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From left: Rita Adeniran, director for Diversity and Inclusion for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, with Jackie Somerville and committee members Shelita Bailey and Yilu Ma
During the last year and a half, a group of 17 BWHers from across the institution has come together regularly as the Nursing and Patient Care Services (PCS) Diversity and Inclusiveness Committee with one major goal in mind: enhancing an environment at BWH to ensure all employees, patients and families of diverse cultures, ethnic backgrounds, ages, lifestyles, religions and physical ability feel welcomed and cared for.
Under the leadership of Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services Jackie Somerville, PhD, RN, the Diversity and Inclusiveness Committee was formed in September 2012 to identify interpersonal and structural challenges to promoting diversity and a culture of inclusion at BWH.
The task started with a look at BWH's long history of serving a diverse community and developing a diverse workforce, from its commitment to recruiting employees from many different backgrounds and experiences to recognizing and celebrating racial, cultural, gender and religious differences through events and formal acknowledgement throughout the year. The Diversity and Inclusiveness Committee also wanted to build upon what is already being achieved through the work of BWH's Center for Community Health and Health Equity (CCHHE)-advancing care, research and community programs that elevate the health status of the communities BWH serves-and the Center for Faculty Development & Diversity, which works tirelessly to provide comprehensive support for career advancement and professional development to faculty and trainees, with a focus on fostering an inclusive and diverse faculty.
To determine how best to meet the goal before them, the committee went through an educational process, including researching what other institutions are doing in this arena and inviting BWH leaders and other experts to present to the group.
"Our work was guided by several landmark reports showing that racial and ethnic minorities continue to have low representation in the health professions, resulting in inequities in care for patients of diverse backgrounds," said committee co-chair Martha Jurchak, PhD, RN, executive director of BWH's Ethics Service. "The concept of diversity and inclusiveness is about acceptance and respect. It is moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of our individual differences."
During the year-and-a-half-long effort, the committee invited Swapnil Maniar, PhD, MPH, director of Health Equity Programs for the CCHHE, and Abigail Ortiz, MPH, MSW, director of Community Health Programs at Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, to educate the group about health inequities, issues of access to care and data regarding poorer health outcomes and the negative effects of living with racism.
The group consulted Loretta Sweet Jemmott, PhD, FAAN, RN, director of the Center for Health Disparities Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, who encouraged members to reflect on the questions: Do you feel welcomed and cared for? And what would feeling welcomed and cared for look like?
"The latter question generated a lot of energy and positive feeling," said committee co-chair Shelita Bailey, director of the Office for Sponsored Staff and Volunteer Services. "Descriptions included very simple steps, such as ‘more friendliness from people as you walk around the hospital,' ‘more smiling people' and ‘an assumption that people were willing to help and that you were not bothering them.' It was eye-opening."
The committee also interviewed other local and national institutions, including Mass. General Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Medical School, among others, to see how they foster their own culture of diversity and inclusiveness. Outside organizations shared insight about dedicated working groups, employee surveys, the role of leadership and managers in leading the charge and education around racial justice.
Guided by these efforts, the committee decided its first step, based on its experiences, was to better understand and more explicitly address racism-in personal interactions and at the policy level within departments and the entire hospital. The committee's next step is bringing these insights and training to interested employees at BWH. Beginning this fall, the group will offer a series of workshops called "Diversity and Inclusion Dialogues: Conscious Conversations About...," focusing on racism, sexism, discrimination based on sexual orientation and other concerns.
"These conversations will let employees share their experiences, insights and advice with one another," said Jurchak. "It will be an integral piece to continuing this important work to foster an environment where everyone who walks through our doors feels welcomed and cared for."
Stay tuned to BWHPikeNotes.org for details about the upcoming workshops. Contact mjurchak@partners.org or sbailey3@partners.org with questions.