Expand your skills, earn recognition with 2024-25 Inclusion Academy

A new series of Inclusion Academy sessions begins in August, designed to help Penn State Health employees expand their skills in creating a welcoming environment for diverse patients and colleagues.

The academy continues to include its certification program, offering participants recognition at three levels: Diversity Supporter, Diversity Advocate and Diversity Champion. Continuing medical education (CME) and Pennsylvania State Nurses Association credits are available for attending some sessions.

Led by subject-matter experts, the Inclusion Academy offers four components:

• Experiential Learning sessions
• Monthly “Culturally Responsive Care” sessions
• Inclusive Health Care: Connecting with Diverse Patients videos
• On-demand educational videos

Experiential Learning

The first experiential learning session will be offered at 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20. Explore civility and its impact on health care and learn ways to use respect to embrace cultural differences. Employees can register for either the 7 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. session of the one-hour Ted Talk-style program.

Culturally Responsive Care

 The initial “Culturally Responsive Care” session will be presented virtually from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22. It will focus on maternal health disparities and reproductive health inequities. Explore the importance of culture in dealing with maternal health disparities, identify reproduction inequities and learn best practices to address these issues. Register here to participate.

Topics for these one-hour, monthly sessions include:

• Rural Health Disparities
• Immigrant and Refugee Health
• Community Health
• Mental Health Inequities
• Poverty and Health Disparities

Many sessions offer CME or nursing credits.

Inclusive Health Care: Connecting with Diverse Patients

This series consists of 15-minute, Ted Talk-style online videos that address being culturally responsive in light of differing cultures and faiths. The presentations also focus on the health care competencies needed to create an inclusive patient care environment.

Topics include:

• Serving Immigrant and Refugee Populations
• Caring for Amish and Indigenous/Native American Patients
• Cultural Difference in Serving Autistic Patients and Veterans
• Challenges Accessing Health Care

The monthly, one-hour “Experiential Learning” sessions, offered twice on scheduled dates, provide a more in-depth look at the “Connecting with Diverse Patients” topics. They explore the impact of diverse cultures and faiths on culturally responsive care and highlight best practices.

On-demand educational videos

 These videos present case studies to help create a more respectful, inclusive and culturally responsive health care environment for patients and staff. Topics include:

• Bias and Unconscious Bias
• Disability and Accessibility
• Impact of Cultural Differences on Patient Care
• LGBTQ+ Patient Environment
• Racism and Microaggressions

More information on all Inclusion Academy sessions can be found on the Penn State Health Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity website.

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