Shirley Ryan's SLP-CDIAR (Cultural Diversity Inclusion and Anti-Racism) Task Force

Initiative Categories

Focus Areas

Summary

The Shirley Ryan SLP-CDIAR Task Force was formed in 2022 by a cohort of SLPs who embarked on a collaborative endeavor to improve cultural humility at an urban, multi-level rehabilitation hospital.​ Our goal continues to be to support and foster measurable, evidence-based cultural diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism efforts for SLPs in order to achieve best outcomes for patients from historically marginalized groups.​ Each year as a group we continue to listen, learn, grow, and further hone our collective efforts.

Some hallmark achievements of SLP-CDIAR include creating and disseminating quarterly newsletters including topics related to DEI (i.e. Gender & Sexuality, Social Determinants of Health, Shared Decision-Making, Inclusive Communication, and Neurodiversity—an example of one is attached), planning and participating in an annual retreat, engaging with our community through volunteering events, hosting speakers within our monthly meetings, as well as completing independent reading and research paired with discussion of published articles and other content related to our efforts.

SLP-CDIAR meets monthly, with communication outside of meetings as well as in-person events. Our group is self-formed and meets outside of work hours. CDIAR's goals for 2024 include the following:

1. SLP-CDIAR will pursue and foster collaboration opportunities with interdisciplinary colleagues (e.g. IDEA members, other Allied Health disciplines, Psychology) to promote equitable patient access to SRAL care and services.
2. SLP-CDIAR will engage with colleagues in SRAL Academy to examine and support integration of DEI considerations into SRAL Mentorship training (e.g. for new hire employees and students).
3. SLP-CDIAR will continue to engage in at least 2 community outreach activities to: build relationships with community members, particularly those in historically underrepresented groups, and promote awareness of SLP profession among school-aged individuals as a strategy to increase provider diversity in our field.

We are always looking to learn about the DEI efforts of other groups in other organizations to use as a model for continue to expand and diversify our goals and achievements at Shirley Ryan!

For More Information

See the SLP-CDIAR April 2023 newsletter [PDF] or contact Caroline Hague at carolinehague@sralab.org.

This initiative was submitted on July 17, 2024.