Course Provides Path to Creating a More Inclusive Culture Within MWR Programs and Services

Your goal as a morale, welfare and recreation professional, service provider or leader is to create and maintain programs and services that meet the needs of as many people as possible.

A new MilLife Learning course titled, “Operating in an Inclusive Culture,” can help you do just that by addressing the needs and challenges faced by people with disabilities, and showing you how to provide opportunities for individuals with varying abilities and skills to participate together.

This course examines the barriers these individuals face and their specific needs across a wide range of disabilities. It also explains the benefits and incentives for including those customers. These may include:

• Involving more community members in social and recreational activities, which among other benefits may result in a reduced demand for medical and psychological services
• Fostering more community acceptance of individuals with disabilities
• Ensuring that your programs are in compliance with the laws of the land
• Enriching the culture of your programs with personalities and experiences of people who could not participate previously

There also could be a financial gain through increasing the numbers of people participating in recreational activities.

The course also:

• Provides supplemental resource documents, including a broad list of links to contact information, samples of more inclusive registration forms and a sample of an inclusive welcoming document for MWR programs
• Offers guidance on ways to feel more comfortable talking to individuals about their disabilities
• Outlines disability-related legislation and requirements for providing inclusive MWR programs and services
• Contains details about the Department of Defense’s goals for serving participants with differing abilities

Additional course details

This 2½-hour course employs an interactive audio and video multimedia approach and includes six units, designed to be taken sequentially, with each unit building on the previous one. Transcripts are also available. Certification requires the completion of all six units.

You will learn about the wide spectrum of disabilities, including a focus on:

• Amputees
• Brain injuries
• Visual or hearing impairments
• Spinal cord injuries

You will also hear about some of the myths and truths surrounding people with disabilities and learn what language to avoid when interacting with those individuals.

You don’t have to be an MWR professional, service provider or leader to take this course. It can also be of value to service members wanting to learn more about inclusiveness and the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities.

Areas of focus that may be of interest to all service-connected individuals include the risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder, how it affects a person and the challenges it may bring. The use of and need for service animals is also discussed.

Take the course today

Make yourself better informed and ensure that your program staff is prepared to meet the needs of all participants by signing up for this free course. Click on “Create an Account” if you are a new user; no common access card or External Certification Authorities are needed.

Once you are registered, or if you are a returning user, log in and click “Launch Course” to begin.