all people over a certain age from the same country need the same support.
  • We have Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Hungarian, and Polish speakers using our services, as well as many other nations represented, who all require us to communicate to them differently – because not all people need the specific language support.
  • We support and work with people who identify as LGBTI+ and that requires us to think, act, and respond more understanding and sensitivity than we would with other folk – because not all people need the same support.

See where all of this is heading?  Whilst we would hope that everyone we work with and support in our services are equal in term of rights, access, safety, and attitudes towards them, a person’s individual experiences mean that we sometimes need to do things differently in order to meet those needs.

What examples can you think of that would require you to not treat somebody ‘the same’ because of who they are and/or their lived experience?

The burning question remains: if we are not meant to treat people equally, what should we be doing?

Short answer: treat people with equity and support justice.

If we commit to treating people with equity, we understand that some people will need more than others – or perhaps a different approach to the support we provide.  We appreciate that everyone’s lived experience determines how we interact with them, not just relying on “treating everybody the same”.  Equity ensures that people get what they need, not just what everybody around them is receiving.

And when justice prevails, the barriers that potentially created inequality in the first place are gone altogether – or at least significantly reduced.  It may be broad social change, revised legislation, or just a commitment by an individual, a team, or an entire organisation to address impediments to a person achieving all that they can be and being treated in a manner that respects them individually.

All that said…this cartoonist sums up the idea of equality versus equity versus justice quite nicely in this little triptych…

Until next time, "be the change you wish to see in the world".