Are they allowed to post a job advert like this?

[Echobeachfarawayintime]

I'm with an agency who are looking for a support worker for tomorrow.
It's a mental health setting and they've posted that the support worker 'must be white' in order to not upset the client's mental health.
Are they really allowed to post stuff like this?

I would very much credit my upbringing with why I am a liberal open minded non racist good mannered and polite and friendly person. And the person who raised me like that is, thanks to dementia, an increasingly outspoken racist, illiberal, closed minded arsehole but it's absolutely not her fault, or even slightly representative of the previous 86 years of her life. People with dementia and other mental illnesses world becomes much smaller and a much more frightening place and not along rational or predictable lines. Reasonable adjustments can be made without offending anyone

The idea you'd withhold care from people in this position is fucking horrific and anyone who suggested it should be ashamed of themselves

It is so hard - my poor OH had Parkinsons and his brain went completely haywire. He believed people (including me) were trying to kill him. We had a Bulgarian carer at one point and he thought she was a spy; and in all the carers' profiles we looked at he rejected anyone black. In the end I had to say to the agency that there was no point suggesting anyone black as OH would believe they were going to attack him. You have no idea how very awkward this all was - I felt dreadful saying this to the agency - but what else could I do? It was deeply embarrassing and put everyone in an awkward situation.

However the last carer we had before he died, when he was not really in a position to object to anyone and no other carers were available, was a Nigerian woman and she was the best we had.

I am sorry if any of my post gives offence, but I am just telling it as it was. I can fully understand that there might be a need to make these stipulations in a job advert. People with serious mental health problems cannot choose what they feel.

I suspect that there are exceptions to the rules to cover this.

Funny isn't it how posters who are otherwise repulsed by racism, sexism, homophobia, disablism etc still manage to display not one jot of compassion or understanding for those with dementia or MH disorders.

Perhaps the real mistake was being so open.
Surely the agency know which of their staff would fit the bill ?

I think that's probably it the advert is jarring,it is to the point though.

My late DF had altzheimers and paranoid delusions.

he said things he would never had said before he was ill

the effects of dementia are just awful. Please try to have a little understanding.

Where did you read old age? I've just seen mental health.

I think it’s just worded badly. It’s not so much about upsetting a clients mental health surely, if it’s someone with serious mental health issues and difference in race is going to cause difficulties then that’s not great for the client of course but I think even worse for the carer. I don’t think the rights and wrongs of it can come into it if the client is genuinely not capable of knowing better and it seems an unfair position to put any carer in.

While it sounds awful surely it's better than either putting staff on a potentially dangerous situation or trying to cover it up and making an excuse why they can't have the job?

They absolutely can if it is a genuine occupational requirement.

This is why you see ads that:

• ask for female staff only (for example for services that supports female victims of domestic violence and sexual assault)
• ask for people for specific ethnic backgrounds. (I have seen this for some services and hostels that help people from Afro-Caribbean or Asian backgrounds)
• ask for people of a particular faith (some Christian charities for example will ask for employees who are practicing Christians)

In this case it is likely that the person either has reduced mental capacity and/or somehow has a history of trauma associated with someone who happened to be from a particular background.

With mental health issues and issues associated with old age things are not always neat and rational and services have to do their best protect both staff and patients.

Not everything is about discrimination...

When I was running mental health projects we had a few clients who did not want as their support worker people from the same faith or background as them. Because they were worried about the fact that their community had a lot of stigma around mental health and just felt uncomfortable because it was too close to home for them to open up to someone from the same background. They preferred someone who they perceived as more neutral. Of course any support worker would have been professional with them and offer the same level of care but sometimes you do have to work with the patient's concerns, whether they are legitimate or not.

This should read ''ads that ask for people from specific ethnic backgrounds.''...

Yes they are allowed to post it and no its not a big deal. Its the reality of working with service users who lack capacity and are extremely unwell. The staff and service users safety has to be top priority

@Bpdqueen A sensible reply.

Exactly. Dementia and other mental illnesses can turn people in to someone unrecognisable - the mildest, meekest of people become physically aggressive with power and strength that belies their tiny frames. Aggression, racial abuse, sexual behaviour, disinhibition. All normal and absolutely not the fault of the person, who is a shell of their former self.

Best all round that it's clear up front. I've known it the other way, where a black lady would only accept care off black people, due to previous abuse. White carers we're at risk and the service user was at risk of harming themselves and self neglect.

Someone I know of was in a Japanese POW camp. When he got dementia, the Chinese psychiatrist (in training) was asked not to deal with him. The poor bugger didn’t know the war was over and he was terrified.

Some people need to do some research on the frontal lobe and what can happen if it's damaged due to brain injury or a neurodegenerative illness. It's shit but it can change your behaviour.

It’s Allowed to request a worker from an ethnic minority so I don’t see why the request for a white worker should be any different
I don’t like either though

Why don't you like it? Plenty of people have posted giving perfectly reasonable explanations for why it may be necessary.

(And of course the person needing the care may just be a racist bigot, but they still need care.)