The main purpose of the Diversity Office is to support Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center's mission, vision and values by promoting diversity and inclusion as an integral part of the Institute's goal to understand, prevent and cure cancer.
Roswell Park is committed to providing an environment where patients, families, and employees are treated with courtesy and respect regardless of personal characteristics including, but not limited to race, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, or disability.
In this segment, David Scott, Roswell Park's Director of Diversity and Inclusion, discusses the importance of diversity and inclusion to keep the whole community fighting cancer together for better outcomes.
Selected Podcast
Diversity and Inclusion During Cancer Care
Featured Speaker:
Learn more about David Scott
David Scott
As Director of the Roswell Park Office of Diversity and Inclusion, David Scott is dedicated to building an increasingly diverse workforce. Under Mr. Scott's leadership, Roswell Park has exceeded both internal and external goals for workplace diversity and inclusion.Learn more about David Scott
Transcription:
Diversity and Inclusion During Cancer Care
Bill Klaproth (Host): Getting a cancer diagnosis is scary and diversity of your healthcare professionals may be the last thing on your mind, but diversity is needed and plays an important role in the fight against cancer, and here to talk with us about diversity and inclusion during cancer care is David Scott, Director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. David, let's start here – thank you for your time. So, why is a diverse and inclusive environment important when receiving cancer care?
David Scott (Guest): It’s important because you're bringing your whole self to be treated, and the first thing that you look for when you go anywhere – whether it be for something joyous or fun – is you look for people or something that’s familiar to you. When you're receiving cancer care or any other type of healthcare, that importance increases because it gives you a sense of comfort and a sense that someone understands at least something about you in regards to what your needs may be.
Bill: And I imagine that sense of comfort is vitally important after getting a cancer diagnosis and going in for treatment.
David: Absolutely. And, you know, one of the things that really takes center stage at that point is your culture and in some cases your religious affiliation.
Bill: So, all of that is very, very important. So, how important of a role does community outreach play then in diversity and inclusion?
David: It plays a very important role because our community has become increasingly more diverse and will continue to grow in that regard over a very short period of time. So, you're talking to people who may have fears and phobias about cancer, obviously, as anyone would, but then you also have to make sure that people understand that we're their advocates, and we're not here to scare them – hopefully help them, you know, with any issues that they may have, and when you open up to the community and you're sharing the fact that we're celebrating Dyngus Day; we celebrate Juneteenth; we celebrate, you know, other religious-affiliated type of programs, such as Diwali, which is a Hindu-Indian festival. That really helps open up your community. They say, they get me; this is a place that I can be comfortable, and people would be open and understand me.
Bill: Well, those efforts are certainly applauded. And speaking of the community, can you talk about any upcoming events you might have planned?
David: Yes. We are actually working with Native American Community Services along with Kaleida Health to host a job fair and health fair on August 31st at the Native American Community Services Building on Grand Street.
Bill: Well, that sounds good, and David, thank you for sharing that with us. So, in your role as director of diversity and inclusion, what is your main mission then and how do you achieve that at Roswell Park Cancer Institute?
David: Our main mission in simple terms is to make sure that everyone who walks through the doors feels comfortable and feels that they are treated with respect and valued – whether they're an employee, patient, vendor or community member. So, how we do that is again making sure that we're reminding our employees of the importance of that and why it's important, and it's important for people to feel comfortable and welcome here, and it's also important – it's just as important as they should feel that way as employees. So, when we look at it, we're constantly putting people in other’s shoes. How would you feel if this was you or your family member coming in? How would you want them to feel? That’s how we should be looking at all of our patients, employees, vendors – anyone who comes through the doors.
Bill: Yeah, I really like that – how you have that mantra: making people feel comfortable, respected, and valued. That is so good. So, can you share some success stories that you’ve had with diversity and inclusion at Roswell Park Cancer Institute?
David: Well, we’ve had quite a few. I would dare to say that we're constantly out doing outreach and one of the things that I hear a lot when I'm doing outreach is, wow, I’ve applied to Roswell a million times, and I don’t seem to get past the interview – or get to an interview in that case– so there must be an issue, and I’ve heard everything from the possibility of – it be because of their age, because of their race, gender, and, you know, the first thing that I do is I ask people if I could see their resume and that will usually tell me everything right then and there. And, in a lot of cases, people are not filing themselves correctly to the position that they're going for. So, one of the things that I've done is I've set up monthly classes that are free to community members at the BTC and the UB Gateway where community members who come have their resume critiqued, learn how to sell their resume specifically to positions, and we've had over 33 people get hired, you know, since that program’s been started. And, they’ve been people of all ethnic backgrounds, but we've had a significant impact with those programs on the east side of Buffalo.
Bill: That is terrific. I love that – monthly classes that you’ve put together to educate people on how to present themselves. So, as far as patients go, with the diversity and inclusion at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, do you have any success stories – patient success stories you can share with us as well?
David: What I can tell you is we had – we celebrate Veteran’s Day, and we also do something special on Memorial Day for any of our veteran patients, and what I did was, I walked around with our veteran’s employee group, and we just went and said hello to the veterans. We brought them a small token of appreciation, which was a Roswell Park pin with the American flag and the POW flag on it, just to say thank you for their service, and everyone that we met with teared up, and they were so happy that we took the time out of our day to recognize them – even in that small way. You know, it really made a difference to them, and they were so appreciative of that and again felt that they made the right decision by coming to Roswell Park, you know, again, for the extra added reason.
Bill: Well, I bet that simple recognition absolutely was much appreciated. And David, before we wrap it up, is there anything else we should know about the Diversity and Inclusion Program at Roswell Park Cancer Institute?
David: Yes. One of the things is that we know that this is a constant form of education that we have to give in regards to diversity. There are going to be things that are sensitive and difficult that we have to work through, but we’re committed to it as an organization. Dr. Johnson is really directly involved with our strategies and the way we look at diversity and inclusion. We look at it in the holistic sense. So that means we're looking not just racial, ethnic, religious – we're also including sexual orientation, sexual identity, people with different abilities, and also looking at people who think differently and have different work experiences. That’s what creates a winning team. So, again, we look at diversity in the holistic sense, and we look to celebrate our differences versus use them to tear each other down.
Bill: So important and such a great message and thank you for all of your work there at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and David, thank you so much for your time today. For more information, you can visit roswellpark.org. That's roswellpark.org. You're listening to Cancer Talk with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.
Diversity and Inclusion During Cancer Care
Bill Klaproth (Host): Getting a cancer diagnosis is scary and diversity of your healthcare professionals may be the last thing on your mind, but diversity is needed and plays an important role in the fight against cancer, and here to talk with us about diversity and inclusion during cancer care is David Scott, Director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. David, let's start here – thank you for your time. So, why is a diverse and inclusive environment important when receiving cancer care?
David Scott (Guest): It’s important because you're bringing your whole self to be treated, and the first thing that you look for when you go anywhere – whether it be for something joyous or fun – is you look for people or something that’s familiar to you. When you're receiving cancer care or any other type of healthcare, that importance increases because it gives you a sense of comfort and a sense that someone understands at least something about you in regards to what your needs may be.
Bill: And I imagine that sense of comfort is vitally important after getting a cancer diagnosis and going in for treatment.
David: Absolutely. And, you know, one of the things that really takes center stage at that point is your culture and in some cases your religious affiliation.
Bill: So, all of that is very, very important. So, how important of a role does community outreach play then in diversity and inclusion?
David: It plays a very important role because our community has become increasingly more diverse and will continue to grow in that regard over a very short period of time. So, you're talking to people who may have fears and phobias about cancer, obviously, as anyone would, but then you also have to make sure that people understand that we're their advocates, and we're not here to scare them – hopefully help them, you know, with any issues that they may have, and when you open up to the community and you're sharing the fact that we're celebrating Dyngus Day; we celebrate Juneteenth; we celebrate, you know, other religious-affiliated type of programs, such as Diwali, which is a Hindu-Indian festival. That really helps open up your community. They say, they get me; this is a place that I can be comfortable, and people would be open and understand me.
Bill: Well, those efforts are certainly applauded. And speaking of the community, can you talk about any upcoming events you might have planned?
David: Yes. We are actually working with Native American Community Services along with Kaleida Health to host a job fair and health fair on August 31st at the Native American Community Services Building on Grand Street.
Bill: Well, that sounds good, and David, thank you for sharing that with us. So, in your role as director of diversity and inclusion, what is your main mission then and how do you achieve that at Roswell Park Cancer Institute?
David: Our main mission in simple terms is to make sure that everyone who walks through the doors feels comfortable and feels that they are treated with respect and valued – whether they're an employee, patient, vendor or community member. So, how we do that is again making sure that we're reminding our employees of the importance of that and why it's important, and it's important for people to feel comfortable and welcome here, and it's also important – it's just as important as they should feel that way as employees. So, when we look at it, we're constantly putting people in other’s shoes. How would you feel if this was you or your family member coming in? How would you want them to feel? That’s how we should be looking at all of our patients, employees, vendors – anyone who comes through the doors.
Bill: Yeah, I really like that – how you have that mantra: making people feel comfortable, respected, and valued. That is so good. So, can you share some success stories that you’ve had with diversity and inclusion at Roswell Park Cancer Institute?
David: Well, we’ve had quite a few. I would dare to say that we're constantly out doing outreach and one of the things that I hear a lot when I'm doing outreach is, wow, I’ve applied to Roswell a million times, and I don’t seem to get past the interview – or get to an interview in that case– so there must be an issue, and I’ve heard everything from the possibility of – it be because of their age, because of their race, gender, and, you know, the first thing that I do is I ask people if I could see their resume and that will usually tell me everything right then and there. And, in a lot of cases, people are not filing themselves correctly to the position that they're going for. So, one of the things that I've done is I've set up monthly classes that are free to community members at the BTC and the UB Gateway where community members who come have their resume critiqued, learn how to sell their resume specifically to positions, and we've had over 33 people get hired, you know, since that program’s been started. And, they’ve been people of all ethnic backgrounds, but we've had a significant impact with those programs on the east side of Buffalo.
Bill: That is terrific. I love that – monthly classes that you’ve put together to educate people on how to present themselves. So, as far as patients go, with the diversity and inclusion at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, do you have any success stories – patient success stories you can share with us as well?
David: What I can tell you is we had – we celebrate Veteran’s Day, and we also do something special on Memorial Day for any of our veteran patients, and what I did was, I walked around with our veteran’s employee group, and we just went and said hello to the veterans. We brought them a small token of appreciation, which was a Roswell Park pin with the American flag and the POW flag on it, just to say thank you for their service, and everyone that we met with teared up, and they were so happy that we took the time out of our day to recognize them – even in that small way. You know, it really made a difference to them, and they were so appreciative of that and again felt that they made the right decision by coming to Roswell Park, you know, again, for the extra added reason.
Bill: Well, I bet that simple recognition absolutely was much appreciated. And David, before we wrap it up, is there anything else we should know about the Diversity and Inclusion Program at Roswell Park Cancer Institute?
David: Yes. One of the things is that we know that this is a constant form of education that we have to give in regards to diversity. There are going to be things that are sensitive and difficult that we have to work through, but we’re committed to it as an organization. Dr. Johnson is really directly involved with our strategies and the way we look at diversity and inclusion. We look at it in the holistic sense. So that means we're looking not just racial, ethnic, religious – we're also including sexual orientation, sexual identity, people with different abilities, and also looking at people who think differently and have different work experiences. That’s what creates a winning team. So, again, we look at diversity in the holistic sense, and we look to celebrate our differences versus use them to tear each other down.
Bill: So important and such a great message and thank you for all of your work there at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and David, thank you so much for your time today. For more information, you can visit roswellpark.org. That's roswellpark.org. You're listening to Cancer Talk with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.