In an effort to advance our priorities related to DEI in long term care and acknowledge our current strengths and capabilities, OHCA has utilized primarily education, resources, and communications strategies thus far with plans to continue utilizing these types of tools going forward.

In 2020, the OHCA Board of Directors created a DEI workgroup to address and provide resources and ideas to provider members. At the beginning of 2021, we enlisted the help of Engage to Change, LLC, a Portland-based anti-racism and anti-oppression DEI consulting firm to carry out our mission and values, and help us understand how we can best serve our members in this area. We are currently working on completing an​ organizational assessment of the equity needs of OHCA and its members.

Ongoing Efforts

To uphold our commitment, we are prioritizing the following:

  1. Engaging with long term care leaders, stakeholders, and decision-makers to ensure organizational readiness and a sector-wide commitment to DEI efforts
  2. Educating and implementing sustainable programs and trainings for long term care leaders and staff at all levels
  3. Empowering long term care providers with tools and resources to support their own internal DEI efforts

In the spring of 2022, the Oregon Department of Human Services Aging and People with Disabilities (ODHS APD) approved our grant proposal to provide funding for our DEI education and goals through June 2023. Our DEI efforts beyond the partnership will be ongoing. The grant will fund OHCA’s upcoming DEI professional development opportunities for long term care providers and partners to enable us to grow our offerings, offer certain education and activities free to providers to increase participation and reduce barriers to entry, and include high-quality speakers and presenters. Those events include:

  • DEI-Education at the 2022 OHCA Annual Convention – September 2022
  • 2023 Quality Summit – February 21-23
  • DEI Lunch and Learn Series
    • December 1, 2022 – DEI Lunch and Learn: If Not Now, When? Prioritizing LGBTQ+ Older Adult Inclusion
    • December 13, 2022: DEI Playbook: Learning the Language of Dementia and DEI
    • January 25, 2023: Managing Bias, Stereotypes, and Microaggressions in the Workplace
    • March 16, 2023: DEI Playbook: What Leaders Can Do to Create Winning Workplaces!
  • DEI Consultancy Project – Launched in February 2023
  • DEI Leadership Intensive – Completed, June 7-8, 2023

View more of our upcoming DEI educational opportunities here.

Completed Work

2022 DEI Focus and Work

As a part of our current work with our consultants, OHCA staff and board members are undergoing a series of internal and interactive DEI trainings to better understand our opportunities for growth and to be better informed to educate our members. Some of OHCA’s DEI education in 2022 has included:

  • 2022 Quality Summit (presentation descriptions below)
    • February 8: Awareness, Education and Expectations: Operationalizing Belonging for Staff and Residents
      • This session will focus on creating belonging by meeting practical and fundamental needs of team members and residents; identifying and overcoming barriers in belonging, building resilience through training and education; and supporting, empowering, and making space for employees through uncomfortable interactions.
    • February 9: Decoding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): What Does it All Mean?
      • Participants will understand the difference between diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); explore DEI using a framework for intersectionality (race, culture, gender identity, LGBTQ+, neurodivergence); identify individual, cultural, and institutional opportunities for justice; and examine how to apply DEI concepts to trauma-informed care for both residents and staff members.
    • February 10: Becoming an Ally and Facilitating Courageous Conversations: How to Begin the DEI Journey
      • The presenter will build upon concepts presented in the days prior to help attendees create an action plan to begin their journey toward an inclusive and equitable workplace. Many people fear saying or doing the “wrong thing” when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which can often lead to silence and inaction. This presentation will provide tools to identify the DEI readiness of communities, staff, and residents; create a vision and intentional strategies for equity in communities; create a dynamic work environment that inspires creativity and innovation; discuss good and bad management techniques along the DEI journey; and facilitate collaborative and difficult conversations.
  • 2022 Spring Expo Breakout Sessions:
    • Addressing Equity: Oregon LGBTQ+ Older Survey and Next Steps Together
    • Using Relationship to Relieve Loneliness: How to Develop Older Adult Peer Supports in Your Community
  • 2022 Annual Convention Breakout Sessions:
    • Why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts Fail: How Leaders Can Leverage the Power of Emotional Intelligence to Create Winning Workplaces
    • Culturally Competent Care: The Key to Enhancing Compliance, Satisfaction, and Morale
    • Learning the Language: DEI and Dementia
    • The Importance of Evolving Language and Acronyms for LGBT+ Community for Overcoming Oppression
    • Intercultural Creativity: The Ace up Your Sleeve for the Future of Employee Engagement
    • Allyship and Trust: Being an Ally Across Cultural Differences

The theme of the 2022 Spring/Summer edition of The Oregon Caregiver focuses entirely on DEI. In the featured article, several leaders from Oregon long term care settings share how they’ve implemented DEI into their workspaces and infrastructures and offer insight into their processes. Other articles will highlight key demographics in long term care and show the disparities in access and quality of health services; explore provider and consumer rights when it comes to discrimination and recruitment; offer ideas to bring more inclusivity into dining and activities in long term care settings; and profiles a lawmaker who is making strides in equity at the state level.

2021 DEI Focus and Work

In March 2021, we hired Engage to Change, LLC, a Portland-based anti-racism and anti-oppression DEI consulting firm, to help us understand how we can best serve our members in this area. The first piece of assessing the equity needs OHCA and its members was gathering the data. In June 2021, our consultants conducted a sector-wide DEI survey to gather responses from as many long term care sector professionals in Oregon as possible (including frontline caregivers, facility staff, corporate staff, and executives). Questions were centered around researched constructs of inclusion, such as fairness, belonging, and voice. This survey also asked important, though sensitive, demographic questions relating to gender identity, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. These responses were kept anonymous and confidential and will be used to evaluate the ways various inequities may show up in our sector and how OHCA can help. Only our DEI consultants had access to the individual response data.

To help facilitate the survey, OHCA produced and promoted video messages from leadership and created a communications toolkit comprised of various resources to help members share the survey through your own internal channels.

At the end of the survey, participants had the chance to ask for an individual meeting with the consultants. Individuals who submitted a survey were entered into a drawing for one of two $50 Visa gift cards.

We thank everyone that participated in this survey!

Learn More About the DEI Survey from OHCA Leadership – English

Learn More About the DEI Survey from OHCA Leadership – En Español

 

DEI Survey Communications Toolkit

Some of OHCA’s DEI education in 2021 included:

  • 2021 Spring Expo Keynote: The Companionship Culture: Resident/Caregiver Engagement Through Life Stories Presentation description: The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has galvanized the industry and required professional and personal sacrifice. In this motivational session, attendees will uncover strategies designed to improve engagement through intentional relationships between residents and staff and overcome isolation in our senior population. Through the power of storytelling, this engaging keynote will reignite your calling to serve as a senior healthcare professional.
  • 2021 Annual Convention Keynote Triumph Over Change in 2021 and Beyond
    Presentation description: Few things encourage “shift” quite like a global pandemic, political pandemonium, civil unrest, and lest we forget, murder hornets. Through it all, have you grown more patient, more resilient, or do the words “punch drunk” and “jet-lagged” better describe your current mood? The weight of crisis management has left our providers and team members exhausted and easily triggered. They are starving for greater connection, elevated compassion, and confident optimism in addition to our guidance. Unleashing hope and higher performance from others, however, fails without our courage to self-assess and course correct. There’s no one chapter in the leadership manual that prepares us for enduring mayhem and change. This session will reintroduce you to your sanity by offering tips and ideas for how to stay engaged, while helping others to stay focused on organizational goals and higher performance.
  • 2021 Annual Convention Breakout Sessions
    • Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (DEI): Managing Diverse Teams and Caring for a Diverse Resident Base
    • Creating welcoming best practices for the LGBTQ+ community

We addressed the critical role diversity, equity, and inclusion play in staff retention as well as OHCA’s dedication to this work on behalf of our members in our 2021 Fall/Winter edition of The Oregon Caregiver

2020 DEI Focus and Work

Internally in the summer of 2020, the OHCA Board of Directors created a DEI workgroup of OHCA staff and board members to provide recommendations to OHCA’s leadership about DEI priorities going forward. One of these recommendations was to hire a consultant specializing in antiracism and DEI work.

As part of this deeper focus on DEI in 2020, we began to integrate DEI more intentionally into in-person and virtual trainings. While our education focuses on various aspects of DEI, many of our trainings are level-setting opportunities that invite people into the conversation. Some of the DEI education hosted by OHCA in 2020 included:

  • 2020 Annual Convention Keynote: Valuing Diversity and Inclusion: A Key for Success in Business and Life Presentation description: Valuing diversity goes far beyond moral and societal mandates. It makes business sense! Simply put, corporations will be unable to compete in this 21st century global market unless they incorporate diversity in the workplace as a business imperative. Workplace diversity brings new opportunities to employees, employers, and customers. There is no monopoly on talent; competitive advantage comes when your company capitalizes on the talents brought by employees from diverse backgrounds. In this presentation you’ll learn how embracing and valuing diversity enhances your ability to recruit, retain, and increase productivity of a strong and diverse workforce.
  • 2020 Annual Convention Breakout Sessions:
    • Culturally Aware Resident Care: The Journey to More Inclusive LTC Communities
    • 5 Languages of Appreciation: Staff Retention Through Affirmation and Validation

In our 2020 Fall/Winter edition of The Oregon Caregiver, we addressed what DEI is and why it matters for senior living providers and for OHCA.

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