Due to the COVID pandemic, student mental health has suffered as young people had to make a radical shift away from the classroom and into remote learning. With reported increases in student stress, anxiety, depression and suicide, it’s imperative that action is taken to support student mental health.
Erika’s Lighthouse and Neolth are answering this call. Brandon M. Combs, Executive Director at Erika’s Lighthouse, and Dr. Katherine Grill, CEO of Neolth, met at the ASCA conference in July. Both have a passion for youth mental health, particularly around reducing stigma and improving mental health programming in schools. While both organizations have a shared mission, they have different, yet complementary approaches: Erika’s Lighthouse has built a teacher-led, classroom curriculum and Neolth, a self-guided mobile app for students. When used together, the Neolth app will help reinforce Erika's Lighthouse curriculum by promoting positive mental health, useful coping mechanisms, and the knowledge of how to seek help outside of the classroom.
Erika’s Lighthouse and Neolth are partnering to promote positive mental health within inclusive school communities and bring on-demand support to students everywhere!
This partnership will address three major barriers to teen help-seeking: the stigma related to mental health; the lack of understanding of mental health; and the lack of access to mental health resources. Erika’s Lighthouse curriculum teaches students about mental health and depression through student stories that reduce stigma, promote good mental health and encourage help-seeking. Neolth’s mobile app teaches students positive coping skills through self-guided Social and emotional learning (SEL) and relaxation practices, which are available 24/7. The app also provides continuous health assessment, educational videos, student stories, livestream events like instructor-led yoga, and real-time crisis referral. By working together, Neolth and Erika's Lighthouse will enable schools to implement high impact programs that start in the classroom and expand into students’ home lives.
For Neolth’s CEO, Dr. Katherine Grill, partnering with Erika’s Lighthouse is a win for both organizations and their school partners. “Erika’s Lighthouse has created a turnkey, evidence-informed curriculum that teachers can use to promote inclusive school cultures about mental health. After using their classroom modules, students should complete regular mental health check-ins and have access to on-demand coping skills. That’s where Neolth comes in.”
Brandon Combs, Executive Director of Erika’s Lighthouse added, “The ability to extend learning, practice and support outside of the classrooms to empower teens and school communities is a key goal of Erika’s Lighthouse programming. The partnership with Neolth makes this possible .”
Bringing our Programs to your School
Schools that already include programming from Erika's Lighthouse and adopt Neolth for the 2021 school year will receive a 50% discount on the Neolth App, which consists of a student and educator version. There is no training or technical integration needed to use the Neolth App, which schools can implement in under 24 hours. Teachers, school counselors, social workers, and administrators can contact hello@neolth.com to get started. In the 2020-2021 school year, programming from Erika’s Lighthouse reached more than 218,000 students in 558 schools and 43 states. Schools who already use Neolth can incorporate Erika's Lighthouse programming into their mental health curriculum by creating a free resource portal account at https://www.erikaslighthouse.org/portal/
About Erika’s Lighthouse
Erika's Lighthouse provides free programs and resources to promote inclusive school communities around mental health. Focused on grades 4-12, Erika's Lighthouse offers evidence-informed, skills-based videos and curriculum to reduce stigma, promote help-seeking and encourage good mental health. Additional offers focus on Teen Empowerment, Family Engagement and Staff Training to positively impact every stakeholder in a school. Create a free resource portal account today at www.ErikasLighthouse.org and follow @erikas.lighthouse on social.
About Neolth
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. Learn more about how Neolth helps students and schools in this 2-minute explainer video. Visit us at neolth.com and follow @Neolth on social.
For media inquiries on Neolth, please contact Lukas Grill at lukas@neolth.com.
For media inquiries on Erika’s Lighthouse, please contact Joshua Taustein at josh@erikaslighthouse.org.
