Reflections

I follow a few people on LinkedIn who are in the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) space. Sometimes they share some insights that make me stop and think. In November, an insight was shared that I decided to send to my colleagues at work. The CEO liked it so much she asked me to share a weekly reflection that goes out with the organization's updates to the members. These are just short pieces; about a paragraph long. I've been doing it for about 5 weeks now and I thought I would share the ones I've written here. 

Health Equity Reflections 

Have you ever asked yourself, do we need to constantly talk about health equity? If you’re wondering that today, the answer is YES. Health equity isn’t about a particular program or service, it is the end goal of addressing health disparities and inequities experienced by marginalized people. Planning any strategy, program, or service requires us to consider how we are addressing health equity, or we go back to status quo which is missing those who have been historically marginalized. Without intentional inclusion, we always leave people out. 

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When doing the work of health equity, don’t forget about yourself. It can be easy to get caught up in planning, strategy, and metrics, but lasting change requires leaders to work on their own transformation and become allies. Leaders set the tone for the organization and are the gatekeepers for organizational culture. Practicing health equity, diversity, and inclusion without doing the personal work is performative at best but can also be harmful in the long run for those marginalized communities. Becoming an ally requires that we cultivate an understanding of underrepresented identities and to challenge a culture and system that disregards and devalues those identities. Learning from, listening to, and believing those with marginalized identities can transform your own leadership and strengthen efforts towards health equity. 

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Advancing behavioral health equity isn’t just about ensuring access to quality health care for communities of color. It may seem like that at times because race has been a central factor in health disparities. However, 1 in 4 adults in the United States are living with a disability (CDC, 2020). Today, consider how you are engaging the needs and perspectives of those with physical disabilities (both seen and unseen). When plans and strategies are developed through one lens such as race, the assumption becomes everyone is able bodied. The fact is, there are a significant number of people who have disabilities related to vision, hearing, and mobility. Let’s not forget about these people in our work.

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I read a simple post on LinkedIn last week and I’ve thought about it every day since. We spend a lot of time trying to help people “get it”, but when it comes to other areas of the business, we don’t wait for everyone to have fully embrace it to start. The movement around health equity is not a crusade to change the hearts and minds of everyone in our system of care. When you started doing everything virtually because of the pandemic, you didn’t have to know all the bells and whistles of Zoom before getting on a meeting. There are probably several features in your Microsoft Suite that you don’t understand, but you and your staff and countless others around the world use it daily. My point is, when it comes to health equity, not everyone needs to fully get it. As a behavioral health leader, you set the tone for your organization and system of care. When you identify the priorities and measure what is meaningful, you are the change maker.

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It is common to use the terms of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and health equity interchangeably. While these terms overlap and together create synergy, they are not the same. Without getting deep into the nuances of each term, think of health equity as the end goal and DEI as a strategy to help us get there. Eliminating health disparities and inequities for marginalized groups so that all have access to quality healthcare is the goal while increasing diversity and inclusion (DEI) is one way to help us get there. The differences may be subtle but are important to note.