Press release from HCA Healthcare:
Mission Health, the North Carolina Division of HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, last week announced that it has collaborated with EVERFI, an international technology company driving social change through education, to launch an interactive, mental health and wellness digital education course for middle and high school students in conjunction with Mental Illness Awareness Week. The course will be available in McDowell, Macon and Buncombe counties.
Called Mental Wellness Basics, the course is targeted to reach more than 12,000 middle and high school students in an estimated 105 school districts in Southeast Florida, Western North Carolina, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. HCA Healthcare is investing nearly $1 million over the next three years to sponsor the course.
“While mental health is at the forefront as we navigate the pandemic, it has long been an important and integral part of Mission Health and HCA Healthcare’s whole-person care,” said Manisha Shah, Regional Vice President of Behavioral Health Services for Mission Health. “This partnership gives students and educators access to important resources and highlights our commitment to community wellness. We are excited about teaming up with EVERFi.”
This investment and collaboration with EVERFI deepens Mission Health’s commitment to promote whole person wellness and respond to the growing need for mental health education in the community.
Mental Wellness Basics is designed to provide teachers with the additional curriculum to equip students in grades eight to 10 with the knowledge and skills necessary to build, maintain and promote positive mental health in themselves and their peers. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in six U.S. youth (ages 6 to 17) experience a mental health disorder each year. The course provides learners with accurate information about mental health disorders, the sharing of peer experiences with mental illness and messaging that treatment is effective and available.
“It is critical to approach the challenge of mental health with awareness from all perspectives,” said EVERFI Founder and President, Jon Chapman. “We wanted to design an educational program that benefits those who are impacted by mental health challenges, those who want to build and maintain positive mental health, and those who have the opportunity to positively impact the mental health of a friend or peer.”
HCA Healthcare also has a long-standing collaboration with the Jason Foundation whose primary mission is the prevention of youth/young adult suicide. This collaboration provides educational resources and youth suicide prevention training to students, parents and teachers in our communities.
In addition, Mission Health increased essential access to mental wellness resources for colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
Nurse Care: a unique and confidential mental health program for the needs of HCA Healthcare hospital-based nurses.
PsychHub: a COVID-19 mental health resource hub, created by a national mental health coalition to meet the mental health needs of individuals during this pandemic.
American Nurses Association COVID-19 Resource Center: access to tools that support the mental health and resilience of nurses by the American Nurses Foundation.
For more information about HCA Healthcare’s collaboration with EVERFI, please email Community.Engagement@HCAhealthcare.com.
ABOUT MISSION HEALTH
Mission Health, an operating division of HCA Healthcare, is based in Asheville, North Carolina, and is the state’s sixth largest health system. Mission Health operates six hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers, post-acute care provider CarePartners, long-term acute care provider Asheville Specialty Hospital and the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. With approximately 12,000 colleagues and 2,000 volunteers, Mission Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the people of western North Carolina. For more information, please visit missionhealth.org or @MissionHealthNC.
About EVERFI, Inc.
EVERFI is an international technology company driving social change through education to address the most challenging issues affecting society ranging from financial wellness to prescription drug safety to workplace conduct and other critical topics. Founded in 2008, EVERFI is fueled by its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) community engagement platform and has reached more than 41 million learners globally. Recognized as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2020, EVERFI powers community engagement in a sustained manner to empower individuals and organizations to make an impact within their communities. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EVERFI investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter founder Evan Williams, as well as Advance, Rethink Education, Rethink Impact, The Rise Fund, and TPG Growth. To learn more about EVERFI and how you can #answerthecall please visit everfi.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter @EVERFI.
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