Inaugural Equity in Caregiving Community Convening - October 10, 2023
We have the pleasure of announcing that we had our inaugural Equity in Caregiving Community Convening on October 10th at UMass Chan Medical School. The event provided insightful perspectives through the eyes of caregivers, clinicians, and community members. This event was funded by a grant through the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Master of Ceremonies - Dr. Brian Gibbs
Clinician Panel (left to right) - Dr. Jennifer Reidy, Dr. Scot Bateman, and Rev. Gladys Gbesorgbor
Dr. Brian Gibbs with Tuyet Tran (convening attendee)
AARP Massachusetts - Ms. Jessica Constantino
Equity in Caregiving Project | Principal Investigator - Dr. Jennifer Tjia
Deborah Dowd-Foley | Elder Services of Worcester, with a convening attendee
Attendees engaged in an uplifting affirmations session led by Dr. Brian Gibbs
Caregiver Panel (left to right) - Isabella Corazzini, Robert Layne, and Joanne Calista
Our convening master of ceremony, Dr. Brian Gibbs, Vice-President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at UMass Memorial Health, led attendees through impactful affirmations relevant to various caregiving roles. After a powerful introductory video message from Governor Healey supporting this endeavor, we had an informative presentation from Jessica Constantino, from AARP Massachusetts, about The CARE Act and relevant statistics to shed light on the obstacles that caregivers encounter in their daily life, as well as current and prospective resources to support this community. Next, Dr. Jill Terrien, from Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, welcomed our Caregiver Panel, consisting of Robert Layne, Asst. Dean of Outreach Programs & Worcester Pipeline Collaborative at UMass Chan; Joanne Calista, Executive Director Center for Health Impact; and Isabella Corazzini, Greater Worcester Community Foundation, who presented stories of selflessness and dedication to their ailing loved ones.
Equity in Caregiving Project | Principal Investigator - Dr. Susan DeSanto-Madeya
We are grateful for our caregiver panelists to have shared these powerful, empowering caregiver moments! Following this sentimental journey, our clinician panel moderator, Dr. Majid Yazdani, Hospitalist at UMass Memorial Health, introduced Dr. Jennifer Reidy, Chief of Palliative Medicine at UMass Memorial Health, Rev. Gladys Gbesorgbor, Senior Pastor of SOY at UMass Memorial Health, Chaplaincy, and Dr. Scot Bateman, Director of the Office of Ethics at UMass Memorial Health, who spoke about their experience with barriers patients and caregivers have encountered in the hospital. We truly valued their perspectives and insights on helping to further our research in equitable caregiving in hospital settings. After these stimulating sessions, attendees had the opportunity to network and connect with similarly aligned individuals who shared common goals.
Community Council member, Benetta Kuffour with Dr. Crista Johnson-Agbakwu, Executive Director of the Collaborative in Health Equity at UMass Chan School of Medicine
The success of our event is owed to the dedicated efforts of caregivers, clinicians, community members, and our research team, all of whom demonstrated unwavering commitment in organizing our inaugural Equity in Caregiving community convening.
Attendees in a networking session following the event