AOTA DEIJAB committee report

Below are updates on corresponding action items in the strategic plan.

Action 1.1.: Establish a DEI committee. The committee was established in 2021 and holds monthly meetings. The committee reports to the Board of Directors (BOD) monthly and provides annual updates to the membership via the Let’s Talk DEI (LTD) column in OT Practice. The DEI committee has grown to become the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, Access, and Belonging (DEIJAB) committee. Since our 2023 update, we said farewell to Shanese Higgins, Razan Hamed, Kimberly Bryant, Naomia Rivera, Catherine Hoyt, Samy Hamden, and Jacqueline Stevenson. In 2023, we welcomed new members to the committee: Ricky Altahif, Inti Marazita, Nicole Maitre, Jonette Ismael, Jamal Smith, Cecille Corsilles-Sy, and Danielle Centi.

Action 1.2: Modernize existing AOTA governance structures, policies, practices, procedures, programs, and services to incorporate our DEI vision and values. The DEIJAB committee developed the job description for the DEI Officer, which was approved by the BOD, and a new AOTA department (DEIJAB) was created and spearheaded by Varleisha Lyons and supported by Angela Warren. A new award, the Dr. Lela A. Llorens Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, debuted at the AOTA INSPIRE | 2024 Annual Conference & Expo and was awarded to Shirley Wells. DEIJAB committee Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were developed in collaboration with AOTA’s Volunteer Leadership Development Committee (VLDC) and approved by the BOD.

Action 1.3: Identify and address barriers to participating in volunteer leadership roles. The committee continues to work with the VLDC to create, modify, and pilot volunteer engagement from interest to interview, selection, and term completion.

Action 2.1: Curate accessible content and resources for academic preparation; Action 2.2: Curate accessible content for continuing education and professional development. The DEIJAB toolkit and resource library remain accessible for learning and professional growth for students, faculty, and clinicians.

Action 2.3: Promote the adoption of DEI requirements as part of accreditation, licensure, and certification. A letter submitted by the DEIJAB committee to the Accreditation Council of Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) played a crucial role in emphasizing the importance of DEIJAB components in education. This is reflected in the inclusion of additional requirements for DEIJAB in sections A.2.2, A.2.7, A.6.1, and B.1.2 of the accreditation Standards (ACOTE, 2023), which highlight the significance of integrating these components into educational frameworks, along with suggested terminology and items.

Action 2.4: Infuse intersectional DEI+ content into AOTA material. The committee continues to be actively involved in infusing content throughout AOTA, which includes this column (LTD), Dear DEIJA in CommunOT, Let’s Talk DEI Live!, and Panel Discussions. At the AOTA INSPIRE | 2024 Annual Conference & Expo, members of the DEIJAB committee conducted a 6-hour Pre-Conference Institute, which focused on implementing strategies for immediate change. Additionally, the committee hosted a special experiential event, assisted by numerous microvolunteers, which featured demonstrations of culturally diverse ADLs.

Action 2.5: Identify and disseminate relevant research studies that elevate awareness and advancement of DEI-related topics. As a result of ongoing communication with the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) Editor-in-Chief, a call for papers focusing on DEIJAB in occupational therapy practice and education was announced in 2024.

Action 3.1: Enhance awareness of and opportunities for occupational therapy careers within historically excluded and underrepresented populations. The committee developed an event called Paving the Path at the AOTA INSPIRE | 2023 Annual Conference & Expo. This event welcomed approximately 30 middle and high school students who participate in Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) programs. The committee intends to resume this event at the AOTA INSPIRE | 2025 Annual Conference & Expo and encourages the OT community to visit underserved schools and programs to educate participants on the profession.

Action 3.2: Identify and address barriers to admission to and successful completion of OT and OTA programs. Two articles have been published in OT Practice relevant to this action step: highlighting student admissions and its role in diversifying the workforce; and the significance of minority leadership in OT and OTA academics and practice.

Action 3.3: Examine experiential differences and barriers in employment for occupational therapy professionals and students from diverse backgrounds and determine approaches to support our community. The committee organized an inaugural panel discussion featuring speakers from all the AOTA Multicultural, Diversity, and Inclusion (MDI) groups, as well as other connected groups such as the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD) and the Arab American Occupational Therapy Group (AAOTG). The focus of this discussion was to elevate the voices of historically underrepresented communities. The committee is actively pursuing further collaborative opportunities.

Action 4.1: Build, regularly update, and consistently communicate the lexicon of terms related to DEI+ that is relevant to our membership; Action 4.2: Collect and transparently share information about our DEI+ efforts. The AOTA DEIJAB page is regularly monitored and continually updated. We also have a dei@aota.org email address that expedites requests to revise and update DEIJAB resources. Committee members are often invited to share knowledge and expertise on DEIJAB principles as guest speakers or panelists, including an invitation to present culturally diverse ADLs at Florida International University.

Action 4.3: Apply a DEI lens to all AOTA communications. The committee is currently reviewing documents for several AOTA committees. The new AOTA Press book Everyday Ethics & Occupational Therapy (2023) has a number of chapters that were reviewed and/or authored by DEIJAB committee members.

Action 4.4: Create collaborations with agencies and organizations to understand the shifting demographic composition of the profession. The committee met with the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) (https://www.apta.org/), and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) DEI staff to learn about DEI development efforts, and attended MDI meetings to explore collaboration opportunities. Resources were shared with various entities, as well as during interprofessional meetings including Project ECHO (University of New Mexico, n.d.).

AOTA member support is paramount to the success of the committee’s efforts. The committee continues to work toward the strategic plan and seeks AOTA member collaboration and volunteers to implement DEIJAB initiatives. The committee would like to acknowledge the continuation of support from AOTA staff liaisons to the DEIJAB committee: Alison Bondurant, Varleisha Lyons, and Angela Warren. Additionally, we want to thank the AOTA BOD for continually supporting and promoting DEIJAB efforts. We look forward to the future when the DEIJAB Chairperson will have a voice and a vote as a Board member. In doing so, this will further advance, elevate, and secure a diverse, inclusive, and accessible future for our beloved OT community.

References

Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. (2023). 2023 ACOTE Standards and interpretive guide. https://acoteonline.org/accreditation-explained/standards/

Kornblit Kennell, B., & Howard, B. S. (Eds.). (2023). Everyday ethics & occupational therapy. AOTA Press.

University of New Mexico (n.d.). Project ECHO. https://projectecho.unm.edu/

AOTA DEIJAB Committee 2023–2024: Ricardo Altahif, Danielle Centi, Natalie Chang Wright, Cecille Corsilles-Sy, Samy Hamden, Catherine Hoyt, Jonette Ishmael, Nicole Maitre, Inti Marazita, Jamal Smith, and Jacqueline Stevenson.