Equality Diversity and Inclusion Training for Compassionate Person Centred Care
Companionship is built through small moments: a name pronounced correctly, a routine respected, a belief acknowledged, a choice offered without judgement. Equality, diversity and inclusion training helps make those moments consistent, safe and meaningful.
In companionship services, people bring different histories, identities, needs and expectations. Some may live with disability or long-term illness. Some may have experienced prejudice, isolation or loss of independence. Others may communicate in ways that require patience and care. A compassionate service cannot rely on good intentions alone. It needs shared knowledge, clear standards and everyday practice that protects dignity.
Mandatory Training 7, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, gives companions, volunteers, team leaders, coordinators and management staff the foundation they need to provide fair, respectful and person-centred support.
Course information
Course detail | Information |
Course title | Equality, Diversity and Inclusion |
Course reference | MT07 |
Target audience | All companions, volunteers, team leaders, coordinators and management staff |
Duration | 2 hours |
Delivery method | E-learning, virtual classroom or face-to-face training |
Refresher period | Every 3 years |
Assessment | 10 randomly selected questions from a bank of 15 |
Pass mark | 80% |
This course is designed for a nationwide companionship service and can be adapted to different delivery settings. The content works well as e-learning for flexible access, virtual classroom learning for guided discussion, or face-to-face training for group reflection and scenario work.
The refresher period of every 3 years supports ongoing awareness. It also gives staff and volunteers a regular opportunity to revisit expectations, reflect on real practice and stay aligned with legislation, standards and organisational policies.
Why EDI matters in companionship services
Equality, diversity and inclusion are not abstract ideas. They directly shape how people experience care, support and human connection.
Equality means treating people fairly and making sure they have access to the same quality of support. Fairness does not always mean treating everyone in exactly the same way. Some people need reasonable adjustments or different communication methods to experience equal access.
Diversity means recognising and valuing difference. This includes age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, culture, language, personal history and life experience.
Inclusion means creating conditions where people feel welcome, respected and able to take part. In a companionship setting, inclusion may mean adapting conversation, respecting a person’s routine, supporting a cultural practice, or making sure activities reflect what the person values.
Person-centred care starts with the question, “What matters to this person?” rather than “What do we usually do?”
Equality Diversity and Inclusion Training for Compassionate Person Centred Care gives learners the tools to turn that principle into everyday behaviour. It helps reduce discrimination, prevents exclusion and supports relationships based on trust.
What learners should be able to do
By the end of the training, learners should be able to:
Define equality, diversity and inclusion in clear, practical terms
Explain the importance of dignity, respect and compassion
Identify protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010
Recognise discrimination, harassment and victimisation
Understand unconscious bias and how it can affect decisions
Promote inclusive practice in daily companionship work
Challenge discrimination in a safe and appropriate way
Apply person-centred approaches to individual support
Contribute to a culture of belonging and respect
Understand relevant legislation, care standards and organisational policies
These outcomes are practical. The aim is not only to pass an assessment, but to build confidence in real situations. A companion may need to respond when someone makes an offensive comment. A coordinator may need to review whether service access is fair. A team leader may need to support a volunteer who feels unsure about language, culture or reasonable adjustments.
Module 1 explores what equality, diversity and inclusion mean
The first module introduces the core language of EDI. This matters because unclear language often leads to unclear practice.
Learners explore equality as fairness and access. For example, if a person has hearing loss, speaking from another room does not give them equal access to conversation. Facing them, reducing background noise and checking preferred communication may be needed.
They explore diversity as the recognition of difference. Companions may support people who have different religions, family structures, cultural traditions, first languages, gender identities or views about independence. Diversity also includes less visible experiences, such as grief, trauma, neurodivergence, poverty, loneliness or previous discrimination.
They explore inclusion as active participation. A person may technically have access to a service but still feel excluded if activities do not reflect their interests, food choices are ignored, or assumptions are made about what they “should” enjoy.
The module should make the link between EDI and person-centred care clear. Person-centred support involves listening, asking, recording preferences and adapting support to the individual. It also involves respecting a person’s right to make choices, even when those choices differ from the companion’s own preferences.
Module 2 covers dignity, respect and the law
Dignity is shown in tone, body language, privacy and choice. A person should not feel talked over, rushed, mocked, patronised or treated as a task. Respect means recognising each person as an individual with rights, preferences and a life beyond the service they receive.
This module should cover the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination connected to protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are:
Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation
In companionship services, these protections help shape fair access, respectful communication and safe conduct. For example, a service must not treat someone less favourably because of disability, race, religion or sexual orientation. It must also consider reasonable adjustments for disabled people where needed.
Learners should understand that policy and law are not separate from kindness. They provide a shared standard for what fairness requires.
Module 3 helps learners recognise discrimination and harm
Discrimination can be obvious, but it can also be subtle. Training should help learners spot both.
Direct discrimination happens when someone is treated worse because of a protected characteristic. An example could be refusing companionship support because a person is from a particular ethnic background.
Indirect discrimination happens when a rule or practice applies to everyone but disadvantages a particular group. For instance, offering activities only at times that always clash with a person’s religious observance may create unfair access.
Harassment involves unwanted conduct linked to a protected characteristic that violates dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
Victimisation happens when someone is treated badly because they made a complaint about discrimination or supported someone else’s complaint.
Learners should also explore everyday exclusion. This may include repeated mispronunciation of a name after correction, jokes about age, assumptions about someone’s relationship, or ignoring a person because communication takes longer.
A good training session gives learners simple practice scenarios. For example:
A volunteer hears a discriminatory comment during a visit
A person refuses support from a companion because of race or religion
A group activity repeatedly excludes someone with mobility needs
A companion makes assumptions about a person’s family or partner
A person’s cultural food preferences are dismissed as “fussy”
The aim is not to shame learners. The aim is to build awareness, responsibility and confidence.
Module 4 addresses unconscious bias
Unconscious bias refers to automatic assumptions or preferences that can influence behaviour without a person intending harm. Everyone can hold biases. Training helps learners notice them and reduce their impact.
Bias may affect how people interpret behaviour. A quiet person may be seen as “unfriendly” when they are anxious, tired or communicating in a second language. An older person may be assumed to dislike technology. A disabled person may be spoken to through a family member rather than directly. A person’s accent may lead others to make unfair assumptions about understanding or ability.
The course should encourage reflective questions:
What assumption am I making?
Have I asked the person what they prefer?
Would I respond the same way to someone from a different background?
Am I listening to understand, or fitting this person into a category?
Have I recorded and shared the person’s preferences appropriately?
Bias is reduced through habits. These include slowing down, asking open questions, using preferred names and pronouns, checking access needs, and seeking feedback.
Module 5 focuses on inclusive practice
Inclusive practice is the daily work of making services safe, respectful and accessible. It includes communication, planning, activities, record keeping and decision making.
Good inclusive practice may involve:
Asking how a person would like to be addressed
Checking communication needs before a visit
Offering choices rather than making assumptions
Respecting religious, cultural and personal routines
Making activities accessible for people with sensory, mobility or cognitive needs
Using plain language when needed
Supporting privacy and confidentiality
Recording preferences accurately and respectfully
Reviewing whether anyone faces barriers to taking part
Inclusive practice also means recognising intersectionality. A person is never only one characteristic. Someone may be older, disabled, LGBTQ+, recently bereaved and from a minority ethnic background. Their support should reflect the whole person, not one label.
For companions and volunteers, inclusion often appears in small choices. Sitting where someone can see your face. Learning how to say a name correctly. Asking before helping. Avoiding assumptions about family, faith, diet or identity. These actions build trust.
For team leaders, coordinators and managers, inclusion also means checking systems. Are referrals handled fairly? Are complaints taken seriously? Are volunteers prepared for diverse needs? Do policies explain how to report discrimination? Are reasonable adjustments made without unnecessary delay?
Module 6 explains how to challenge discrimination appropriately
Challenging discrimination can feel difficult, especially during a home visit or sensitive conversation. Training should give learners clear, safe options.
The response should match the situation. If there is immediate risk of harm, safeguarding and emergency procedures take priority. If a comment is inappropriate but not dangerous, the companion may be able to respond calmly and set a boundary.
Useful approaches include:
Pause and do not laugh along
Name the issue in simple language
Explain the expected standard of respect
Support the person affected
Report the incident according to policy
Record factual details without judgemental wording
Seek guidance from a team leader or coordinator
A calm challenge might sound like:
“That language is not respectful. We treat everyone with dignity here.”
Or:
“I need to pause there. We do not make comments about people’s race, religion, disability or sexuality.”
The training should also recognise power and safety. Companions should not put themselves or others at risk. Some situations need a manager, safeguarding lead or formal complaints process.
Assessment and evidence of learning
The course assessment uses 10 randomly selected questions from a bank of 15, with a pass mark of 80%. This approach checks core understanding while reducing simple memorisation.
Questions should test practical knowledge, not just definitions. For example, learners may be asked to identify a protected characteristic, recognise indirect discrimination, choose the best response to harassment, or identify an inclusive way to adapt support.
A strong assessment should show that learners can:
Understand key EDI terms
Apply the Equality Act 2010 in basic practice
Recognise unacceptable behaviour
Choose respectful communication
Identify when to report concerns
Support person-centred care
Where a learner does not pass, the next step should be supportive review. The goal is safe, fair and confident practice.
Building a culture of belonging
Training works best when it connects to everyday culture. A two-hour course can introduce the principles, but organisations must keep them alive through supervision, policies, leadership and feedback.
A culture of belonging means people feel safe to be themselves. It also means staff and volunteers feel able to ask questions, admit mistakes, learn and improve. Fear can make people silent. A learning culture makes standards clear while giving people the confidence to do better.
Managers and coordinators play a key role. They can model respectful language, respond promptly to concerns, check whether support plans reflect individual needs and make sure EDI is included in induction, supervision and service reviews.
Companions and volunteers also shape culture every day. They represent the service in people’s homes, community settings and conversations. Their behaviour can help someone feel seen, valued and safe.
The lasting value of EDI training
Equality, diversity and inclusion training is not a box to tick. It is part of providing compassionate, lawful and person-centred support. It helps teams understand rights, recognise harm, reduce bias and create services where people are treated with dignity.
For companionship services, EDI is woven into every visit and every conversation. The real measure of success is simple: people feel respected, choices are heard, barriers are reduced and difference is welcomed without judgement.
A well-designed MT07 course gives every companion, volunteer, leader, coordinator and manager a shared foundation. With regular refresher training and clear organisational support, that foundation becomes part of daily practice.
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