Short films to highlight power of human rights challenges

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has teamed up with the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) and NHS Health Scotland to launch a series of short films about human rights.

Produced as part of Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP), the series is intended to highlight the power of human rights to improve people’s health and the care and support they access.

The five short films share people’s experiences of using human rights to challenge and improve the quality of health and care services they use in Scotland.

Kavita Chetty, a qualified lawyer and head of strategy for the SHRC, said the films “tell exactly the kind of real life stories that we know can help raise awareness and understanding of human rights”.

They have been made available for free on a new website that brings together materials and information for those interested in human rights in health and social care.

Shelley Gray, director of policy and communications for the ALLIANCE, said: “These films highlight how much human rights based approaches offer us a chance to develop better health and social care support and services across Scotland.

“By listening to what really matters to people, and being truly participatory in our approach, we can make rights real in day to day life and improve the experiences of people accessing support and services and frontline staff.”

Cath Denholm, director of strategy at NHS Health Scotland, added: “Everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of health.

“This is a fundamental principle which should underline all our efforts to reduce health inequalities in Scotland.

“NHS Health Scotland actively supports SNAP and I hope that many people will find this new resource to be helpful.”