Embracing unity at OMERACT: Valuing equity, promoting diversity, fostering inclusivity

Lara J Maxwell; Grace C Wright; Grayson Schultz; Shawna Grosskleg; Jennifer L Barton; Willemina Campbell; Francis Guillemin; Catherine Hofstetter; Beverley J Shea; Lee S Simon; Adewale Adebajo; Cheryl Barnabe; Niti Goel; Patricia Hurley; Elena Nikiphorou; Jennifer Petkovic; Peter Tugwell

doi:10.1016/j.semarthrit.2024.152422

Embracing unity at OMERACT: Valuing equity, promoting diversity, fostering inclusivity

Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2024 Feb 29:66:152422. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2024.152422. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lara J Maxwell¹, Grace C Wright², Grayson Schultz³, Shawna Grosskleg⁴, Jennifer L Barton⁵, Willemina Campbell⁶, Francis Guillemin⁷, Catherine Hofstetter⁸, Beverley J Shea⁹, Lee S Simon¹⁰, Adewale Adebajo¹¹, Cheryl Barnabe¹², Niti Goel¹³, Patricia Hurley³, Elena Nikiphorou¹⁴, Jennifer Petkovic¹⁵, Peter Tugwell¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Centre for Practice Changing Research, 501 Smyth Rd, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L6, Canada. Electronic address: lmaxwell@uottawa.ca.
² Consultant Rheumatologist at Grace C Wright MD PC, Association of Women in Rheumatology, New York, USA.
³ Patient Research Partner, USA.
⁴ OMERACT Secretariat, Canada.
⁵ Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases, Oregon Health & Science University, VA Portland Health Care System.
⁶ Patient Research Partner, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto ON Canada.
⁷ APEMAC, Université de Lorraine, France.
⁸ Patient Research Partner, Canada.
⁹ Clinical Scientist, Bruyère Research Institute, Senior Methodologist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
¹⁰ SDG LLC, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹¹ Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, University of Sheffield and Co-Lead for Ethnicity, Diversity and Health, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
¹² Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada.
¹³ Patient Research Partner, Caduceus Biomedical Consulting, LLC, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
¹⁴ Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, King's College London, UK and Rheumatology Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
¹⁵ Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Centre for Practice Changing Research and Centre for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
¹⁶ Professor, University of Ottawa, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, Canada; Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa, Canada; University of Ottawa, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, Canada; WHO Collaborating Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Assessment Technology in Health Equity, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.

PMID: 38461757
DOI: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2024.152422

Abstract

Objective: To increase awareness and understanding of the principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI) within Outcome Measures in Rheumatology's (OMERACT) members. For this, we aimed to obtain ideas on how to promote and foster these principles within the organization and determine the diversity of the current membership in order to focus future efforts.

Methods: We held a plenary workshop session at OMERACT 2023 with roundtable discussions on barriers and solutions to increased diversity within OMERACT. We conducted an anonymous, web-based survey of members to record characteristics including population group, gender identity, education level, age, and ability.

Results: The workshop generated ideas to increase diversity of participants across the themes of building relationships [12 topics], materials and methods [5 topics], and conference-specific [6 topics]. Four hundred and seven people responded to the survey (25 % response rate). The majority of respondents were White (75 %), female (61 %), university-educated (94 %), Christian (42 %), spoke English at home (60 %), aged 35 to 55 years (50 %), and did not report a disability (64 %).

Conclusion: OMERACT is committed to improving its diversity. Next steps include strategic recruitment of members to the EDI working group, drafting an EDI mission statement centering equity and inclusivity in the organization, and developing guidance for the OMERACT Handbook to help all working groups create actionable plans for promoting EDI principles.

Keywords: Core outcome set; Diversity; Health equity; OMERACT; Outcome measures.