REPORT EQUALITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
what extent do we understand socio-political and cultural issues as a profession ? Is the occupational therapy profession engaging with these issues ?’ He went on : ‘ Inclusivity is not homogeneity . Inclusivity is not inertia . Inclusivity is not maintaining power and privilege . And most of all , inclusivity is not comfortable .
‘ I believe inclusivity is intersectional . Inclusivity is reconciling with the uncomfortable truth . Inclusivity goes beyond statements and promises … inclusivity is collaborative and warrants reparations . Inclusivity warrants justice and a redistribution of power and a relinquishing of privilege .’
He concluded : ‘ Inclusivity warrants a reimagination of the profession along the lines and all indices of inequality . As a profession , I ask , is occupational therapy ready to engage with these issues ? Can the profession accept individual and collective responsibility for complex social and political problems that affect its members , its students , and the population it serves ?’
Finally , Clenton Farquharson MBE and chair of the Think Local Act Personal Programme Board , focused on ‘ the ties that bind us ’ when unpacking what inclusion really means .
‘ I recently heard the phrase regarding COVID-19 that “ none of us is safe until all of us is safe ”, and this is how I look at inclusion ,’ he said . ‘ None of us is included until we are all included .’
He went on : ‘ I believe people look at the subject of inclusion through two lenses – one is through the lens of place and the other through the lens of belonging .’
Clenton argued that typically people treat the workplace inclusion panel as an area for addressing the subject , which is sadly an often ‘ tokenistic gesture ’ with no pre-laid groundwork . ‘ My focus is to look at how we develop a genuine sense of belonging where we work with people from diverse backgrounds that goes over and above the rules and regulations and standards .’
Urging us to ‘ keep it simple ’ and not to feed ‘ the bureaucracy beast ’, he said : ‘ We need to focus on cultivating a culture of community and acceptance in the workplace and in the community and whatever communal settings we join .
‘ Only then , I believe , will people feel they can offer their difference and unique perspective , which will enrich all of our views . Instead , far too often we see employees or clients hiding who they really are because they want to fit in , and be seen to say the right things , or alternatively feeling like they have to fight to be heard .
‘ So I would advocate that inclusion must be about all the protected characteristics all the other speakers have talked about .’
Practically addressing how we do this and what an inclusive occupational therapy profession might look like he outlined his own vision : ‘ From the very start of every interaction , however short , informal , or formal , you have to develop trust so that people feel welcome and that they belong , because it ’ s only then that people will bring their whole self to the table .’
Clenton explained that he calls this ‘ joining the human tribe ’. He said : ‘ It ’ s about being on the inside rather than the outside of the tribe .’
He then outlined what his ‘ tribe ’ stands for . ‘ T ’ is for transparency and ‘ creating the space for uncomfortable conversations ’.
‘ Rather than creating an equality group , where we argue about our difference , let ’ s look at the things that tie us , like the shared values that we have ,’ he urged .
‘ R ’ is about having a recruitment strategy that can genuinely and honestly create opportunities . ‘ I ’ is for inspiration , ‘ that involves people in the vision of what we are creating . ‘ B ’ is ‘ to build that future of inclusion with the right messaging and communication ’.
And finally , ‘ E ’ is about ‘ embedding that ethos and values , so they are not just words , but are fully integrated into culture and behaviour . It ’ s about how we talk to one another , how we learn to live with each other ’.
He stressed : ‘… for every profession – not just occupational therapy – we want to avoid the “ them and us ”, which can be so counterproductive , because it starts with a problem . It starts by looking at what ’ s different about us , rather than what ’ s the same . And the “ them and us ” equals inaction and inertia .
Instead , he asked that everyone focus on relationship building , ‘ which should be no different in the workplace to as it is in the outside world ’.
He ended passionately : ‘ COVID-19 has gone some way to show us the ties that bind us and that they are more important than what divides us . So let ’ s keep the momentum and continue with the new narrative around belonging that develops inclusion , equality and diversity .
‘ Let ’ s knock down the barriers of ignorance , indifference and inaction with understanding , unity and urgency , and keep hold of that sentiment that none of us is included until all of us are included .’
At the end of the discussion , Steve asked the panellists to imagine they were meeting again in five years ’ time and talk about what they would like to have seen happen within the occupational therapy community in that time .
18 OTnews August 2021