The Massachusetts Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Program is one of five SMP Programs across the country to be awarded a grant from the Administration for Community Living and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the state’s Senior Medicare Patrol Program.
The Massachusetts SMP Program’s DEI initiative is Diversity + Inclusion = Equity Project aims to enhance the diversity of the MA SMP’s workforce—to ensure that the staff, volunteers, and partners reflect the diverse makeup of the populations served by the program across the Commonwealth.
The Diversity + Inclusion = Equity Project’s goal is to provide consumer-centric outreach, education, and counseling to diverse populations, people of different races, ethnicities, abilities, disabilities, geographies (urban and rural), genders, religions, cultures, language proficiencies and sexual orientations, through channels that are relevant and meaningful to them.
The MA SMP Program works in partnership with community leaders, and practitioners willing to lend their skills, guidance, and knowledge to help dismantle barriers and ensure positive outcomes and equitable access to healthcare and other human and social services for all Massachusetts residents.
What is DEI?
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three different but interconnected concepts. They work together to create an environment of respect and fairness. They involve initiatives promoting the equal access, opportunity, employment, and sense of belonging of underrepresented people in the workplace and other public spaces.
Approach
The MA SMP conducts its outreach and education work by engaging service providers from across the state by participating in the MA SMP Program’s Regional Advisory Councils, a forum by which DEI topic related peer learning and training takes place. We have chosen to target the following seven regions of the state:
1. Greater Boston
2. Metro West
3. Southeastern MA
4. Cape Cod and Islands
5. Central MA
6. Western MA
7. Merrimack Valley and North Shore
Reason for Regional Approach
This regional approach is an opportunity to learn from those regions and to support our partners in their own DEI, outreach and education efforts. Each region deals with different groups and demographics. Therefore, they have differing needs. You can select a region to join based on the catchment area that you either work or live in. If there is a part of the state you would like to learn more about, feel free to participate in that Regional Advisory Council as well. All meetings are virtual.
Learning Approach
Peer learning through group discussions within the Regional Advisory Councils.
Training opportunities – All training opportunities will be published on www.MASMP.org Events Calendar. We also encourage you to reach out if:
1. You have an upcoming DEI related training that you want to publicize.
2. You are a subject matter expert and are interested in presenting a training.
3. You have ideas for training needs or know where gaps in training might exist that you would like us to consider.
Be a part of MA SMP Program’s Regional Advisory Councils. Please contact Gisele M. Michel, Diversity + Inclusion = Equity Project Coordinator at gmichel@agespan.org.
