Does Difference Matter?: Diversity and Human Rights in a Hospital Workplace

The urban hospital workplace is a dynamic environment that mirrors the cultural and social diversity of the modern city. This paper explores the literature relating to diversity in the workplace and then describes an urban Canadian teaching hospital's comprehensive approach to the promotion of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social work in health care 2007-04, Vol.44 (3), p.145-159
Main Authors: Sulman, Joanne, Kanee, Marylin, Stewart, Paulette, Savage, Diane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cultural Diversity
Cultural Pluralism
Diversity
Focus Groups
hospital
Hospitals
Hospitals, Teaching
Hospitals, Urban
Human Rights
Humans
Management
Minority & ethnic groups
Ontario
Organizational behavior
Organizational Change
Personnel, Hospital
Social Work
Social Work Research
Teaching hospitals
Urban Areas
Work site programmes
workplace
Workplaces
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Summary:The urban hospital workplace is a dynamic environment that mirrors the cultural and social diversity of the modern city. This paper explores the literature relating to diversity in the workplace and then describes an urban Canadian teaching hospital's comprehensive approach to the promotion of an equitable and inclusive diverse environment. With this goal, four years ago the hospital established an office of Diversity and Human Rights staffed by a social worker. The office provides education, training, policy development and complaints management. The administration also convened a hospital-wide committee to advise on the outcomes, and to plan a process for diversity and human rights organizational change. The committee worked with a social work research consultant to design a qualitative focus group study, currently ongoing, to explore the perspectives of hospital staff. The lessons learned from the process have the potential to increase overall cultural competency of staff that can translate into more sensitive work with patients.
ISSN:0098-1389
1541-034X
DOI:10.1300/J010v44n03_02