Pediatric Coping, Health, and Illness Lab Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion Values Statement

We are deeply committed to fostering diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in our lab community, practices, and projects; within our department of psychology; and within the field of pediatric psychology. We are committed to anti-racist practices and value the diversity of individuals and their intersecting identities including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, physical appearance, language, national origin, generation status, socioeconomic status, religion, and spirituality.

(1) We are committed to fostering a community within our lab in which team members feel safe, heard, acknowledged, respected, and supported. We are committed to creating a space in which lab members can develop cultural competency and cultural humility.

(2) Our lab’s work focuses on gaining a better understanding of the various factors that impact the physical and mental health of youth with health conditions and their families. We recognize that our programs of research and the research questions that we examine exist within systems that contribute to health disparities. We are committed to recognizing the impact of these systems on patients and families, to bring awareness to health disparities, and to examine ways of promoting health equity for all children.

(3) We recognize that our research participants, colleagues, trainees, and mentors are systematically impacted by structural racism, heterosexism, cissexism, and ableism. We are committed to supporting those with marginalized identities and working towards systemic change.

Given these shared values/commitments, we have delineated here a non-exhaustive list of our specific goals and action items to prioritize diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in our lab practices. This is an evolving document, and our goals related to these values will be revisited and updated annually.

We are committed to fostering a community within our lab in which team members feel safe, heard, acknowledged, respected, and supported. We are committed to creating a space in which lab members can develop cultural competency and cultural humility. To that end, our specific goals are:

• We aim to create a cohesive lab community in which members feel safe and earn the trust of one another.
  • We encourage open discussion and a respectful, supportive environment.
• We recognize how our identities influence our values and how aspects of our identities afford us power and privilege.
  • Together, we share and read articles on power/privilege in psychology, discuss these articles in lab meetings, and encourage acknowledgement of our own position of privilege in lab discussions.
• We treat each other with respect, regarding the multiple identities that lab members hold and their values and perspectives.
  • We encourage each other to speak up when we see unfair or disrespectful encounters.
  • We take steps to address harmful behavior through the proper channels (e.g. the University Ombudsperson, a faculty advisor or associate chairs, or Title IX Office).
• We recognize that accepting feedback is critical to developing cultural humility.
  • We hold space to give and receive feedback in group settings, individual meetings, and through anonymous surveys. These methods aim to minimize the power dynamics that may interfere with giving critical feedback.
• We aim to be knowledgeable about social justice issues and current events.
  • Together, we share and read articles on ongoing social justice issues and current events related to DEIA. We discuss the origins of these social issues and their impacts at individual and community levels. We consider how to respond within our individual roles and our role as a lab.
• We commit to recruiting diverse voices as active members of the research team.
  • We aim to increase our exposure to recruit graduate students from diverse backgrounds through conferences, professional societies, social media, and our website. 
  • We will recruit undergraduate RAs in classes, through Psi Chi and the Psychology Department, the McNair scholars program, and professional societies. 
  • We will collaborate with other labs at DePaul and other institutions to diversify perspectives on our research projects.

Our lab’s work focuses on gaining a better understanding of the various factors that impact the physical and mental health of youth with health conditions and their families. We recognize that our programs of research and the research questions that we examine exist within systems that contribute to health disparities. We are committed to recognizing the impact of these systems on patients and families, to bring awareness to health disparities, and to examine ways of promoting health equity for all children. To that end, our specific goals are:

• We aim to ask research questions and conduct research to ensure that we are improving the health and well-being of all children.
  • We will critically examine our research questions to prioritize cultural humility. 
  • We will prioritize recruiting diverse samples representative of the research questions being asked through the use of intersectional approaches. 
• We keep ourselves up to date on research practices that elevate DEIA.
  • Together, we share and read articles on research practices that elevate DEIA values, discuss these articles in lab meetings, and consider how to apply these principles in our research practices.
• We critically assess our work to promote DEIA values.
  • We will involve community stakeholders to ensure that we collaborate to create community-informed research questions, procedures and products.
  • We examine our work and incorporate theory from diverse perspectives, authors, and disciplines.
  • We critically read our written products to assess for biases and incorporation of systems-centered and anti-racist language.
  • We elevate the participants’ voices in our research to ensure we are capturing the experience of patients and not relying on data alone. 
• Our work aims to raise awareness of health disparities.
  • In our research, we include analysis of systems-level factors that influence health.
  • We critically examine existing literature and patterns in research that maintain health disparities.
  • We investigate mechanisms and protective factors that mitigate or reduce health disparities and promote health equity.

We recognize that our research participants, colleagues, trainees, and mentors are systematically impacted by structural racism. We are committed to supporting those with marginalized identities and working towards systemic change. To that end, our specific goals are:

• We serve on committees at the local, regional, and national level to promote DEIA initiatives within our institutions and organizations.
  • We support and participate in department DEIA initiatives.
  • Members of our lab serve on the DEIA committee in our department.
  • Members of our lab are actively involved in antiracist subgroups in Div 54 Society of Pediatric Psychology.
  • Members of our lab are actively involved in promoting DEIA activities in Div 45 The Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race.
  • Members of our lab serve on the IDEA Committee of the United States Association for the Study of Pain.
• We actively seek out, recruit, support, and retain students, faculty, and staff of color.
  • We serve on search committees and support efforts to recruit and retain faculty and staff of color. 
• We support participants, colleagues, students, trainees, and mentors who hold marginalized identities by engaging in activities that serve to address systemic racism and discrimination.
  • We seek out and participate in advocacy trainings and bystander interventions to build our skills as allies.
  • Members of our lab serve on the Clinical Program Culture of Care Committee which supports DEIA initiatives and creates space to support students and faculty.
  • We give presentations and disseminate information relevant to addressing systemic racism and discrimination.
  • We support advocacy initiatives and are open to engaging in policy change and learning more about these processes.