Share Your Story: EDI in Action - Ontario Centres for Learning, Research, and Innovation in Long-Term Care

The Ontario CLRI is revamping the Embracing Diversity Toolkit to help LTC teams advance equity, diversity, and inclusion across their home. As part of this work, we are refreshing and updating the content to ensure it remains relevant, reflects current practices, and shares up-to-date resources.

Over the past year, we connected with residents, team members, and leaders to learn more about what would make the Toolkit the most meaningful and practical. One clear takeaway was the importance of including more real-world examples of EDI in action.

In response, we are looking for stories to highlight real examples of how LTC teams are taking meaningful action to advance equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. These stories will help:

Ground the Toolkit in the realities of day-to-day LTC practice
Highlight practical approaches that others can learn from
Include lived experiences into the refreshed Toolkit
Inspire teams across Ontario to take action in ways that fit their own context

Our ask: We want to hear your story!

We’re inviting you to share a real example of how equity, diversity, inclusion, or belonging has been put into practice in a long-term care home that you’re connected to. Some examples of the types of stories we’d like to receive include:

Starting an EDI Committee or Working Group with representatives from a range of perspectives
Honouring a cultural or religious day of significance in a way that includes residents, caregivers and team members
Hosting an awareness raising event during Pride season with education for team members and leaders
Developing a policy about the practice of cultural rituals collaboratively with people who are part of a particular community (e.g., developing a smudging policy together with Indigenous Peoples)
Updating Resident Assessment Forms to utilize person-centred and inclusive language
Using the Diversity and Inclusion Calendar to develop an annual plan for education and special events for the LTC home
Developing and adding questions related to equity, diversity and inclusion to surveys for team members, residents and caregivers
… and anything else you and your team may be doing to create a sense of belonging within your LTC home!

Your story submission doesn’t need to be polished, formal, or fully written out. You can submit it in bullet points or short phrases if you prefer.

Looking for examples?

Here are a few stories we’ve featured to help share some of the different ways that teams in LTC homes are advancing EDI.

A Home with Heart: Rekai Centres’ Journey Towards 2SLGBTQI+ Inclusion
A Journey to Healing: St Joseph Care Group’s Commitment to Supporting Indigenous Culture and Advancing Truth and Reconciliation
Kensington Health – Diversity Committee (see Page 33 in the current edition of the Toolkit)

By sharing your story, you’re helping shape a resource that others across the sector will learn from and use. Sharing your story will help others see and understand what advancing equity, diversity and inclusion looks like in day-to-day practice in long-term care, and may inspire others to take action themselves!

If your story is selected to be included in the new edition of the Toolkit, a member of our team will connect with you to refine it and clarify any details. Selected stories will be approved by the LTC home’s senior leadership before publication.

EDI in Action Submission Form

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can submit a story?

Submissions are welcome from individuals or teams connected to LTC homes in Ontario, including:

LTC team members (any role)
Leaders and managers
Residents and family caregivers/care partners
Volunteers
External partners who work closely with LTC homes

Anyone connected to the story may submit it. This could mean sharing your own experience, or submitting on behalf of a team or organization (with permission).

What should I include in my story?

We welcome stories of all sizes – from simple individual actions, to larger organizational initiatives. In particular, we are looking for stories that:

Focus on advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and/or belonging
Are based on real experiences (not hypothetical examples)
Clearly describe:
- A challenge or opportunity you noticed
- What action was taken (big or small)
- What changed as a result (i.e., how the action impacted residents and/or team members)

The initiative doesn’t have to be complete or fully evaluated. We value honest reflections on what you tried, what worked, what didn’t, and what you learned along the way.

How can I submit my story?

Please fill out the form linked below. It includes a few short-answer questions to guide you.

Can I submit more than one story?

Yes! You may submit multiple stories. Please complete a new form for each story. Each completed submission will count as a separate entry in the random appreciation draw.

What is the appreciation draw?

As a thank you for sharing your story, every fully completed submission will automatically be entered into a random draw.

There will be no judging or scoring
All completed submissions will be entered equally
The winners will be selected by random draw, and notified by email
All complete entries submitted by the deadline date will be included in the appreciation draw