In 2024, thanks to a grant from the Government of Ontario and funding from Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital’s Foundation, a group of 9 Ontario healthcare organizations came together with 3 employment-oriented organizations to co-create a resource that would address two aligning needs: (1) the health-care human resource crisis currently faced in Ontario and across Canada, and (2) the high unemployment rate for Ontarians with disabilities who want and are able to work. Through a year-long Human-Centred Design process, the group iteratively designed a training resource for our fellow Ontario health-care organizations to promote disability-inclusive employment in our sector.
The design process took 12 months and included representatives from over 70 organizations. The result is the IHTR training materials that are free to all Ontario health-care organization, adaptable to your needs and examples, and connected to best-practice resources. The content draws from current best practices in the disability-inclusive employment sector, and is all presented from a health care perspective. We have included information from external free resources, and purposely aligned our learning to fit with health-care organizations’ Human Resource/People and Culture, Occupational Health and Safety, and EDI goals.
The information was co-created by our 9 health-care organization partners, and refined based on our pilot deliveries across the organizations. Our 3 employment partners also reviewed the materials, along with representatives from the Canadian Council for Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW).
