Novant Health Mosaic

00:05Welcome to Mosaic, your Novant Health podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity. You'll learn more about the mosaic of similarities and differences that make us stronger, and how health equity benefits us all. Piece by piece. We're telling the stories of the beautiful mosaic of Novant Health. 00:25Hello again, this is Becky Knight coordinator of Novant Health 14 business resource groups. Business resource groups, or BRG's, are an important part of the Novant Health diversity inclusion and equity strategy. A BRG is a voluntary group of team members organized around an aspect of common identity, such as age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or veteran status. The groups work together to support each other our business in diversity and inclusion strategies and constituency needs. One of the themes over the past year has been for our BRG's to host webinars to highlight holidays and observances that have special meaning to them. These webinars are an accessible way for our team members to share about their traditions, beliefs and culture. And it lets us get to know each other better, and to be able to better understand and anticipate the needs of our patients and communities. And this episode of mosaic, we'll hear from several Novant Health BRG members, sharing about Dia de los Muertos. samhain, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. 01:37First we have David Avalos, sharing about Dia de los Muertos. 01:43Dia De Los Muertos basically is a custom, it's a custom that is derived from an old ancient Aztec custom. And then there has been some influence from the Catholic Church. So Dia De Los Muertos is translated into Day of the Dead here in the United States. Death is something that's very grim and solemn and sad. And that is not the way they view death in Mexican culture. So day of the dead is really a celebration. So it's a celebration of life, it's to honor your ancestors that have moved on, or that have passed away. So we're here in the States people are kind of solemn and sad, and tend to wear dark clothes and things of that nature. In Mexican culture, it's very loud and vibrant and colorful. So there's, there's a lot of beauty involved with the celebration of this Day of the Dead, you're going to hear later on about Samhain and how on that day, there's this veil that's between our world and the spirit world. And it is believed that the veil is thin during this time. So it allows spirits to enter into our world. And that's not a scary thing in Spanish culture. That's something where these are your ancestors. This is your family. So you want to welcome them. So that's why they have these altars with offerings and they have celebrations and parties and they usually cook food and the food that they cook is usually what that relative's favorite meal was. So um, Day of the Dead you all will probably know it as All Saints Day or All Souls Day. So we celebrate it on November first and November second. So November 1 is technically believed that's when the children who have passed come back to visit and celebrate. They call them on angelitos, which means little angels. And then on the following day, November 2, that's when the adults turn up for the festivities. They don't call them the angels, they call them the deceased, they call them difuntos. Family members usually will prepare for several weeks in advance for this summer celebration, creating their offerings and decorating their altars and things of that nature. 04:08Next, Willette Balsamo speaks about Samhain. 04:12You know it, most people know it, as Halloween. Here are some of the other names, there are many. All Hallows Eve, Samhain, it's hard to pronounce. A lot of the a lot of things come from Celtic, or Irish, if you will, Scotland, The Isles the British Isles. A lot of it came from them. Also Egypt. There's many many histories of where Wiccans, more modern version of witchcraft. But it was also practice in China. So everybody's got their own little twist on this. So the pronunciation is pronounced “sow win” like s-o-w  like a Mama Pig, or “sow ween.” The meaning of that. There's a couple of beliefs that it means summer's end, while others find that called fire of peace, and a lot of that has to do with the bonfires and the harvest, it's also called third harvest, spirit night, hollow mass, Mischief Night, probably heard that, ancestor night and more. And it's also during this time that we open our hearts and our bodies to death. We honor those that have died whenever it's usually those this year, but it doesn't matter you can honor whomever you wish. We acknowledge sorrow and loss. We believe in an afterlife. We also believe in rebirth or reincarnation. 05:58Our coexist and pride BRGs co hosted a webinar for Transgender Day of Remembrance. Here is Nick Stewart. 06:06Began over 20 years ago, Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed to focus on the persistent struggles, transgender people face in their everyday lives, and how others can share their love, support and hope. Today, we especially remember those who in the past year, have lost their lives as a result of transphobia and anti transgender violence. We come together to acknowledge that all people of all identities are welcome in our organization, in our facilities, and in our communities. We recognize today that some face violence and hatred simply for being who they are. We gather against acts of exclusion, anger and hate. And we respond with remembrance, hope, and love. We come together from different backgrounds, origins, groups and disciplines to intentionally remember that we are one humanity, and that all people are created beautifully. We stand together for those who have died for their families, and for those among us who identify as transgender, that they might know that they are not alone, that we stand with them, and that they are loved. 07:20Now we'll learn about Hanukkah from Marcia Lampert.  Hanukkah is a holiday that's really mostly based on folklore. It's not what we would consider a holy day. Our holy days are around the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, well, and Passover as well. So this is really a holiday that celebrates a bright message and a theme and allows us to celebrate freedom. The word Hanukkah means rededication. And that was the story in 2000 BC that a group of people destroyed the temple. And when they destroyed the temple, the eternal flame, there was not enough oil for the flame to continue more than one day. But miraculously, it went on for eight days. We go by like Muslim, we go by the lunar calendar, so it's never the same day every year, but it usually ends up in December. For eight nights, we light the candles and we say a prayer. And we also very much in the theme of everything we do we always eat. So we are always eating during holidays, foods that symbolize something. But in Hanukkah, because of the oil, the oil from the temple that lasted for eight days. The foods that we generally eat our homemade potato pancakes, you know, in oil, and jelly doughnuts made an oil, very healthy. So a lot of gathering singing songs. Again, making it fun. But keeping the same of this light that lasted for eight days, how we were able to take back the temple and renew our faith.  Finally, you Vaughn Dixon shares about Kwanzaa. 09:21Beginning December 26, and lasting for seven days. Kwanzaa is a celebration of community, family and culture, established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African roots and heritage. And there are three official Kwanzaa colors. Black, red and green. There are seven candles, one Black Candle, three red candles, and three green candles. Each candle represents one of the seven principles guiding Kwanzaa they are placed in a mission Masaba in a specific order, each candle is lit on a specific day of Kwanzaa of the seven day celebration. The Black Candle the principal represents you Mojo, which means the concept of unity is a focus on the unity of family, community, nation and race. This candle is always lit first on the opening day of Kwanzaa of which again is the 26th of December, day two is collegia Gulia, which is self determination is the second principle. It represents defining, naming, creating, and speaking for oneself. This is the second candle lit on day three, which is you Jama. This is the third principle and is defined as collective work and responsibility. This encompasses building and maintaining the community by working together, taking on each other's problems and solving them together. This is the third candle. The fourth candle is the principle of cooperative economics, you Jama. This encompasses building and maintaining individually owned stores, shops, and other businesses. This goal is to profit from these endeavors as a community so we're talking about socio economics and the community. This is the fourth candle lit. 11:34There are three green candles, each representing a specific principle. These candles are placed on the right of the Black Candle, and the last ones that are lit on day five, which is Nia Nia. This is the principle of purpose and takes on the collective vocation of building the community and developing it as a way to restore African Americans and pan Americans to their traditional greatness. This is the fifth candle that is lit on day six, which is Khumba KUUM. Ba this candle celebrates the principle of creativity. The goal of this principle is to do everything possible to make a difference and leave the community in better condition than what was inherited. This is the sixth candle that is lit. And finally on day seven, you Imani? I am a ni Imani. This is the crucible of faith. It challenges people to believe in each other and honor their struggle as righteous and that they'll be victorious. This is the last candle to be lit. All seven candles are lit on this particular day. 12:59Thanks for listening to mosaic your podcasts for diversity, inclusion and equity and Novant Health. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.

Ashleigh Hargrave  00:05Welcome to mosaic, your Novant Health podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity. You'll learn more about the mosaic of similarities and differences that make us stronger, and how health equity benefits us all. Piece by piece, we're telling the stories of the beautiful mosaic of Novant Health. Becky Knight  00:51Hello again, this is Becky Knight. On this episode we'll be sharing excerpts from the webinar our Native American BRG presented on Indigenous People's Day 2021. The BRGs mission is to educate, collaborate and communicate with people throughout Novant Health and surrounding communities, with a focus on understanding and improving the health of Native Americans, as well as bridging gaps of misconceptions and challenges among the Native American population. Rebecca Souza is the leader of this BRG, and her voice is the one you'll hear on this episode. We begin with a history lesson.   Rebecca Souza  01:31Before Columbus, there already were people here in America, all throughout the Americas, north and south. We know they were here at least 17,000 years ago, but actually, they probably were here as far back as you know, more than 40,000 years ago. They migrated to this continent from Asia via the Bering Land Bridge, which connects Mongolia to what is now Alaska. These early people were nomadic and they were hunter gatherers. They didn't live in one place, they moved around. Here in North Carolina and Wilson County we know that around 8000 BC, they started to develop more permanent sites where they would come in seasonally like for hunting. And then when winter came they might move to another site. And between 212 100 BC they started to develop more permanent locations. East of the Mississippi. This is mostly true for all tribes. Villages started to crop up and people might move from village to village depending on the season. But they were more permanent. And they were like still relied heavily on hunting, hunting, wild game and fishing and also gathering but they had started to develop agriculture. They were developing pottery and cultural traditions like mound building. And mound building is one of the only permanent types of structures that we have of Native American people in the past. Since most of what they use wood, animal hides, mud dobbing, that stuff doesn't last after people stop using it but the mounds, the mounds did last. And east of the Mississippi and all along the Mississippi River. There was many there were many mounds built and there are some actually still standing here in North Carolina in the town of Town Creek. You can go it is in a state park and you can go visit there. I'm actually going to visit there this month. Hopefully. The baseline of Native American agriculture was corn, squash, and beans. And those all start to be traded all around the continent and grown even here in North Carolina. It's important to recognize and appreciate that these people did create complex cultures and traditions. Becky Knight  03:59So how did Columbus State come to be recognized in the United States? Rebecca Souza  04:04Columbus Day was first recognized in 1892 by Italian Americans to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the voyage. Then in 1937, it was sort of established unofficially as the second Monday in October and then many decades later, it was set up as a national federal holiday. Because throughout the 19th and early 20th century, Roman Catholic Italian Americans were members of a stigmatized ethnic and religious group, as were many Southern Europeans and Eastern Europeans. They campaigned for Columbus Day in order to place Catholic Italians into American history where they weren't really allowed to be before. Christopher Columbus sailed under the Spanish flag, but he actually was Italian. You have to you would have to understand that white was not a fixed term throughout much of the history of America. And many Southern Europeans and Eastern Europeans were not considered white, by the dominant group of the time, they were all Northern Europeans, English, Scottish, German, French, you know that that's the background of the people that were considered white and so it changed. And at this time, Italian Americans did have a problem with discrimination and prejudice in this country. So they were trying to celebrate a famous Italian American history. Becky Knight  05:37That was a big aha moment for me. Learning that Columbus Day began as a way for one marginalized group to elevate their standing in America. But honoring their own struggle and resilience came at the cost of honoring someone who not only never stepped foot on American soil, he was instead in the Caribbean and Central and South America, but who directly and indirectly led to the enslavement and slaughter of millions of indigenous people. Rebecca Souza  06:01Part of the agreement of his voyages with the Spanish king and queen was that he would send gold and slaves to Spain. And he did. He didn't find a lot of gold, but he sent a lot of slaves. There's an estimated 5 million died within the first years of Columbus landing on one of the Caribbean islands. And that began the subjugation of the native people, the Americas that has continued for five centuries and so in many ways continues today. Millions have died from the disease or violence committed by European colonizers, and entire tribes and cultures were wiped out completely. As you can see, for many Native Americans, recognizing Columbus with this holiday, relives the trauma of violence and loss associated with European colonization of the American continent. They have continued to suffer great loss. Even today, Indian reservations are some of the poorest counties in the country. And treaties have been broken as late as the last 40 years, land has continued to be stolen for treaties. And even their children are being stolen still. When there are issues that require a child to be removed from the home of a native person. In many parts of this country, they will be put into the foster care system and then can be adopted out to white parents away from their native families. So they have continued to lose their cultural heritage. Becky Knight  07:38So now that we've learned more about the origins of Columbus Day, and the impact of colonization on indigenous people, what's the history on Indigenous People's Day? Let's hear again from Rebecca Souza. Rebecca Souza  07:51The first day of this type was celebrated in Berkeley, California in 1992. In recognition of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus voyage, it was actually a counter to Columbus Day, they were recognizing the inherent problems with recognizing Columbus. In 1994, the United Nations declared an international day of the world's indigenous people. So that became the first holiday to recognize indigenous people. And let me back up a little bit and talk about the word indigenous. Some people believe that indigenous or Aboriginal are derogatory terms, synonymous with savage or barbaric, and that's not what it means at all. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, indigenous means relating to the earliest known inhabitants of a land, especially if that place was colonized by the now dominant group. So it's just recognizing that these people were here first.  Becky Knight  08:51So the word indigenous acknowledges that they were here first, is that what the day is meant to do? Rebecca Souza  08:58Well, it celebrates the history and contributions of Native Americans, as well as other indigenous people throughout the world. And it calls attention to the need to put diversity, inclusion and equity into history. To make sure our histories are inclusive of the facts, and all peoples. It reclaims the sense of culture and heritage for Native Americans and refutes the erasure of indigenous people. By recognizing a colonizer you have erased all the people that were there first. And we found this quote from a native person and it is “We are here, we are resilient. Our stories, people and land are important and worth preserving.” And that is truly what they what they feel, and what we feel is that this is something that needs to be preserved. Becky Knight  09:53In conclusion, Rebecca shared ways we can support Native American stories, people and land. Rebecca Souza  09:59You can shop native owned businesses. You can attend Native American cultural events to powwows.com, where you can find pow-wows throughout the country, including locally or you can go to any of the local tribes' websites if they have one, and they usually have a listing of any events they have going on. Research Native Americans of the past, educate yourself on pre contact and the history of the United States and native people. There's a lot we were not taught in school. There's a whole lot we were not taught in school. Educate yourself on the current trends and policies and initiatives that are important to Native American groups, such as the pipeline protests, water conservation, domestic violence, the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. These are all ongoing issues and you can find out a lot of information about them. Becky Knight  10:56What I'm not able to include in this episode is the robust discussion that took place following the full length presentation. We all learned so much and are indebted to Rebecca and the Native American BRG for correcting our misconceptions, and inspiring us to better honor the contributions of America's indigenous people. Ashleigh Hargrave  11:18Thanks for listening to mosaic, your podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity and Novant Health. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.

Ashleigh Hargrave  00:05Welcome to Mosaic, your Novant Health podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity. You'll learn more about the mosaic of similarities and differences that make us stronger, and how health equity benefits us all. Piece by piece, we're telling the stories of the beautiful mosaic of Novant Health. Becky Knight  00:24This is Becky Knight and I have the privilege of working with Novant Health BRGs. Business Resource Groups or BRG's play a critical role in our goal to embed diversity, inclusion and equity throughout the organization. BRGs are groups of team members gathered around a dimension of diversity. They're a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and perspectives. BRGs help us better understand ourselves and each other, and they help us keep our Novant Health promise to relentlessly pursue remarkable care every day, so patients get the compassionate, expert and personal experience they deserve. On a previous episode, I spoke with the founder of our newest BRG Rebound, whose vision is to create an open and supportive environment to raise awareness of mental health and substance abuse diagnoses. On this episode, we'll hear from a member of the Rebound BRG about how the group has supported her and her thoughts on reducing stigma in the workplace. We'll also hear from a member of our Women Physicians BRG to get a clinical perspective on mental health. Tanya, thank you so much for joining me for this episode. Can you tell me a bit about your role as a transporter in our organization? 01:40I am responsible for taking patients to procedures and taking patients up to the roof when they've been admitted. And I have a lot of interaction with patients. So I really enjoy just speaking with patients and helping them to get their mind off of things and just being there to support them in a unique role. Becky Knight  02:06Can you tell me a bit about the BRG you're involved in? 02:10Well, in New Hanover, we have a BRG that is focused on mental health awareness. It's called Rebound. And we are just trying to create a safe space for people to speak about what they may or may not be going through, what their family members may or may not be going through, just for them to be able to get help without being stigmatized by common misconceptions surrounding mental health. Becky Knight  02:55Would you mind sharing with me why you wanted to join the rebound Business Resource Group? 03:01I actually had a experience lately where I had to go in for a reactions with the medication and that reaction induced anxiety. Just that stigma of being afraid of going in for an issue that might coexist with anxiety. That is is the stigma that we're trying to combat. Becky Knight  03:35I spoke with Sarah Arthur in a previous episode, and she mentioned that in starting the BRG at first people were reluctant. And that's understandable, especially for a mental health group in the workplace. But that didn't stop you. Why not? 03:50I just have a great interest in helping people understand these issues and helping people understand that it's a medical issue, that there's a chemical imbalance in brain like we've all heard about. But we don't really know what to do with that information. That's just a sad thing, because it doesn't create that safe space that people should be able to feel when they go to a hospital for help. Becky Knight  04:18Yeah, definitely hospitals should be a safe space for sure. And I just appreciate what the BRG is doing because I think it's a good thing to be conscious of, for one thing, the words that we use to describe people and how even if we're talking, you know, among co workers, you think, well the patient can't hear you -- but your coworker hears you, your coworker hears what you're saying, and that might make them think twice about if you're a safe person or not for them to talk to. 04:48Everybody needs help sometimes whether that help is just talking to a friend or family member or a colleague or if they need to come in and get help from a doctor, you know, that's okay. And we're trying to create an environment where people feel safe to do that. Becky Knight  05:08Thank you, Tanya. I appreciate your dedication to your transporter role, and for helping our patients feel more at ease as you navigate them around the hospital. And I also appreciate your willingness to work towards educating all of us on how to be more compassionate with each other. At this point, I'd like to welcome Dr. Michelle Constantino to the discussion. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with Bariatric Solutions. She helps patients prepare for weight loss surgery, as well as help them live well after surgery. She's also a member of our Women Physicians Business Resource Group. Michelle, welcome. And thank you for being a part of this episode, I wanted to start with your thoughts on how the pandemic is affecting mental health. Michelle Constantino  05:55Yeah, I think it's been a huge change for people. I think people were isolated. And that was hard, especially people who lived alone. And then, I guess there's just different layers to it, because then there was people who are trying to also homeschool children and work full time jobs. So there was that stressor for people.  Becky Knight  06:16Yeah. And you've likely seen the reports by McKinsey, the Brookings Institution and others about how the pandemic has disproportionately affected women, especially women of color. So obviously, this is affecting our our team members, and they are feeling the impact at work and at home. A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation for women under 30, in particular found that 69% feel that the pandemic has harmed their mental health. So this is affecting our team members in their clinics in the hospitals and our corporate offices. It's something we need to address. And so if we're concerned about a family member or friend, coworker, or ourselves, What are the signs that the issue is more than just the normal day to day blues and blahs? When do we need to seek help? Michelle Constantino  07:07I think anything chronic so you know, we all have our days where we might just want to be left alone and might not pick up our phone or want to do something social. So that's, you know, normal, like I just want to kind of relax and you know, turn off from the outside world. But when that becomes a consistent pattern, so when you see someone doing that days on end, maybe coming home from work, and just isolating in their room, not picking up their phone, or missing work, you know, days of not showing up or not performing well. And, you know, your appetite changes, you can be more or less hungry for days. It's usually I mean depression, you see it, they say it's typically about two weeks. And that's when you want you want to know that something's going on. What else changes, um, you might sleep more, you might sleep less you you your sleep cycle can get disrupted, you might wake up really early or have middle the night awakening. So those are lots of signs and symptoms. Becky Knight  08:11So considering that mental health has long been difficult to access for many people, What tips do you have for how to access the help that you need? 08:24A couple ways to reach out for help are I mean, you can always just, you know, talk to a friend. At Novant, you can go through your employee assistance program. If you work for the hospital, you can see a therapist for free. You can also just call your insurance company, like call the number on the back of the card and they will tell you providers that accept your insurance. There is a website also psychologytoday.com. I love this website. When I've had a therapist in the past, it's honestly how I have found my therapist. You can go type in your zip code, you can check box, your insurance company and whatever you want to work on. Or you don't have to check any of those things. But you can see if you're working on depression, anxiety, just like life adjustments, relationship issues. And then it will populate profiles with pictures. And so you can read people's profiles see their picture and kind of get a feel for who might be a match for you. And then you can just email them or call them. And usually most therapists will give you like a free like consult. And so you can see if they're a good fit. And that's like the number one most important thing is to have a good rapport and a good relationship with your therapist. If you connection, you're probably not going to want to keep talking to them. So interview people . Interview and find a good connection. Becky Knight  09:46Do you have any tips for maybe for those of us who are working in healthcare, why it's so important to not stigmatize mental health and also for those who want to, you know, seek help, how to not let that be a barrier to them. It's okay to talk to somebody, it's okay. And it doesn't mean that somebody even has a diagnosis. And even if they do have a diagnosis, that's okay too. But don't make assumptions about anybody, like, you don't know what's going on in their personal lives. Like, they could have lost a family member during COVID. And they're supposed to sit there and dealt with that on their own like, it's okay, if they need to go talk to a therapist. A lot of mental health diagnoses are inherited. So there's a high percentage of you getting a disease from your family line. And when that happens, there's nothing you can do to change that, chemically speaking, right? You get your.. we all get what we get. And so what you can do is get support. And that looks like the right medication management. And I always say to my patients who come in and they're opening up for the first time I tell them, if you have asthma, you would use your inhaler to breathe, right? If you have diabetes, you take your insulin, so your sugar levels are where they need to be right? And so literally what mental health is hormonal imbalances in your brain. And so medication literally helps bring your hormones to where they need to be. There's a feedback loop between the brain and the body that works all day long to regulate all of our hormones. And sometimes that feedback loop just has a little miscommunication. And what medication does is get that communication back on track. So there's nothing wrong with that.  And any last words of wisdom or encouragement for folks to get the help that they might need? You're changing generations of dealing with mental health from, you know, maybe unhealthy coping to healthy coping, and people are changing that for their children as well. And I think it's a beautiful thing when someone can reach out and get help and make those changes. And so I think just you know, thinking about it, just like any other medical condition, you want your friend to take care of their bodies, they need to take care of their minds too. Dr. Michelle Constantino, thank you so much for being here and sharing your wisdom with us. And thank you to my earlier guests, Tanya, as well from New Hanover Regional Medical Center. I know that this will be useful information for many people. So thank you so much. Ashleigh Hargrave  12:28Thanks for listening to mosaic your podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity and Novant Health. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.

00:05Welcome to Mosaic, your Novant Health podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity. You'll learn more about the mosaic of similarities and differences that make us stronger, and how health equity benefits us all. Piece by piece, we're telling the stories of the beautiful mosaic of Novant Health. 00:25Hi, this is Becky Knight BRG administrative coordinator, and on a previous podcast I talked with Sarah Arthur about the creation of the Rebound Business Resource Group. This new BRG provides an open and supportive environment to raise awareness of mental health and substance use diagnoses. On this episode, we will hear more about addressing stigma and what Rebound has planned for the future. And I'll wrap up with some easy to access resources if you or someone you know needs assistance. 00:56Courage is one of our values. And I'm encouraged to learn more about how people are taking advantage of this resource for themselves and their families, and by extension our community. Is there a general stigma about mental health and substance use and even more so in certain communities? I was wondering what have you observed? And how is the BRG addressing stigma and making these conversations.. 01:23So we want to make every employee feel comfortable. Now a lot of times people rely on their friends and family and peers for support. And that's okay. But when you hear that one of them has also utilized a formal counseling service or a physician or a certain medication, you're more willing to try it yourself and actually utilize that help. I think that when you see someone like yourself as well, you don't feel as alone and isolated when it comes to certain feelings that you may be having. And it often helps if you can have a friend tell you, Hey, I noticed that you're acting a little differently. And that's why we also promote through this group knowing ways in which to bring about the subject of mental health. We share you know with throughout our system, the five ways to bring up mental health. We share things like Mental Health First Aid training, just to give people the tools because it's an uncomfortable subject. You don't want to trigger someone, you don't want to bring up a conversation that then you don't know what to do about it if someone is really in crisis, and you don't want to be the result of anyone's downfall either. 03:21So to wrap up, I'd love to know a little bit about your plans for this coming year. What's on the horizon? 03:30Yes, we had a really big focus last month on Mental Health Awareness Month, we had a lot of testimonials from people within the group, to again, try and break down that stigma and encourage more people to join rebound. The group, we have several different components that we're working on when it comes to education, reducing stigma, and then looking at our different policies and procedures within the hospital system. So one thing in particular, when it comes to policies, we noticed several employees within the group had been on medications from their physician, but through our policy, because it's considered a controlled substance. They didn't necessarily know that they needed to report that to employee health. And then in other instances, it came about where you know, a leader may have just heard that they were on this medication, and then had a perception of how it made the person act or maybe what diagnosis went along with it. Again, making the person feel like they had done something wrong for taking something that they were prescribed. So we're going to work with employee health and how we can educate new employees that are coming in, as well as current employees to make people feel like they can take their needed medication. Oftentimes, people may not do it because they want to keep their job, which isn't good for their mental health. So that's one thing. And then when it comes to education, we're continuing to promote mental health first aid training throughout our organization, specifically for leaders so that they feel like they have the tools to help their employees. And we're working with HR on the companion support team or compassion support team. So you have a peer that can support you in a crisis. 05:36If this conversation has sparked in you a desire to reach out for help, I did want to close with some resources. First Novant Health has a behavioral health call center. It is operated 24/7/365 and staffed by masters level therapists who can assist individuals and family members in navigating the world of treatment for substance use and mental health issues. We're going to give that number is 1-800-718-3550 and it's available to all team members, providers, patients, community members, to everyone. 06:27You can also contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Their national hotline is 1-800-6TO-HELP or 1-800-662-4357. And they do have a free confidential referral Information Service and it's available in English and Spanish. Finally, I just want to say thank you to Sarah for being with me and sharing about this important BRG and the work that they're doing and I know is going to just be so impactful in the year to come as we all try to get well and on the road to recovery. Thank you, Sara. 07:22Join us next time where I'll have with me a member of the Rebound BRG to share with me about how the group has supported her and how she's working to decrease stigma in the organization and among her fellow team members. And I'll also be joined by a physician from the women physicians BRG, which we have at Novant Health. And she's going to give a clinical perspective and some additional resources for team members and for those in the community who may need assistance. Thank you so much. Join us next time. 08:04Thanks for listening to Mosaic, your podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity and Novant Health. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.

00:05Welcome to Mosaic, your Novant Health podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity. You'll learn more about the mosaic of similarities and differences that make us stronger, and how health equity benefits us all. Piece by piece, we're telling the stories of the beautiful mosaic of Novant Health. 00:24Welcome, this is Becky Knight and I have the privilege of working with Novant Health BRGs. Business Resource Groups (or BRGs) play a critical role in our goal to embed diversity, inclusion and equity throughout the organization. BRG's are groups of team members gathered around a dimension of diversity. We currently have 14 groups, a few of which include pride for LGBT team members and allies, veterans, Latino/Hispanic and coexist our interfaith BRG. The newest addition to our big lineup is rebound, whose vision is to create an open and supportive environment to raise awareness of mental health and substance abuse diagnoses. We'll hear from the founder in just a moment. But first, I wanted to share some sobering statistics. Yes, our health care workers are heroes, for sure. But first and foremost, they're very human. Health care has always been a rewarding, but demanding calling and the recent past has showed us just how demanding it can be. While others waited out the pandemic at home our frontline workers faced it head on. From June to September 2020. Mental Health America surveyed health care workers to get a feel for their mental health and wellness. They have responses from over 1100 health care workers. And the statistics are pretty sobering. 93% of healthcare workers were experiencing stress 86% reported experiencing anxiety 77 reported frustration 76 reported exhaustion and burnout, and 75%. So they were overwhelmed. Clearly, our helpers need help. To find out more about this Business Resource Group and how it is supporting team members and the community. I have with me, Sarah Arthur. Sarah, can you share about your personal and professional background a bit. 02:30Thank you for having me. I act as the manager of community engagement here at New Hanover and previous to this job, I worked as a inpatient social worker, and a clinical social worker doing therapy with patients in the community. So I've always been really engaged and passionate about working with people that have a diagnosis of mental health or have struggled with substance use. I also have a connection with my family. Several members of my family have struggle with substance use disorder, alcoholism, opioid use disorder and bipolar disorder. So growing up as a child, you know, I truly remember several events that were pivotal to awaken me to this population and what my family was truly dealing with. One particular event my house almost caught on fire, because my cousin had taken too many opioids and was nodding off while smoking in our house. So I, you know, I struggled in the beginning as to whether I really wanted to work with people that has substance use disorder and pushed through that to find that I care about them so much, not only because they are part of my family, but because I can truly understand where they're coming from. 04:06How did those experiences inform your decision to try to start this group? 04:12So this BRG started because I feel that there was no voice for these employees within our system. I knew that we had patient family advisory councils for a lot of our different Institute's like our behavioral health hospital or Cancer Center. And also I knew about these BRG's that focus on different populations to give them a voice within our system and I just saw where this was truly missing. 04:48Was there anything surprising about the process of starting the BRG? 04:53It has taken quite a while to get people willing to join, especially leaders within our organization, because they didn't want to be treated differently for being a part of the group. But it's definitely taken off. And I've been amazed at how comfortable people feel at sharing their story and how supportive they feel about other employees that maybe have gone through an issue with employee health because of a certain medication they're on or they've been talked about by other employees because of some different behavior that they may be experiencing because of their mental health disorder. So I think that you know, the sky's the limit with this group. We named it rebound because truly those in recovery rebound higher. That's kind of our slogan for this group, just to give some hope for a lot of people, we have a lot of family members that have joined the group as well, and gotten support as they work to support their family and themselves. 06:10Thank you, Sarah, for persevering and for getting this rebound BRG off the ground, your tenacity, and your compassion is quite evident. So thank you for sharing that story with us. And I hope you'll join me to talk on the next episode about what the BRG is doing in the future, what your plans are and how those plans will impact both our team members and our community. Thank you so much. 07:34Thanks for listening to mosaic your podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity and Novant Health. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.

Ashleigh Hargrave  0:05  Welcome to Mosaic, your Novant Health podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity. You'll learn more about the mosaic of similarities and differences that make us stronger, and how health equity benefits us all. Piece by piece, we're telling the stories of the beautiful mosaic of Novant Health. Welcome to this week's episode of mosaic. I'm Ashleigh Hargrave senior director of diversity, inclusion and equity. And this week, I'm delighted to have with me, a member of our foundation who's going to tell you about philanthropy, but also how do the words diversity, inclusion and equity all become Incorporated, and the way that Novant Health gives back to our community and the way that we integrate into the fiber of the communities that we serve. so delighted to have with me today, Sharon Harrington, one of the leaders in our Novant Health Foundation, Sharon Harrington, is our Novant Health Foundation's chief of staff. Sharon, welcome to the show.Sharon Harrington  1:06  Thank you, Ashleigh, I'm so happy to be here today to talk to you about some of the work that we're doing at the Novant Health Foundation.Ashleigh Hargrave  1:14  Thank you, Sharon. And so, you know, I spoke about the words diversity, inclusion and equity. What do those words mean to you from both a professional and a personal standpoint,Sharon Harrington  1:28  you know, actually diversity, equity and inclusion for me, personally and professionally, our core drivers, core values and social drivers. For me, it means that I am part of an organization and a community that allows me to bring my unique life experience to the table without judgment, without bias. And so as a mother, daughter, a wife, a woman of color, of someone who's a first generation college graduate, and in my family, I can bring that experience to the table at Novant Health and bring my authentic voice. And by working in an organization that is tolerant, and even bold and courageous and really encourages that, I think it means that we are able to support and serve members of the community that may look like me that may have a common experience. And so that's what it means to me. But in addition to it serving me as a unique individual, I get to stretch myself, because I'm still on our journey to learn individuals, and about other life experiences that may be different from mine. And so every day at Novant Health I get to take part in training conversations, Business Resource Groups, that helped me stretch myself around diversity, equity inclusion.Ashleigh Hargrave  2:57  And I think it's so powerful, what you said share it, especially about the word supporting and serving. I think when people think about philanthropy, a lot of times, of course, people automatically go to to the dollar, which is important. But I think when we also think about the word philanthropy, what it means to support an organization, what it means to support a cause, and how those dollars and that support can go into our community. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about philanthropy, for those of our listeners who may not even understand what is that word philanthropy mean? And what is and why is that even important?Sharon Harrington  3:31  It's, it's an incredible word, but I'm going to break it down. What it really means to me, is making an intentional choice to be part of the community, and to help help one's fellow neighbor. And there are many types of gifts, obviously, that are traditional gifts, I'm writing a check in and making and making a fiscal transfer to someone. But you know what, there are so many types of gifts that one could give. I look, I look back at 2020 in the pandemic, and how our team members and community members stepped up to volunteer when we put out the call to action to say, we need volunteers around this, this this community challenge. We have members who stepped up and donated 1000s of hours to the organization. That's philanthropy. Some community members wrote a check. They gave, you know, gifts large and small. That's philanthropy. I look at our team members each year who participate in giving serving together which is our system wide campaign that helps the foundation to deliver programs and initiatives at the healthcare organization helps fellow team members who may be experienced a personal hardship. And frankly, this year, we really focus on the hope Fund, which helps some of our frontline workers again, who were hurting financially because of the pandemic that's falling out. There'll be. So as you can see, or or maybe I'll add one more, maybe you're someone who helps us get out the message around our needs. You connect this to other community members. That's philanthropy. And so I hope that they're one of those four or five examples. All of us can find a way to become philanthropists.Ashleigh Hargrave  5:21  That was such a great definition, sharing and really sharing how all of us, no matter our financial state, no matter what community we live in, no matter the resources, we all have something that we can give, and something that we can give to and towards. And I think, as you said, especially during the pandemic, we all could share a story, we all had a family member, someone that we loved a team member, someone in community that we could think about, and what ways could we have served that person? And frankly, for some of us, what ways did we need to be served during that time. So appreciate you sharing about the ways that we are all able to give. And one of the ways that I think is really exciting, and especially in our work, and the work we get to do together is really the way that Novant Health has shown our commitment to inclusion in philanthropy. There's a new fund that some of our members and community have heard about, and they've already donated to which we're very, very excited for. But for those that may not know, can you talk about our imagined better campaign and that fund and who that special person is? That has been the face and the leader in that work?Sharon Harrington 6:30  Now, absolutely. Ashleigh, we are so excited to launch the imagine better campaign honoring Dr. Garmin Brown, we're starting this, this campaign will address the overarching issues of health equity, we want to advance health equity in our communities through several kind of evidence based programs that we are doing at Novant Health to really serve and customize our care in our most vulnerable communities. As you may know, in 2014, Charlotte start with Charlotte, there was a national study conducted by Harvard University, it looked at the top 50 or so metropolitan areas, and evaluated how to families navigate poverty in those communities. Unfortunately, what this what the study revealed is that we were last Charlotte was last number 50 out of 50, in terms of individuals being able to overcome poverty. And so if you're born poor in Charlotte, you're likely to that's not something you can overcome. When you know, in Charlotte, we have lots of businesses, civic leaders who stepped up, I said, that's just not enough. We want that that's not going to be the signature for Charlotte. And so Dr. Gorman Brown, led a group of business leaders to begin discussing, how do we overcome intergenerational poverty. And we looked at health outcomes, we looked at education, we looked at housing, move that workforce development and, and so with our fund, I'm going to bring us forward, we're going to continue some of that work. It's called leading opportunity, and do that work around health equity and health disparities that we know exists in our Charlotte community, but in every, every part of our footprint. And of course, we're doing it in the name of Dr. Gorman Brown, because again, we we notice she started that really good, great work. What we'll do with this fun is we're going to begin to address those social determinants of health. I know you're familiar, these are conditions under which people are born grow live work, age, they, they may be the way that their childhood development, education, economic, their physical surroundings, these are behaviors and locations locational issues that really result in health outcomes or can be negative health outcomes. And so through this farm, we're going to begin to put together some outreach strategies. We're going to start we've started with a very modest goal of $10 million. We want to raise those dollars and Charlotte, and what we'll do is with the phone is we've got about three major issues. One is access to care. So with access to care, we're going to see to expand our healthcare on wheels initiative. As you know, our bills are our community care cruisers. We want to have community care cruises in every major footprint on Novant Health footprint. We're starting in Charlotte, we're moving to Winston Salem, we're now going to have the opportunity to have a healthcare with all wheels initiative in coastal North Carolina. So we will add an expand our healthcare on wheels fleet through this campaign. In addition community health workers, cohort. community health workers are individuals who come from those most vulnerable communities, and who work in lockstep with families that are that we're finding our high emergency room utilizers. They work with those families, one health issues. But also we find that many, in many cases, families have social services needs. So that health worker is really a navigator around health services, social services, and getting those families connected to the service to overall needs that they may have. We currently have community health workers in our major markets, but we want to grow and expand that cohort of workers. In addition, we're looking at workforce development. Ashleigh, as you know, Novant Health employs 35,000 employees across the footprint that is a major, we can have a major impact around workforce development, we've created a couple programs where we take some of our CNAs Who are these are individuals that are the glue to our healthcare service, and we're approaching the our CNAs, who may have a financial burden, and we're encouraging them to become rn. In many cases, these individuals wanted to become Rn or even doctors, but because of a family circumstance or or some other obstacle in their way, they weren't able to join that professional that professional path. We're now creating the upward mobility scholarship on we're starting with CNAs to RNs. We've had great results there. And we know that we're going to be able to expand that to some of the other allied science of allied health professions. But what we do with that program, in addition to giving them dollars to attend nursing school, we also provide a nursing mentor, a professional career coach, administrative leave, to pursue the the rigorous nursing curriculum, we've had great results. We've had about 30, we've got about 35 scholarships today. And over the last three years, we're looking to recruit a new cohort of scholars for this year. And so as you can see, this is a multifaceted campaign. Some will support communities after community work as our community engagement work in those vulnerable communities. And some will support our own team members who, again are members of those communities. We're really excited about doing this work and expanding it throughout our footprint.Ashleigh Hargrave  12:44  So Sharon, if people are interested in connecting directly with you to find out more information on giving and any of the work that's happening in any of our Novant Health foundations across our Novant Health footprint, how can they get in contact with you?Sharon Harrington  12:57  Ashleigh, I welcome the opportunity to talk with fellow team members and community members about this campaign to share more about our vision, our impact, and potential outcomes of supporting the campaign. Making a gift is a significant personal decision. And so I always always want to have a conversation. I want those individuals to see the leaders and our mission and really get to know us as they make that investment. This to me is one of the most important things we do as community members is to decide to make gifts to an organization. And so they want to do it on the website. That's fine. But I much more prefer to have a conversation please feel free to contact me at my email, which is s c. Harrington at Novant health.or. We can also we can zoom or have a telephone conversation. But we have so many great folks in the foundation that want to connect you to this incredible, incredible and impactful mission.Ashleigh Hargrave  14:06  Thanks for listening to mosaic your podcast for diversity, inclusion and equity and Novant Health. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.

On this episode, we sat down with a member of our Native American BRG to discuss her cancer journey and raise awareness regarding the health disparities experienced by Native Americans with colorectal cancer.

Sonia Hart recently stepped down as co-leader of the Black + African American BRG. She reflects on the growth of the BRG and how they engaged and supported members during the challenges of 2020. She also shares her hopes for what the group and Novant Health can achieve in the future.

On this episode we continue our conversation with members of the Novant Health Pride BRG. They discuss waht it means to be an ally and advocate for the LGBT community, including addressing health inequities.

We are kicking off Season 2 of Mosaic! Becky Knight, Business Resource Group (BRG) coordinator, talks with members of the Novant Health Pride BRG about what coming out means and why it is still relevant, even thought it has been more than 30 years since the first Coming Out Day.

What does the Veterans BRG do for team members, patients and the community? Find out on this episode of Mosaic when co-chair Elizabeth Lee and events committee chair, Cee Cee Thomas, invite BRG member David Cloer to share his thoughts.

Here at Novant Health, we're focusing on an important aspect of care through an area of work known as health equity – that is, ensuring that everyone receives the type of care they need. By focusing on health equity, our long-term goal is to raise up everyone's health status. When we analyzed the breast screening mammography data using a standard health equity lens, we noticed an opportunity with two of our fastest growing patient populations – our Asian and Latina patients. We established a goal, simply stated, to increase the percentage of breast cancer screening mammograms among women of all ethnicities who get mammograms.

In part two of Sherri's reflection, she shares her thoughts on diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

In the first episode of this two-part series, we will hear from Sherri Cheeseboro, chaplin serving Novant Health Huntersville & Presbyterian Medical Centers. She shares her personal reflection on the value of embracing diversity and inclusion.

In this episode we will hear from Sharon Harrington, Senior Director of Principle Leadership Gifts with the Novant Health Foundation. Sharon reflects on her past work with philanthropic and non-profit organizations and how she translates these experiences into her leadership role with the Foundation. Her insight emphasizes the impact that diversity and inclusion has on shaping the future of Novant Health in order to better serve our patients, team members and communities.

In this episode we hear from Kelli Sadler, Vice President of Nursing and Market Chief Nursing Officer for the Greater Charlotte Market at Novant Health. Kelli shares her experiences that have impacted her understanding of diversity & inclusion and shaped her leadership philosophy. Kelli is passionate about supporting and developing our team members.

Physician, community clinic founder, diversity, inclusion and equity advocate, minister and inspiration. These are all roles that describe, Ophelia Garmon-Brown, MD. In this episode, she explores the "why" behind the work and leadership she has provided to the Charlotte community. As of July 30th, we are pleased to share the launch of a new book, The Unexpected Gift: Profiles in Courage from Cancer Survivorship. Through her own battle with cancer, Ophelia Garmon-Brown serves as the inspiration for the book along with nineteen other Novant Health patients that poignantly share their stories of survivorship. *The Unexpected Gift is available today for purchase at Amazon.com or any Novant Health Gift Shop. For more information about this project, please visit the book's website HERE. *All proceeds go to the Novant Health Foundation.

Novant Health's chief community and wellness officer shares her reflections. In this candid conversation Ashleigh Hargrave and Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown talk diversity, inclusion and health equity as Brown reflects on her many years of groundbreaking service to the Charlotte and Novant Health communities.

In this episode we hear from Frank Emory, Executive Vice President and Chief Administration Officer at Novant Health. Frank's reflection highlights his own experiences with dimensions of diversity and inclusion and how that shaped his leadership philosophy. He shares how Novant Health is leveraging diversity & inclusion as a core value to attract, develop, and retain a talented & resilient workforce that is equipped to face the challenges of an evolving industry.

In this episode we talk to Latazia Harris, Assistant Nurse Manager at Forsyth Medical Center. As a leader, Latazia embraces the need to have a plan and strong support system at home.

In this second episode with Dr. Brown, family physician at Novant Health's Midtown Family Medicine, he chronicles the professional experiences and diversity, inclusion and equity work he has influenced at Novant Health. This includes their newest project, SOGI (sexual orientation gender identity) aimed to provide respect and safe clinical care to members of the LGBTQ+ and transgender communities.

Dr. Rhett Brown, family medicine provider from Novant Health Midtown Family Medicine shares an inside perspective on one of the biggest influences in his life informing how he chooses to live and care for his patients.

In this week’s episode Pat Campbell, system administrator for the Novant Health Women's and Children's Institute discusses how Novant Health is providing culturally relevant care during pregnancy and delivery and how social determinants of health - the economic and social conditions that influence the health of people and communities - can also play a role. She shares how we are supporting our expectant moms and families during this time and how to keep all members of the family safe. Women are allowed one support person of their choosing, which can be a family member, friend or doula (a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a mother before, during and shortly after childbirth to help her achieve the healthiest, most satisfying experience possible).

When most people think about calling a code in a hospital it is blue or red. Novant Health is doing it differently...with code lavender. Led by the by the spiritual care team of chaplains, code lavender has been employed to provide support for the hard working caregivers that may need a time out to process grief, stress or an overall challenging shift. In the midst of COVID-19, the spiritual care team is now offering a Virtual Code Lavender to incorporate team members that may be working from home but still need support. For more resources about mental health, NAMI or the National Alliance on Mental Illness have great resources accessible to everyone. NAMI is also offering specialized resources specifically for those managing their mental health during COVID-19; access them here.

In this episode we will hear from Dr. Trang Vuong, Novant Health physician and Pat Campbell, vice president of the women's and children's institute at Novant Health. Their reflections paint a clear picture of the importance and relevance of diversity across the vast, team member landscape at Novant Health.

Tanya Blackmon, Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Officer, does a deep dive and defines what diversity, inclusion and equity are for Novant Health and our community.

Dr. Chere Gregory, Novant Health senior vice president and chief health equity officer, breaks down the concept of health equity and what Novant Health is doing to promote it. A must listen for anyone working in the industry or utilizing healthcare --- that's pretty much all of us!

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black History Month, we wanted to take a moment to examine the progress toward social justice from a healthcare perspective. You will hear candid conversation from Novant Health director of health equity, Yvonne Dixon, as she links key quotes from Dr. King to the work Novant Health is doing in 2020 and beyond. Stick around for an awesome glimpse into Yvonne's childhood as she describes an encounter with a less famous but perhaps more influential leader close to Dr. King.

Listen in as we hear snippets from Cullen Jones' conversation with Brandi Edwards. He shares details of his experience as he matriculated through the sport of swimming as a minority in the sport. Jones is a two-time medal winner and American record holder. He is also a new team member at the Novant Health Foundation.

Rebekah Ramsey, manager of chaplaincy at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, shares insight into how we can honor and celebrate end of year traditions that may differ from ours.

Living with a disability can be difficult in a word made for fully able people. Novant Health is encouraging its team member to seek to understand exactly what it is like to live with a communication barrier. The "Different, Different World" exhibit offers participants an opportunity to experience a world with communication barriers for those that are deaf, deaf-blind and heard of hearing. Hear from a Novant Health leader that is profoundly hard of hearing and some of her personal struggles through the her lifetime, as well as participants who experienced the simulation and its impact.

Novant Health Matthews Medical Center President and COO, Roland Bibeau, recounts his personal and professional journey through the ranks of the military and into healthcare leadership. Along the way he encounters many dimensions of diversity and shares how it has enriched his work, perspectives and service to the community.

Differences are what make us unique. In this episode you will hear the story of a Novant Health executive, Melissa Parker, as she recounts her early years with the organization and how she learned to embrace her differences and juggle life as an attorney, wife and new mother. Today, she serves as a model for working parents on her team and how to ensure that their unique life and personal experiences are valued and accommodated.

In this episode we talk to Joy Greear, president and COO of Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center. As one of the newest facilities of Novant Health, Joy discusses the focus on diversity and inclusion as they prepared to open its doors to the Mint Hill community.

As a bonus, we invite you to hear more about each of Novant Health's 12 Business Resource Groups (BRGs). You'll also hear from some of our BRG leaders sharing who they are and why they joined as well as examples of some of the remarkable work happening within these groups. For more information on BRGs at Novant Health, email us at diversityandinclusion@novanthealth.org.

Novant Health has a robust diversity, inclusion and health equity program. At the core are our BRGs or Business Resource Groups. These groups, comprised of Novant Health team members, are highly engaged across the health system and within our communities. They are doing critical work that benefits us all from patients to team members to the community. We invite you to learn more in this podcast!

You'll learn more about the mosaic of similarities and differences that make us stronger. Piece by piece we are telling the stories of the beautiful mosaic of Novant Health.