by Khrystina Warnstadt
The Department of Education (DOE) has made it clear that student behavioral and mental health issues are at an all time high, and schools must address this (WSJ, 2021). With increased federal funding for mental health services and mandates for integrating mental health into the curriculum, schools are in need of an easily implemented, affordable option. COVID-19 has only increased the need for a flexible, digital curriculum model. Incorporating digital mental health into an increasingly digital curriculum is the perfect way to get students engaged with their mental health, bettering their behavioral and academic outcomes (Woolf, 2021).
Neolth provides stress and mental health support by delivering on-demand, personalized care to students. Neolth’s self-guided digital platform and mobile app were built by healthcare and education professionals, in partnership with students. The solution provides on-demand resources for relaxation, emotional awareness, health education, and stigma reduction. Educators are able to integrate Neolth into their curriculum using our pre-made lesson plans for homeroom, health, and PE classes, requiring no additional effort on the educators’ part. With our new Educator Platform, teachers are even able to do classroom group activities, assign activities to students, and track completion. Learn more about Neolth in this short 2-minute video.
How Schools Use Neolth
The most innovative schools across the country are using Neolth in a variety of ways - providing Neolth to the entire student body, using it with high-risk students between counseling appointments, and/or integrating the platform directly into the curriculum. Here’s a step by step process of how many schools have incorporated Neolth into their curriculum:
(1) School administrators met with our team to get a walk through of the program and ask any questions they may have. This meeting allowed administrators to learn more about the program and decide which classes to use for curriculum integration. An administrator was chosen as a point of contact for curriculum supervision and educators identified who would be using Neolth in their classrooms.
(2) Educators received early access to Neolth’s content library and pre-made lesson plans found in our easy-to-use communications pack. They were then able to choose which content they’d like to use or assign to students with the option to use our lesson plans or create their own.
(3) Between classes, students used Neolth’s relaxation practices and watched our educational and stigma-reducing videos. The app selects personalized content for students, creates an individualized learning plan, and sends engagement notifications. Educators can even select activities to assign to students as homework. There’s nothing educators need to do to track students' activity completion, Neolth takes care of it all.
(4) As needed, educators reviewed Neolth’s dashboard to visualize students’ activity completion. They scheduled classroom sessions for group activities, like a whole-class mindfulness practice, as they saw fit. They noticed a decrease in overall student stress, as well as an improvement in their mental health symptoms within four to eight weeks!
Neolth’s team supports schools with curriculum integration. In fact, Neolth automatically assesses each student and assigns them activities on a regular basis. Educators can edit or assign additional activities as they see fit. There’s nothing educators need to add to their already busy schedules. Using Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) practices like these in the classroom improves student behavior, academic achievement, and overall mental health while satisfying local or federal SEL requirements.
How You Can Use Neolth
Our implementation process is as quick and simple as possible. Within 24 hours, we’ll provide your students and educators with access to the Neolth platform and will walk you through the entire process. We’re dedicated to supporting both your students and staff, making it easier for educators to get through the day by providing all-in-one support for educators and students. Our platform creates individualized SEL plans for students that can be refined by educators if desired. Neolth goes beyond SEL in the classroom; we can even implement 24/7 monitoring and real-time crisis referral to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or a resource of your choice. We understand that not all educators have a background in mental health or the time to devote to learning more during the school year, and we want to help. Take a breath and support your students with just a click - what are you waiting for?
Ready to take the next step in supporting your students? Schedule a meeting with us to see how Neolth can work for your students.
References
Wall Street Jounral. (2021). Schools confront a wave of student misbehavior, driven by months of remote learning https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-student-misbehavior-remote-learning-covid-11639061247U.S.
Department of Education. (2021). Supporting child and student social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs. U.S. Department of Education. https://www2.ed.gov/documents/students/supporting-child-student-social-emotional-behavioral-mental-health.pdf.
Woolf, N. (2021). Building social-emotional skills with technology: How to use SEL to cultivate digital wellness. Digital Wellness Lab. https://digitalwellnesslab.org/articles/building-social-emotional-skills-with-technology-how-to-use-sel-to-cultivate-digital-wellness/.
