Thursday, October 3, 2024 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Eastern
Duration: 1 hour
Overview
An organization with a strong Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) based philosophy recognizes the diverse voices of the community they serve and focuses on inclusivity and wellbeing as core components of success. Medical examiner and coroner (ME/C) offices should have systems and procedures in place that incorporate DEI based approaches for employees conducting death investigations. ME/C office protocols are written to ensure standardization, and thus equitable care. However, without identifying and anticipating the unique needs of individual communities within jurisdictions, medicolegal death investigation (MDI) professionals can inadvertently deliver care in a manner that causes harm. Having informed policies and protocols in place prior to the decedent’s arrival at the office, or even before the death is reported, can help avoid negative interactions and experiences with decedents’ families and a loss of trust within the community.
This session will bust the myth that diversity isn’t important and that there is already enough diversity within the MDI community. It will provide context on why diversity matters and simple steps to take to recognize when contextual bias can affect decision-making and the investigation process. Additionally, it will present steps MDI professionals can take to be more mindful and inclusive of how cultural backgrounds affect responses to issues of death. Death investigators should be sensitive to families' cultural, ethnic, religious, and language diversity.
Detailed Learning Objectives
- Attendees will learn to define diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Attendees will be able to explain the importance of diversity in death investigation.
- Attendees will be able to identify examples of ways to engage diverse communities.
Presenter
- Jan M. Gorniak, DO, MHSA, MSMEd, D-ABMDI | Owner, World Peace Forensic Consulting, LLC
Funding for this Forensic Technology Center of Excellence webinar has been provided by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
All Forensic Technology Center of Excellence live webinars are hosted using Zoom Webinar. Live webinars are archived and posted on our website within two weeks of their airing. Archived webinars do not require access to the Zoom platform.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this webinar are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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