Diverse OT: Leadership and Advocacy for Minorities in Healthcare with Michelle DeJesus

Michelle and Sarah discuss: When did she notice that there was an issue with diversity and representation within our profession?The 3 V’s: Voice, Visability, and ValidationDiversity extends beyond than just a person’s raceDiversity includes ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.Diversity is not just about validating the practitioner, but it also has a huge impact on our clientsAbility to establish an immediate connection if you and your client are from similar backgroundsNegative impact on healthcare experiences when there is a difference in cultureThe power of connecting to our clients of the same backgroundHealth disparities because of diversityHealth literacy when working with people to make sure they understand what you are trying to explain to themSuper Duper Handouts: https://www.superduperinc.com/Handouts/Handout.aspxCOTAD- Coalition of Occupational Therapists Advocates for Diversity: https://www.cotad.org/Minority Mentorship Program: https://www.cotad.org/minority-mentorshipCOTAD Chapters: https://www.cotad.org/about-cotad-chaptersCOTAD Advocacy & Outreach: https://www.cotad.org/community-outreachShe Can Be Both: https://www.instagram.com/shecanbeboth/Embracing the differences in ourselvesPromoting OT to people outside of our profession and to other professionals that we work withPerfecting our OT elevator speech#YouSee campaign: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/yousee/#DiverseOT: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/diverseot/Her experience with racism as an OT practitionerHow she feels diversity in the occupational therapy profession has changed since becoming a practitionerLGBTQIA+ resources: https://therainbowot.com/What she hopes to see in the future in terms of diversity and representation within OT and heathcareContact Michelle:Instagram: instagram.com/michelled_otWebsite: michelledot.com