A decade ago, as a young and somewhat naive hospital administrative fellow, I had the distinct honor of attempting to "lobby" U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) to add pediatric psychiatry as an evaluated specialty on the Best Children's Hospitals survey.
Why target USNWR? Because their survey seemed to be one of the most impactful ways to incentivize pediatric hospitals to prioritize particular service lines. And, frankly, many hospitals at the time were not prioritizing mental health.
Lobbying USNWR was so audacious that it initially felt like a dare from senior leadership. Yet, after seeing the degree of unmet need across the country, I was very keen on cranking up the pressure and visibility on pediatric mental health issues. In fact, I was set on it.
Here's the thing about lofty, audacious goals, though... They don't often come with a pre-defined roadmap. I wasn't even sure if anyone had ever done this before.
Nevertheless, the more I talked about the idea with others, the more I learned about the survey development process. One conversation led to another, and I finally got the contact information I needed to actually make the call. I realized then that this could actually be attempted. So, we had to get ourselves ready for the pitch.
I worked with our leadership to assemble an internal hospital team, including several providers who then connected me to other children's hospitals. Collectively, our broad team of clinicians, researchers, and administrative staff developed proposed quality metrics for the survey. Meanwhile, I developed a business proposal to demonstrate why this was actually in USNWR's benefit. (This painstakingly involved reviewing the psychiatric services of every children's hospital in the country through days and days of internet searches and outreach.)
It was an absolutely Herculean effort by our team- and one that didn't result in the immediate outcome we had desired.
After so much effort, I felt a little stunned and deflated. But I remember looking around and seeing several psychosocial leaders smiling back at me in my 26-year-old angst. While the initiative may have ended, my hunger for major change was only just beginning.
Progress can sure take a while, right? And wouldn't it be nice if it were linear?
I got to thinking about this memory after seeing USNWR's recent article on the pediatric mental health crisis. (So thankful for organizations, including another former employer, that are staying so vocal about this issue!)
As the article states: "About 3 in 10 high school students had experienced poor mental health in the past 30 days, while 22% had seriously contemplated suicide within the past year and 1 in 10 had attempted it."
It's so hard to see these numbers when I remember the "1 in 10" being some of my favorite people in high school. And it's nearly unbearable to imagine the "1 in 10" now being my friends' own children.
I have to admit, even seeing the title "The Youth Mental Health Emergency Isn’t Over" pained me, a lot. Call me impatient, but it seems like it should be by now. Yet, as someone who speaks on mental health regularly, I see in national and international contexts that the mental health emergency most certainly isn't over- for children or adults.
While my role has shifted from hospital manager to company founder/public speaker, my interest in improving mental health has only intensified. And, for better or worse, I now come with a microphone and company blog. So, it's a little bit easier for me to get loud.
While my former colleagues continue to fight the good fight in the healthcare sector, I've shifted my focus to better supporting mental health specifically within the workplace. It's been deeply satisfying because: (A) there's immediate need, (B) nearly all the skills that are taught in the workplace can be applied outside of work, as well, and (C) I've been finding tremendous traction.
Part of what keeps me hopeful right now is my clients: company leaders who reach out with such genuine concern for the well-being of their teams and a legitimate commitment to learning more themselves. Often, they're not even sure where to start, but they've got the instinct and courage to ask for a thought partner.
While there can be many different approaches depending on each company's needs, I generally recommend:
Equipping employees with the basic skills to respond to a mental health crisis at work (see skills-based training through an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Mental Health First Aid instructor, etc.)
Equipping formal and informal leaders with the basic skills to create a psychologically safe work environment (see recommended reading and resources from Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson)
Offering live, facilitated mental health-related education/training to help normalize the conversation
While we don't offer mental health consulting services (at least at the time of this article being published), I would also consider:
Measuring psychological safety to track internal improvements (see the Fearless Organization survey instrument as one example)
Examining system-wide practices (like back-to-back meetings) that may be contributing to burnout (see the work of Dr. Sahar Yousef, including her 3M framework for breaks)
Implementing practices like body-doubling that may be especially helpful for neurodivergent staff
Addressing mental health at work is more than just an employee engagement initiative (although the correlation between mental health and engagement has been noted); it's about accountability for the cultures and communities we build.
Ten years from now, I really don't want us reading the headline, "The Mental Health Emergency STILL Isn't Over."
Maybe that's lofty and audacious. But it seems to me there are more of us now- from hospitals to classrooms to boardrooms- who are wholeheartedly ready to change the narrative.
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