Between the 5th and 8th of November, Youth Cancer Europe hosted the ‘From Prejudice to Progress: Discrimination, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Round Table and Workshops‘ event as leaders of Work Package 5 within the European Network of Youth Cancer Survivors, a project funded by the European Commission to deliver on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
The event focused on the development of an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Training Toolkit for healthcare professionals, researchers, and patient support organisations that will be launched in 2024.
This event was the perfect opportunity to:
- Gather input from patient advocates, researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. This information will help us to better design and customise the content of the EDI Training Toolkit.
- Create meaningful connections as the training vendor met and engaged with our community of young cancer survivors and patient advocates.
- Explore the challenges, opportunities, and strategies related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in cancer care and focus on the specific needs of the 3 main groups that need to be trained: Clinicians/Healthcare Providers, Researchers, and Patient/Youth Advocates
- Align on the desired outcomes for the upcoming EDI Training in April 2024 and make sure that we have a shared understanding of the goals we want to achieve.
We kicked off the event with an engaging Round Table with Romanian and International experts as panellists: public health specialists, global inclusion leaders, healthcare providers, researchers, and expert speakers on challenges faced by minority populations, moderated by Katie Rizvi, Youth Cancer Europe’s executive director.
The discussion addressed issues like the insufficient European data on cancer outcomes among ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, and disparities within the LGBTQ+ community.
Moving from awareness to action, YCE’s patient advocates Carmen Monge-Montero, Victor Girbu, Brad Gudger, and Stewart O’Callaghan provided updates on their research, including the European EDI survey that was launched earlier this year.
Acknowledging the critical gaps in the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan, Victor Girbu, Youth Cancer Europe patient advocate co-leading Work Package 5, emphasised the need to address diverse populations’ unique needs and barriers. “The EU’s Beating Cancer Plan acknowledges that major disparities exist between and within Member States. However, some critical gaps remain. For example, the plan notes differences in survival rates and access to screening programs, but does not sufficiently address diverse populations’ unique needs and barriers” stated Victor.
“The EU’s Beating Cancer Plan acknowledges that major disparities exist between and within Member States. However, some critical gaps remain. For example, the plan notes differences in survival rates and access to screening programs, but does not sufficiently address diverse populations’ unique needs and barriers”
Victor
Behind the Scenes of the EDI Toolkit Development
In the second part of the event, we engaged in multiple lively workshop sessions where we explored together the particular cultural, political, or social challenges and wrong assumptions we need to address in order to develop the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Training and Toolkits for the three distinct audiences of healthcare providers, researchers, and patient organisations.
We asked key questions like:
- What inclusion topics are not currently considered in healthcare?
- What groups and communities experience challenges or oppression and what can we actively do about it?
- How can cultural awareness best support inclusion in the healthcare setting and help provide care successfully in a given region?
We also took our time to discuss what matters to young people but often gets overlooked by older generations.
We want to extend our gratitude to everyone who took part in the event – patient advocates, public health experts, healthcare providers, and researchers! A special shout out to all the panellists and the participants Emily Pattinson, Katie Rizvi, Razvan Chereches, Ruth Borgfjord, Delia Nicoară MD, Istvan Laszlo, Esraa Abdallah, Carmen Monge-Montero, Nisa Eszter Rizvi, Brad Gudger, Shajjad Rizvi, Anna Zettl, Johan De Munter, Oana Rusu, Hilda Hajdu, Laura Cristea, April Dorenbosch, Erik Sturesson, Cristina Trifulescu, Nataliia Hrad, Victor Girbu, Karl-Smith Bryne, Hanna Ryzhkova.
You can read more about our Round Table speakers and the topics we talked about. Plus, over here, you can check out the complete programme and general information about the event!
Learn more about the projects we are leading within EU-CAYAS-NET and about our participation in other EU-funded projects here.
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Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.