The challenge is to increase
diversity in health care
Charmane Higgins
Following recent national reports of an urgent need to correct disparities
in health care between races, health care leaders gathered at Simmons
College last week for a national forum on improving diversity in
the leadership of health care organizations.
The forum, sponsored by Simmons College School for Health Studies,
brought together national leaders and regional health care administrators
to explore what works, what doesn’t and what needs to be done
on both a practical and policy level to increase diversity in health
care management.
Janice Dreachslin, PhD, a leading researcher in the field and professor
of health policy and administration at Pennsylvania State University,
was the keynote speaker.
Dreachslin presented two research findings that highlighted the
gap between race, ethnicity and perceptions of workplace relationships
and career opportunities in health care management. Ninety percent
of white male respondents and 79 percent of white women respondents
believed race relations within their organizations were good versus
53 percent of black men and 41 percent of black women. Similarly,
75 percent white men and 69 percent of white women responded that
the evaluation of both whites and minorities were equally thorough,
versus 22 percent of black men and 18 percent black women. Hispanics,
Asian Americans and Native Americans’ responses fell between
those of whites and blacks.
Dreachslin noted that such divergent perceptions can go unnoticed
and are not discussed until triggered by a crisis or controversy.
“Race and diversity are often proverbial elephants in the
healthcare industry’s living room. Progress is so slow because
leadership and infrastructure don’t reflect the community.”
Following the keynote address, two panels of distinguished participants
reacted to Dreachslin’s research findings and provided insights
based on practical experience.
The first panel discussed “The View from the Field —
How Managers in Health Care Organizations Experience the Challenge
of Building Diversity in Health Care Leadership.” Panelists
included moderator Everard Rutledge, PhD., vice president for Community
Health, Bon Secours Health System; Beverly Malone, PhD., general
secretary of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom
and the 2005 Dotson visiting scholar in the Department of Nursing
at Simmons; and Sharon Perryman, M.H.A, RN, diversity nurse executive
fellow at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Dr. Malone shared her personal reflections on the gap between the
reality and philosophy of nursing. “There is a mythical idea
that all prejudices go out the window when you become a nurse,”
she said. “Nurses bring all we are to the bedside within a
hospital and a community.”
Malone’s experience showed her that nurses, despite their
mission to provide individual care to all people, were human beings
with shortcomings and biases as any other group. Yet that
same experience also revealed the pivotal role leaders play in healthcare
management.
According to Malone, leadership hinges on diversity — the
diversity of people, situations and issues. “Good leaders,
therefore, are those who know and own their own prejudices, while
simultaneously holding all the diverse elements and people in their
organization and provide direction and create an environment that
moves the organization toward a goal,” she said.
Sharon Perryman emphasized the important role mentorship plays for
African Americans and other ethnic groups as a means to obtain leadership
roles and fill critical gaps within healthcare management. The Nursing
and Patient Care Services Cancer Care Education Department at Dana
Farber Cancer Institute developed the S.M.a.R.T program, which stands
for support, mentorship, and respect together in nursing. This program
aims to welcome a diverse population of nursing professionals into
the oncology specialty by hiring two new minority nurses every year.
Perryman noted the unique challenge Boston faces in addressing the
need for increased diversity in the healthcare industry. “How
do you improve a healthcare system that is probably the best in
the world but is also severely broken?” Perryman asked. “We
can address the issue but it will require not just changing the
face of the profession as a window dressing, but we must look at
the systemic issues [in healthcare management].”
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