Walking the Leadership Walk: Integrating Inclusivity in a Large-Scale Health Care Organization

This article focuses on the roles, actions, and resources developed by a group of leaders from the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) within the Department of Veterans Affairs during the unprecedented times of spring of 2020, when society was shaken by the fears and challenges of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological services 2024-11, Vol.21 (4), p.691-701
Main Authors: Iwamasa, Gayle Y., Cohen, Jay L., Combs, Ann S., Bastian, Quinn S., Love, Shurhonda Y., Carroll, J. David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
COVID-19
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Government Agencies
Human
Humans
Leadership
Mental Health Services
Mental Health Services - organization & administration
Military Attrition
Social Inclusion
Suicide Prevention
United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs - organization & administration
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Summary:This article focuses on the roles, actions, and resources developed by a group of leaders from the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) within the Department of Veterans Affairs during the unprecedented times of spring of 2020, when society was shaken by the fears and challenges of COVID-19 as well as social unrest sparked by the murder of George Floyd. We share a summary of our efforts to move beyond platitudes and statements and bring meaningful and sustainable change in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within OMHSP and across mental health services in Department of Veterans Affairs. This article is written through the lens of the founding members of the OMHSP's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Steering Committee. Impact Statement The Veterans Health Care Administration is the single largest employer of psychologists and the single largest American Psychological Association-accredited psychology doctoral internship training provider. This article summarizes the development and implementation of sustained integration of diversity, equity and inclusion within the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Our experiences and lessons learned may be utilized by other health care systems to improve working conditions of employees and readiness of mental health staff to provide culturally responsive mental health services.
ISSN:1541-1559
1939-148X
1939-148X
DOI:10.1037/ser0000857