Engagement First Approach in Behavioral Health
Effective client engagement is vital in behavioral health care delivery. When staff gain mastery over the skill of engagement, their job satisfaction increases, buoyed by meaningful interactions with clients and pride in the outcomes that can be achieved when engagement is at the core of their service delivery. Satisfaction among the behavioral health workforce strengthens the organization overall, increasing staff retention, reducing client no-shows, improving outcomes, and positioning organizations for behavioral health payment and delivery reform initiatives, like the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model.
While the notion may seem obvious and intuitive, behavioral health organizations do not always value, equip, prioritize, and incentivize engagement as a foundational competency among their staff. The Engagement First approach provides a framework and practical tools for behavioral health organizations to re-center engagement as the most important competency in the delivery of behavioral health services.
The Hallmarks of the Engagement First approach include:
Acknowledging the importance of, valuing, and nurturing engagement
Providing staff training in engagement competencies
Realigning of work processes (e.g., case reviews)
Fluently navigating engagement in regulatory context
Facilitating feedback loops with clients and staff
Informed by decades of experience directly delivering behavioral health care, consulting nationally with behavioral health organizations, and learning from other experts, their colleagues, and their clients, this approach was created by Joan Kenerson King, RN, MSN, CS (National Council for Mental Wellbeing), Mark Boorse, MHS (Access Services), and Jake Bowling, MSW (Bowling Business Strategies).
The creators of the Engagement First approach are available to assist with implementation. Consulting services include (but are not limited to) leadership and staff training, guidance on the redesign of work processes (e.g., team meetings, case conferences), advice on leveraging and pursuing regulatory flexibilities, and provision of frameworks and templates to guide practice improvement. Click on the link below or email Jake@bowlingbiz.com to request consulting services.
To learn more and request consultation on the Engagement First approach, please click here.