The Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) educational initiative, now in its second year, rolled out several new elements in 2022. The Alliance’s DEI programs have the expressed goal of broadly addressing health disparities and discrimination in organ donation and transplantation and support this year’s Black History Month theme of Black Resistance as relates to equity in healthcare.
“We continue to work to address ongoing disparities in access to organ donation and transplantation,” says Karri Hobson-Pape, executive director of the Alliance. “We added several additional elements to our DEI program in this year that were highly successful, including the expansion of our DEI-focused Conversation Series of webinars and the curation of what has become a highly trafficked set of online tools.”
“Incorporation of DEI into our industry is essential for the long-term health and growth of the transplant ecosystem.”
JANICE WHALEY, MPH, CPTC, CTBS
President and Chief Executive Officer, Donor Network West
Member, The Alliance Board of Directors | Board Liason to The Alliance DEI Committee, 2022-2023
“We recognize the critical need for education that promotes the DEI essentials and are proud to have reached an audience of over 3,600 healthcare professionals through our program offerings since our launch in March 2021,” says Deanna Fenton, senior manager of Educational Program Development and Operations at The Alliance and co-lead of the DEI Committee. “Within the last year, we’ve also expanded our efforts by integrating DEI-focused topics into our Advancement Learning Series programs”. In February 2022, The Alliance hosted a program that focused on “Improving Transplant Access and Equity”, which offered strategies for organizations to employ as they look to diversify their workforce and enhance their patient education and engagement tools to effectively care for underserved populations.
New elements for the DEI Initiative in 2022
Six Conversation Series webinars with topics specifically related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The series spotlights optimal practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion effective practices within the donation and transplantation community. The rapid-paced, “all teach all learn” discussion format allows participants to join the conversation and share their knowledge, experience, and personal testimonials as it relates to biases, stereotyping, cultural intelligence, and health disparities among the underserved communities.
The Power of Allyship Part I: Understanding the Impact and Power of Words
A comprehensive webpage that provides a list of curated DEI resources.
A set of DEI terminology resources. DEI language is important in signaling support which is an important step in the process of fostering greater diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. It means respect for and appreciation of differences. Diversity encompasses the range of similarities and differences each individual brings to the workplace, including but not limited to national origin, language, race, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, veteran status, family structures, neurodiversity, and culture.
(Alliance DEI Terminology, July 2021)
Equity is the impartial consideration of all individuals, recognizing that each person has different circumstances, and provides access to treatment and opportunities for everyone. The concept of equity within the donation and transplantation continuum is justice, providing health care access, treatments, and improved outcomes for all. Health equity is realized when each individual has an equal opportunity to achieve their full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.
(Alliance DEI Terminology, July 2021)
Inclusion should be reflected in an organization’s culture, practices, and the relationships that are in place to support a diverse workforce. Inclusion is the process of creating a working culture and environment that recognizes, appreciates, seeks out and effectively utilizes the talents, skills, and perspectives of every employee. Inclusion uses employee skills to achieve the agency’s objectives and mission, connects each employee to the organization, and encourages collaboration, flexibility, and fairness. It empowers authenticity and a sense of belonging.
(Alliance DEI Terminology, July 2021)
A DEI Community Resource toolbox that offers a cost-free online library of 150 DEI-focused donation and transplantation-based tools, such as articles and reports, to develop and sustain high-performing operations.
In addition to these DEI resources, The Alliance has curated a list of informational resources focused on the 2022 consensus study report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) “The NASEM Report: Realizing the Promise of Equity in the Organ Transplantation System.”
The study focuses on “increasing fairness, equity, cost-effectiveness, and transparency in the deceased donor organ procurement, allocation, and distribution system.” The preface of the report states: “While the U.S. deceased donor organ transplantation system benefits tens of thousands of individuals each year, the system is demonstrably inequitable. Too many persons, especially in minority and underserved populations, are disadvantaged in accessing the services that lead to transplantation, and experience worse outcomes than others.”
The NASEM informational resources available on The Alliance’s website were developed to help the donation and transplantation community understand the recommendations and begin implementing changes.
“Incorporation of DEI into our industry is essential for the long-term health and growth of the transplant ecosystem. I plan to broadly share information about the Alliance’s Initiatives and learning programs this year as the board of directors’ representative on the DEI committee,” says Janice Whaley, MPH, CPTC, CTBS, president and chief executive officer Donor Network West. Whaley served on The Alliance’s DEI Committee in 2022 and 2023.
2022 Diversity-Focused Conversation Series Workgroup Committee members
Twelve donation and transplantation professionals serve on The Alliance’s DEI Committee and work to develop greater cultural competence among professionals in the donation and transplantation community to support more multicultural patients donating and/or being transplanted. Committee members include:
