Diversity and Inclusion

Set of consistent attitudes, knowledge, skills, behaviours and policies required to effectively meet the needs of all the people we serve.

People within the organization who work effectively in cross-cultural and diverse situations:

• Reduce disparities in health services
• Address inequitable access
• Respectfully respond to the diversity of all Nova Scotians
• Race, ethnicity, language, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, spirituality, age, literacy, education and income, etc.

Questions to Consider:

• How important is your culture to your health?
• Do you want certain things when you are sick?
• What home remedies did your family use?

Questions to Consider:

• How do we consider cultural differences in our services?
• How does culture make a difference?
• Why is culture fundamental?

Cultural safety moves beyond the concept of cultural sensitivity to analyzing power imbalances, institutional discrimination, colonization and relationships with colonizers, as they apply to health care.

(National Aboriginal Health Organization, 2006)

• Based on respectful interaction
• An understanding of the power dynamics inherent to health service delivery of institutional discrimination
• Driven by the need to create equity through education and systems-change.

(Northern Health, 2019)

Questions to Consider:

• What did you learn about communicating across cultures?
• Would you do anything differently since viewing this video?