Creating health education and training that promotes equitable and inclusive learning is at the heart of a new framework created by researchers at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
The Health Equity and Inclusion Framework for Education and Training is made to be used by anyone involved in designing, building or delivering training or curriculum for health care professionals, including continuing professional development.
The framework recognizes health inequities and the needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations. Dr. Branka Agic and co-authors write that bringing an equity lens to training and education, “reinforces that health equity is a key component of quality care and should be the foundation of everything we do.”
Since learners have diverse backgrounds and identities with different needs and preferences, the framework urges educational approaches that:
- ensure accessibility for all learners
- use inclusive and respectful language
- respect learner diversity
- are free of stereotypes and bias based on gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, age, ability or other identities.
The framework uses the ADDIE model of instructional design – which stands for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate – and provides an easy-to-use checklist of questions to consider at each stage of developing materials.
You can download a PDF version of the framework here.