Fall 2021 (Volume 31, Number 3)
The Time Is Now for the Canadian
Rheumatology Community To Lead the
Way in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion!
By Nicole Johnson, MD, FRCPC
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The year 2020 was the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,
but also the beginning of a new consciousness of
the ongoing oppression of Black people in society. The
inhumane and violent death of George Floyd was captured
on video and became viral on social media. There was an immediate
response globally to acknowledge and address the
injustices experienced by Black individuals. Our own Canadian
Rheumatology Association (CRA) leadership addressed
our membership with a President’s message1 followed by a call
for volunteers to form a Task Force on diversity and inclusion.
The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force was established
in August 2020, and consists of Drs. Tooba Ali, Maysoon
Eldoma, Aurore Fifi-Mah, Natasha Gakhal, Nicole Johnson
(Chair), Ambreen Khan, Manisha Mulgund, Trudy Taylor
and our invaluable CRA coordinator, Kevin Baijnauth.
Our volunteers on the Task Force are avid advocates of
the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiative and wish
to guide the CRA to become a leader as an inclusive and
innovative Canadian subspecialty organization. Quotes
from some of our members are as follows: “I identify as an
Afro-Caribbean woman with a multicultural upbringing,
being born on a French island where diversity is the norm.
After moving to Canada, I struggled with the lack of diversity
in leadership roles. Becoming a member of the EDI Task
Force Committee is a unique opportunity to provide guidance
and inform the important changes necessary to implement
EDI pillars in the CRA,” says Dr. Aurore Fifi-Mah.
“I am passionate about EDI in all spaces and am excited to
see it being embraced in an explicit and thoughtful way by
the CRA. I want to be a part of that, both to help shape the
values that guide the operation of our organization and
for personal growth and education,” says Dr. Trudy Taylor.
Our focus to date has been identifying key diversity and
inclusion priorities for the CRA Board. One of these priorities
entailed defining Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
as it pertains to the CRA organization.2 It was important to
the Task Force members that the CRA efforts for EDI were
not limited to racial differences, but to encompass all equity-deserving
groups. These additional groups include, but
are not exclusive to, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion
and varied abilities. As with many organizations with
a strong commitment in EDI, we strive to move beyond a
statement on equity to having our day-to-day operations
reflect the principles of EDI.3,4
The next steps will be to establish, in conjunction with the
CRA board, organizational values that will incorporate EDI
concepts. These values will be central to all functions and
decisions of the CRA and will be an integral force behind
the priorities of the organization as the CRA works with its
membership, staff and stakeholders. In addition, through the
newly established links to other CRA committees, for example
the Communications, Education, Human Resources and Annual
Scientific Meeting Planning Committees, the Task Force
hopes to highlight EDI across the organization. An early example
of these efforts was a well-received session on EDI in
the LEAP (CRA leadership) program.
Our future aspirations include seeing opportunities to
enhance EDI skills in our CRA members through awareness,
education, and policies which will ultimately influence our
daily activities in advocacy, leadership, sponsorship and
justice for equity-deserving populations. The time is now
to make changes in our healthcare systems. Racism, be it
individual, interpersonal, institutional or systemic in nature,
is a social determinant of health.5 We can no longer
turn a blind eye to this reality. The year 2021 has shown
us the devastating impact of COVID-19 on various populations
in Canada, including our rheumatology patients, and
highlighted health inequalities across the country.5 In addition,
the recent discovery of unmarked graves of Indigenous
children in Canada has brought increased awareness of the
effects of systemic racism and its long-term impact on the
mental and physical health of the generations of survivors
of residential schools and their families, some of whom are
our neighbours, colleagues, and patients. We need to take responsibility for the lasting intergenerational impact of
residential schools in Canada,6 by addressing health inequalities
as health providers. These inequities leave us
with a renewed commitment to take responsibility as
colleagues, educators, rheumatology providers, researchers
and global citizens to be part of the change towards health
equality and justice for all. As a rheumatology community,
we would like to be at the forefront of this transformation,
and we welcome new members to the Task Force to be part
of the change.
Nicole Johnson, MD, FRCPC
Pediatric Rheumatologist,
Evaluation coordinator, Pediatric Clerkship
Calgary, Alberta
References:
1. President’s message on Diversity. Canadian Rheumatology Association. Available at www.rheum.ca.
Accessed August 30, 2021.
2. Definitions of EDI. Available at www.rheum.ca. Accessed August 30, 2021.
3. 15 Ways to Improve Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace. Socialchorus. Available at https://socialchorus.com/blog/15-ways-to-improve-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/.
Accessed July 26, 2021.
4. Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture. National Human Services Assembly.
Available at https://www.nationalassembly.org/resources/awake-to-woke-to-work-building-a-race-
equity-culture/. Accessed August 16, 2021
5. Social Determinants of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at
https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/social-determinants-health. Accessed August
16, 2021.
6. Hanson E, et al. The Residential School System. Indigenous Foundations. First Nations and Indigenous
Studies UBC. 2020. Available at https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_
school_system/. Accessed August 16, 2021.
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