Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee

APTA CT DEI Mission, Vision and Goals

Mission: Promoting equity for all individuals through advocacy of projects and policies that promote diversity and inclusion in physical therapy

Vision: Equitable participation in the field of physical therapy to optimize the health of all populations in CT

Goals

• Increase the diversity of the profession of physical therapy in CT to reflect the diversity of the state of CT
• Increase representation in the APTA locally and nationally by creating a diverse slate of individuals for APTA CT leadership positions
• Enhance retention of URG in PT by creating a mentorship program for DPT students from URG
• Increase awareness and recruitment of URG to the field of PT by creating a middle school and high school outreach program across CT
• Create partnerships with other health care professional organizations and organizations that are established within the DEI sphere to foster collaborations and increase impact
• We would like to ask the other committees and SIGs to help us advertise this event. Can you blast something out to all of those individuals or is this something that I can do through basecamp?

• Collaborating with Quinnipiac University and the University of Connecticut DPT programs to create a short interactive program that can be presented at high schools with large populations of underrepresented groups in CT. The program will focus on explaining what PT is and what the pathway is to become a PT or PTA. We will be piloting portions of the program at the Boys and Girls Club of Hartford this summer.
• Conducted a toy drive to support the purchase of racially and ethnically diverse dolls/toys that are reflective of the population of children being served at CCMC and its satellite clinics. We were able to fully stock three clinics with at least 5-6 BIPOC dolls along with a multicultural puzzle and dolls with a variety of assistive devices. 

Please feel free to contact Cristina Colon-Semenza with questions.