Dean Jones Helps Uncover the “Secret Sauce” Behind a Decade of Palliative Care Leadership
Twelve years ago, the field of palliative care faced a familiar problem. Demand for care was growing faster than the number of leaders needed to guide it.
A national program set out to change that. Barbara L. Jones, dean of Boston University School of Social Work, helped lead the effort as a member of the program’s advisory board. Now she and eight fellow board members are sharing what worked, and why, in a new paper published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine.
A National Effort to Grow New Leaders
The Cambia Health Foundation launched the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program in 2014 to identify and support emerging leaders in palliative care. Over the next decade, the program funded 108 scholars across 10 cohorts of 10 to 12 professionals each, spanning medicine, nursing, social work, chaplaincy and other disciplines.
Each scholar received $90,000 a year for two years. Their home institutions had to commit to protecting half their time so they could complete a leadership project and development plan.
The Three Ingredients Behind the Leadership Program’s Success
In the paper, titled “The Special Sauce: Lessons in Leadership Development from the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program,” Jones and her co-authors identify three factors they believe drove the program’s impact.
The first ingredient is recruitment. The program looked for people with vision, communication skills, and a demonstrated commitment to the field, not just seniority or credentials.
The second is mentorship. Every scholar was paired with an advisory board member, often across institutions and disciplines, for direct guidance during their two funded years and beyond.
The third, and what the authors call the most important ingredient, is community. Scholars stayed connected well past their funding period through an annual summit and an ongoing peer network, a structure the authors describe as central to the program’s staying power.
Sustaining the Community of Expertise
As the program matured, scholars took on a larger role in shaping it, including designing summit content and special interest groups. After the 10th and final cohort was selected, the community advocated to extend parts of the program for five additional years.
Scholars from the earliest cohorts now hold senior leadership roles across health care organizations. Some have gone on to mentor newer scholars, and one now serves on the advisory board itself.
A Model for the Field of Social Work
For Dean Jones, the paper reflects a philosophy she brings to her own work training the next generation of social workers and palliative care professionals: leadership is built, not assigned, and it depends on investment in people over time.
The authors hope the lessons from the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program can guide other foundations and institutions as they design future leadership initiatives across health care.
Learn more about Dean Barbara Jones’ work