The primary value of the Department of Engagement and Enrichment is to foster a culture of organizational excellence where all employees, patients, research participants, and visitors feel welcomed, supported, and valued.
The department supports community and health equity initiatives within the hospital, including assessment of areas of growth, employee training, development of new resources and protocols, and response to identity-related events.
Under the leadership of Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, PhD, McLean’s vice chair of Engagement and Enrichment, the Department of Engagement and Enrichment drives structural and systemic change to promote health equity, lifelong learning, and the celebration of McLean’s vibrant community.
The Department of Engagement and Enrichment’s mission is to cultivate sustainable frameworks within the McLean system using a shared responsibility model. This model holds that organizational excellence is not the role of one department, but of all employees and stakeholders.
We are committed to supporting all McLean employees, patients, and the broader community as we learn and grow together in our practice of sustained curiosity and continued learning. We urge all McLean employees to actively engage in self-reflection, constructive dialogue, and ongoing education.
McLean’s Engagement and Enrichment Pillars
To promote a cohesive structure and framework for McLean’s multifaceted initiatives, the Department of Engagement and Enrichment supports these four pillars.
Pillar One: Healing, Support, and Empowerment of the McLean Community
The first pillar, and our number one priority, is to foster employee enrichment, support, and empowerment.
- Pillar One focuses on allocating sufficient space, thought, and resources to support individuals with all sociocultural identities
- Includes: Employee resource groups, listening tours, healing support groups, pipeline initiatives, and surveys
Pillar Two: Health Equity Informed Clinical and Workforce Consultation
Leveraging the expertise of our Multifaceted Psychology Consultation Team, Pillar Two both utilizes existing resources and builds capacity to provide clinical and staff consultation to McLean divisions and programs.
- Pillar Two addresses and fulfills engagement and enrichment related requests and inquiries across the McLean and MGB community through consultation, training, and education.
- Includes: Consultation services
Pillar Three: Health Equity Informed Workforce Training and Standards of Engagement
As McLean is a leader in the field of mental health, Pillar Three represents our commitment to lifelong learning and education on best practices for promoting continuous learning through scalable tools and standards of engagement of all McLean staff. Our emphasis is on system-wide shared responsibility and sustainable models, leveraging Mass General Brigham existing resources and developing norms and expectations for engagement and enrichment.
- Pillar Three supports resources dedicated to the growing need and demand for workforce training and education around Department of Engagement and Enrichment related topics
- Includes: Scalable models for addressing systemic training needs, department resource library, SAFER training, web sources (SharePoint, webpage), trainings, and consultations
Pillar Four: Corrective Action, Policies, and Standards of Care
Pillar Four prioritizes the implementation of health equity informed policies, creating a centralized process for reporting of identity-related incidents, and establishing clinical and research standards for identity-informed resources and assessments.
McLean commits to taking corrective action to ensure our environment is welcoming of all identities and that harmful terms, practices, and images are identified and removed.
- Pillar Four roots Department of Engagement and Enrichment efforts, education, and learning into McLean policy and standards of care
- Includes: Implementation and clarification of policy and reporting pertaining to safety, health equity, recruitment, and retention
Evolution of the Department of Engagement and Enrichment
In 2020, in response to the growing global conversation about race, McLean Hospital established the Antiracist, Justice, and Health Equity (ARJHE) Task Force.. The task force was charged with identifying short- and long-term goals to address systemic racism and establish a culture of healing and equity within our hospital system and the communities we serve.
Stemming from the task force’s first recommendations, later in 2020, McLean inaugurated the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office, launched a web-based resource library, implemented a system-wide Empowered Listening Tour to better understand the experiences of employees of color, and established McLean’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Four Pillars.
Propelled by the original action plan, the Department of Engagement and Enrichment continues to expand and evolve their initiatives, prioritizing health equity across all aspects of identity and throughout all facets of patient care, employee relations, and community engagement.
A natural progression for our initiatives has been the active engagement of the entire McLean and Mass General Brigham system in promoting the Engagement and Enrichment Pillars throughout all mission elements.
These efforts have included targeted anti-bias projects within clinical programs, the expansion of community outreach efforts, and the implementation of standards of engagement across hospital roles. The systems created through the Department of Engagement and Enrichment are intended to benefit all members of the McLean community, including patients, employees, and trainees.
Our goal is to promote health equity and safety across all sociocultural identities at McLean. Alongside our entire McLean community, the Department of Engagement and Enrichment continues to evolve and adapt to incorporate best practices for promoting health equity and belonging.
For Employees
A core initiative of the Department of Engagement and Enrichment is to develop sustainable practices and resources that foster growth, safety, and belonging. The department maintains an ever-evolving, internal resource for McLean and Mass General Brigham employees throughout the system to access educational materials, remain up to date on events, and contribute to McLean’s engagement and enrichment initiatives.
More information is available via McLean’s employee intranet (employees only).
