Higi partners with Mental Health America to increase community awareness of the importance of prevention and early detection of mental health conditions
In recognition of mental health month, the two organizations are partnering to amplify awareness initiatives around the importance of regular screening and prioritization of mental health alongside physical health
Chicago, IL – May 4, 2021 – Higi, a consumer health engagement company partnering with leading retail and healthcare organizations to provide access to care via a connected network of Smart Health Stations, today announced their partnership with Mental Health America (MHA). MHA is the leading community-based non-profit, dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the overall mental health of all. All of MHA’s efforts are guided by their #B4Stage4 philosophy which promotes prevention and early intervention of mental health conditions, with the aim of intervention before crisis. The philosophy closely aligns with Higi’s, and together the two are mutually amplifying the need for early and ongoing engagement with overall health, emphasizing the importance of both physical and mental health – and the link between the two – to overall health and wellbeing.
Since its inception, Higi has focused on empowering consumers to better understand and take action to address key health indicators, focusing primarily on risk factors associated with chronic conditions, including hypertension, heart disease and type two diabetes. According to the CDC, for people living with a chronic health condition, the risk for mental health conditions can increase, and inversely, mental health conditions can increase the prevalence of many physical health conditions.[1] While causation may not be clear, what is clear is that people who suffer from a chronic disease are also more likely to suffer from depression.[2] The prevalence of these risk factors in the US population, and particularly among consumers screening with Higi, highlights the clear need for action, with over 60% of sessions indicating chronic condition risk. With programs and partnerships in place to drive prevention and early detection of physical health conditions, Higi is working toward offering a similar set of resources to proactively address mental health, alongside MHA.
“When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. We begin with prevention when people are in the first stage of disease. We identify risk factors like high blood pressure or high blood sugar, and we try immediately to address them,” said Paul Gionfriddo, President and CEO of Mental Health America, “This is how we must approach mental health conditions. When people first begin to experience symptoms, we need to act. One way to do that is to empower people to advocate for their own mental health by providing educational tools. Our partnership with Higi gives us an additional platform to distribute those tools and engage the community.”
“Alongside many important topics that impact our wellbeing, the Covid-19 pandemic has reignited the conversation around mental distress and our shared awareness of the importance prioritizing of mental health,” says Jeff Bennett, CEO of Higi. “Our position as a health access point in the community, and established cohort of consumers living with chronic condition risk factors, emphasizes the importance of our responsibility to them, and helps to amplify the work of MHA. We are excited to have the conversation about mental health with our consumers and to continue to build awareness and drive action alongside MHA.”
Mental Health America’s philosophy and educational content will be featured across the Higi platform for the entire month of May to help support Mental Health Month and connect consumers to MHA’s “Tools 2 Thrive.” The two organizations are committed to continuing to promote awareness and early identification of mental health conditions. They are also committed to connecting communities to screening tools and other resources.
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About Higi
Higi is a consumer health engagement company making it easier for all people to measure, track and act on their health data by bridging physical and digital touch points of the healthcare ecosystem. In service of health systems, health plans, retailers and consumer healthcare brands, Higi’s omni-channel platform meets consumers in their communities, at home and on the go. Our partners connect with the consumers they care for through our nationwide network of 10,000 FDA-cleared, free-to-use self-screening Smart Health Stations, home health devices, digital and mobile tools. The Higi platform addresses the needs of healthcare consumers across the care continuum through education designed to improve health literacy, disease specific assessments to inform risk stratification and drive digital navigation, and connected care offerings to avoid unscheduled care and improve outcomes. With the ability to move this data into healthcare’s workflows, Higi delivers digital health engagement at scale, creating actionable connections to the healthcare organizations that provide care and support. To date, more than 61 million people have used a Higi Station to conduct over 372 million biometric tests.
About Mental Health America
Mental Health America (MHA) is the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the overall mental health of all. MHA’s work is driven by its commitment to promote mental health as a critical part of overall wellness, including prevention services for all; early identification and intervention for those at risk; integrated care, services, and supports for those who need them; with recovery as the goal. Learn more at MHAnational.org.
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm
[2] Chapman DP, Perry GS, Strine TW. The vital link between chronic disease and depressive disorders. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2005; 2(1). http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2005/jan/04_0066.htm. Accessed September 20, 2012.