Addressing health disparities and cultural sensitivity is considered a crucial skill in the healthcare sector. Adding topics of diversity and inclusion in your class curriculum will bring awareness to health inequities in healthcare systems and talk about ways advocate and create system change.

This is a blog from St. George's University that provides infographics explaining the benefits of diversity in the healthcare workplace, and why it should be encouraged. An activity I'd like you to do with your students is to have to have them read the whole article and then form small groups of 2 to 3 people. After forming groups, have each student share 1 way that diversity benefits patients, and 1 way diversity benefits health providers. The takeaway should be that diversity is very important in the healthcare space and it promotes better quality of care.

This website provides an icebreaker, presentation/video, and classroom research/discussion activity to teach students about diverse beliefs that impact medical care delivery. The resource provides a lesson plan for teachers which includes learning objectives, lesson format, vocabulary, and materials needed. Through the optional icebreaker, students can reflect on their identities and learn about diversity in the classroom. Through the Cultural Competence presentation and video, students can learn about diversity and culture in general. And through the research/discussion activity, students can understand a certain culture/country and their beliefs on medical care. They can share their findings with a small group and answer some provided discussion questions. Not only does this activity teach students that diversity can impact beliefs and behaviors about medicine, but it also teaches respect for other cultures AND it teaches what specific countries/cultures believe about medicine.

Students will be introduced to the US health system and the lack of diversity in our current health care workforce. Students will explore how patient outcomes are positively impacted by a diverse workforce. Cultural Competence will be explored in depth. Approaches to improve the diversity of our health care workforce will be explored. Videos are embedded in this prepared power point which includes various points for students reflection.

Health equity plays a vital role in ensuring that all feel valued and achieve good health. By fostering more inclusive interactions between those who give and those who receive health care services, can we really meet people where they are. The resources provided bring awareness to the importance of health equity.