We Ask Because We Care - Glens Falls Hospital
Glens Falls Hospital strives to provide our patients and their families with equitable, exceptional healthcare that is tailored to their needs.
When you come to Glens Falls Hospital or any Albany Med Health System facility for care, you will be asked questions about race, ethnicity, preferred language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, preferred name and pronouns. Please click here for more information on our “We Ask Because We Care” initiative.
What is DEI?
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, collectively known by the acronym DEI, is a set of policies or practices that promote the full participation and fair treatment of all people, including populations that historically have been underrepresented or subject to discrimination. Many organizations have made efforts to hire diverse employees, and many more now have DEI initiatives, DEI task forces, or staff positions focused on DEI. When organizations make DEI a priority, they can build a workforce that represents the population.
What Are the Benefits of DEI in Healthcare?
DEI efforts help to address these inequities in healthcare and patient outcomes. In fact, DEI leads to improved patient care. An umbrella review of healthcare studies showed that in general, patient outcomes improved when diverse teams provided care. Improved team communication, risk assessment, and innovation are additional benefits of diverse teams. Diverse organizations also performed better financially.5 Additionally, DEI improves employee retention. A Press Ganey survey revealed that employees are more likely to stay at an organization they feel values a diverse workforce.6 Successful healthcare organizations value diversity, equity, and inclusion. The results are healthier patients, happier healthcare providers, and profitable organizations.
What is Implicit Bias, and do I have it?
Implicit biases are judgments we unconsciously hold about groups or people. Because implicit bias is unconscious, it can be difficult to uncover and mitigate.
The following sites can help you understand your own implicit bias. We have it, it’s how we purposefully address it that matters.
Test yourself:
What is race vs. ethnicity?
Race and ethnicity are used to categorize sections of the population. Race refers to dividing people into groups, often based on physical characteristics. Ethnicity refers to the cultural expression and identification of people of different geographic regions, including their customs, history, language, and religion.
In basic terms, race describes physical traits, and ethnicity refers to cultural identification. Race may also be identified as something you inherit, whereas ethnicity is something you learn.
What is preferred name?
Wherever possible, use someone’s chosen name. This includes casual conversation, email communication, and formal settings. This may be different than their legal name, or what is listed on their personal identification (divers license).
What is gender?
A person’s gender is how they identify internally and how they express this externally. People may use clothing, appearances, and behaviors to express the gender that they identify with.
The World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source note that gender is a social construction that people typically describe in terms of femininity and masculinity.
What is Sex?
A person’s sex is typically based on certain biological factors, such as their reproductive organs, genes, and hormones.
Like gender, sex is not binary. A person may have the genes that people may associate with being male or female, but their reproductive organs, genitals, or both may look different.
What are some different types of gender identity?
Genetic factors typically define a person’s sex, but gender refers to how they identify on the inside. Some examples of gender identity types include:
Nonbinary - A person who identifies as nonbinary does not experience gender within the gender binary. People who are nonbinary may also experience overlap with different gender expressions, such as being gender non-conforming.
Cisgender - person identifies with the sex that they were assigned at birth.
Genderfluid - A person who identifies as genderfluid has a gender identity and presentation that shifts between, or shifts outside of, society’s expectations of gender.
Male
Female
Transgender - This is an umbrella term that encompasses all people who experience and identify with a different gender than that which their assigned sex at birth would suggest.
Although most people think of trans men and trans women when hearing the word transgender, this term also encompasses people who identify as a gender other than man or woman, including nonbinary and genderfluid.
Genderqueer - A person who identifies as genderqueer has a gender identity or expression that is not the same as society’s expectations for their assigned sex or assumed gender.
Agender – neutral gender, null-gender
What are pronouns?
Pronouns are the words we often use to talk about a person when we’re not using their name. These might be he/him, she/her, they/them or other pronouns. Some people use one set of pronouns (eg. Pablo uses he/him pronouns) and some people use more than one (eg. Samira uses she/her and they/them interchangeably). Some people change the pronouns they use at different points in their life, and making sure we use their new ones is an important part of respecting them.
In English, pronouns are gendered, which means that the pronouns we use often refers to that person’s gender. However, because we can’t always tell someone’s gender just from looking at them, we can’t really know what pronouns to use for someone until we ask them.
What are gender neutral and neo pronouns?
While the most common pronouns are he/him/his and she/her/hers, other sets of pronouns are used by people all the time.
The most common neutral pronouns are they/them/theirs, which many of us use all the time without thinking, especially for people whose gender we don’t know or aren’t sure of.
What if I accidentally use the wrong pronoun or preferred name with someone?
Apologize briefly, use the correct pronoun/name and move on. Try not to repeat the mistake again in the future.
What is sexuality and/or sexual orientation?
A person’s sexuality, or sexual orientation, determines whom they do or do not feel attracted toward. This attraction is typically sexual or romantic.
Bisexual - A person who identifies as bisexual can be of any gender.Bisexuality means that a person feels attraction toward their own gender and other genders or toward anyone regardless of their gender.
Gay - A person who identifies as gay typically only feels sexual attraction toward people of the same gender.
Heterosexuality - People who are heterosexual, or “straight,” typically feel sexual and romantic attraction toward people who are of a gender different than their own.
Homosexuality - Homosexuality is a term describing those who are emotionally and physically attracted to people of the same gender.
Lesbian - Those who identify as lesbian are usually women who feel sexual and romantic attraction toward other women.
Pansexual and omnisexual - These sexual orientations refer to people who feel attraction toward people of all genders and sexes.
Queer - People of all sexualities under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella may also identify as queer.
Sexual fluidity - People’s sexuality can be fluid. This means that their sexual orientation is not fixed, and they may not define themselves by any particular sexuality.
