PDF (1.9 MB) - McLean Hospital

BRANCHING OUT
MAKING
INROADS
The McLean-Franciscan
Collaborative Approach to Care
BOSTON, MASS.
“You have to stop and really look
at every little success, because
in our business, the small
successes are big—bigger than
we realize.”
~ Paul Pinnetti
McLean not only reaches smaller
underserved communities, it
extends to the inner streets of
Boston. As partners with the Franciscan
Hospital for Children, a leader in pediatric
medical and rehabilitation services, McLean
has built an effective center for addressing the
complex needs of children with behavioral
health, medical and developmental challenges.
The McLean-Franciscan Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Programs, located on the
Franciscan Hospital grounds in Boston,
“provides the kind of structure and support
kids need to make their way back to the
community,” says Ralph Buonopane, PhD.
Buonopane oversees a 20-bed acute inpatient
unit for young people, ages three to 19. The
program also comprises a partial hospital and
residential treatment service.
In joining forces, McLean and Franciscan offer
a depth and breadth of unparalleled resources:
the exceptional care on which McLean has built
its longstanding reputation as a leader in
psychiatry and the unwavering commitment of
Franciscan’s pediatric specialists and
educators.
Paul Pinnetti is a teacher with the program. He
recalls one patient with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who was
repeatedly suspended from school. Pinnetti
noticed that the student liked to draw so he
taught him to doodle to curb his impulse to
move (a common characteristic of ADHD),
while listening to lectures in school.
“I told him to make a contract with his teachers
and say, ‘This is something I learned to do. I
may doodle during lectures, but I will also be
paying attention.’” A week after the student
returned to school, his guidance counselor
phoned Pinnetti to say the student was making
it through each day without visiting the
principal—a major milestone for the boy and a
point of pride for Pinnetti.
Down the hallway, on the same floor as
Buonopane and Pinnetti, children attend
classes at another McLean-Franciscan
program where the objectives are different.
The Kennedy Hope Academy is a year-round,
14-bed residential school for children with a
combination of autistic disorders, mental
retardation and severe psychiatric illness.
“We emphasize applied behavioral analysis as
well as teaching social and academic skills.
The goals we set for each child are
individualized and range dramatically,” says
Kennedy Hope Academy psychologist Marcia
Conant, PhD. What remains constant, however,
are the results: “We usually see change right
away. One of the reasons for this, I believe, is
that the kids feel comfortable—to learn, to
make mistakes, to be who they are—in this
environment.”
Pinnetti agrees: Gazing at a
drawing of a cougar that he
received from his former
fidgety student, Pinnetti says
that helping kids, one step at a
time, is what makes his job
worthwhile. “You have to stop and really look
at every little success, because in our
business, the small successes are big—bigger
than we realize.”
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