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Welcome back to another bonus episode of

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Until It's Fixed. As

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we cover ways to make healthcare work better for everyone,

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these bonus episodes will draw connections between

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the topic we recently discussed and our daily

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lives. We'll talk about one thing

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that you and I can do today related

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to that topic to take charge of our health and wellbeing.

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Today's one thing is how you can help create

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a neuro-inclusive environment. Last

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week we spoke about neurodivergence and in that

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conversation we talked a little bit about

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support in the workplace through things

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like flexible work arrangements, mental health days

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and other types of accommodations. So

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in today's episode, we're going to talk more

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about how to be a better advocate for neurodivergence

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overall. To help us do that, I'm

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joined by Amy Root, the Director of Neurodiversity

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Inclusion at UnitedHealth Group. And she's

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going to share some tips with us on how to do exactly

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that. So hi, Amy, so glad

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to have you back on the show. And

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I'm curious what you have for us today.

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Yes, thanks for having me back. Well, today

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I think we can talk a little bit deeper about

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regardless of your role, what can you

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do to contribute to a more neuro inclusive

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environment in the workplace? So

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to ground us in today's conversation, can you help us

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understand what neuro diversity is and

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what it means to be neuro divergent?

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Sure. So, neurodiversity, if you break

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it down really simply, it just means brain

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differences. And so humans, by

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definition, are neurodiverse. And

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we know that that's a reality within the human species,

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that there are different brains and wiring.

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And it really refers to the variety of ways that

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people think, process information, learn and

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behave. But when you're talking about

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groups of individuals that have brains

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that would be considered different or divergent

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from the standard or typical, we

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use the terms neurodivergent, neuro-distinct

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or a neuro-minority.

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That makes sense and what would be a way

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for us to understand if our colleagues are

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neurodivergent? Is there an appropriate

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way to have that conversation or ask?

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Yeah, one of the best things that you can do is

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just talk about the different ways that you

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and your colleagues think and process

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information and how you communicate.

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It's hard to single out one individual, but one

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of the best things that you can do is recognize that

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we're all diverse in the ways that we

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think and process information. So being

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sure to share that with each other makes

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other people more comfortable about sharing how they

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might be different and also the ways

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that they can bring their unique strengths.

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That makes sense. So it's less about identifying

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somebody who has neurodivergence and more

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about how do we create this environment to

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be inclusive for all of us by speaking

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broadly about what works, what doesn't work,

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how we can modify things to make sure the team

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feels supported. Is that right? That's

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right. That's really what we encourage with

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neuroinclusion. And it's also a really

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good bet, because also a a lot of individuals

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might not know that they're neurodivergent. That

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makes sense. What are some of the most

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common accommodations that you see

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in your role that might just help us

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get thinking about accommodations

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we can make for folks?

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The most common accommodations are typically

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flexible work arrangements. So

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that would be different locations and

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times in which they can work. I also

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see a lot of requests for communication

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needs. So for example, somebody

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writing down what the next steps are after

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a meeting, or providing meeting agendas

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in advance, or, you know, offering

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written materials in advance for people to process

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and absorb. And then when it comes to like

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the recruitment aspect, what we see as common

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adjustments would be, you know, offering

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different ways to engage throughout the process.

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So if your standard process

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is interviewing individuals over

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the phone or in person, and could they offer

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written questions instead and then allow people

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to have a more thoughtful response and then a different

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timeframe and communication method.

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Those are very helpful for people.

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That's great. What are some of the success

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stories that you've seen in your role? I

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think one of the biggest successes that

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I've seen is that neurodivergent people

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that have already been part of our organization

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are already starting to come out

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and say because of the work

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that we're doing because of the focus and the

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lens that we're having to include neurodivergence,

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they feel a lot safer. So I've had a

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lot of people disclose. I've had a lot

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of people come alongside and be excited

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and to share the vision and to help

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the work that we're doing. So that's been the most impactful

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thing that I've seen. That's great. So

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it sounds like just being open to educate

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ourselves around neurodiversity, and

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also to have conversations with our colleagues

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about what's working and not working

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might be the one thing, right? One

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thing and participate in training as much training

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as that you can get formal would be great. Educate

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yourself. So be curious, ask

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questions, actively listen, find

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out from neurodivergent employees what their experiences

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are like in the workplace and where they might face

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some barriers or some

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stigma or different things

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that they might need to better support their work experience.

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I love it. Thank you so much for joining

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us. Thank you everyone for listening. Join

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us next week as we talk about the increase in home

5:10

and community care, what's working and

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where there's room for change. Make sure

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to follow or subscribe wherever you listen so you

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get notified when a new episode is live. And

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we will talk to you next week. Thank you.