Abstract Manager

Workshop

WC2-1

Decline

no

General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)

Workshop

Alone in the Ring: Research-based Theatre to promote equity and inclusion for people with disabilities in healthcare programs

Healthcare has the lowest representation of workers with disabilities, suggesting that unaccommodating systems may be more prevalent in this sector than in others. The main barriers students with disabilities face are attitudes towards disability, stigma, lack of appropriate policies, and lack of knowledge of how to accommodate in the healthcare educational programs.

In our recent work, we used the innovative method of Research-Based Theatre to facilitate attitudinal change. A theatrical production is an accessible and experiential form of art-based knowledge translation. We have created a 40-minute play called Alone in the Ring, displaying students' and clinicians' lived experiences with disabilities in healthcare professions. The play was already shared with 1,000 students, faculty, and staff in healthcare programs and received outstanding feedback as engaging and thought-provoking. We will share the full play, which was adapted into an online version presented by four actors. Following the play, and based on the stories presented, the actors who are also healthcare students and faculty with and without disabilities will facilitate an interactive workshop to explore ways to remove barriers and increase the participation of people with disabilities in healthcare programs.

Healthcare students, staff, faculty, and other stakeholders with and without disabilities.

(A) Participants will gain awareness of the barriers for inclusion and equity for people with disabilities in healthcare professions (B) Participants will reflect and identify their attitudes and perspectives of people with disabilities in healthcare professions. (C) Participants will learn about the actions they can take to increase the inclusion of people with disabilities in their own environments.

1. Bulk, L., Tikhonova, J., Batalova, A., Gagnon, J., Mayer, Y., Krupa, T., Lee, M., Nimmon, L., & Jarus, T. (2020). Disabled healthcare professionals' diverse, embodied, and socially embedded experiences. Advances in Health Sciences Education. Accepted and Published on-line. 2. Battalova, A., Bulk, L., Hole, R., Krupa, T., Lee, M., Mayer, Y., & Jarus, T. (2020). "I can understand where they're coming from". How clinicians' disability experiences shape their interaction with clients. Qualitative Health Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320922193. 3. Bulk, L. Y., Easterbrook, A., Roberts, E., Groening, M., Murphy, S., Lee, M., Ghanouni, P., Gagnon, J. & Jarus, T. (2017). 'We are not anything alike': marginalization of health professionals with disabilities. Disability & Society, 32(5), 615-634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1308247

Disabilities

Inclusion

Research-based Theatre

General

Physician & Medical Student Health and Well-being

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

yes