West Valley collaborates with EVERFI to bring mental health course to students

West Valley Medical Center, an affiliate of HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, 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 school and high school students in Canyon County.
 
West Valley is part of HCA Healthcare, a leader in behavioral health with the knowledge and data from nearly 200,000 annual behavioral health patient encounters that enable the organization to make positive advances in educating the community about mental illness.
 
The course, Mental Wellness Basics, is targeted to reach more than 325 middle and high schools in communities across the United States including Idaho. HCA Healthcare is investing $3 million over the next three years to sponsor the course. This investment and collaboration with EVERFI deepens West Valley’s commitment to promote whole person wellness and respond to the growing need for mental health education in the community.
 
“We are thrilled to work with EVERFI and HCA Healthcare to bring this to our area. Mental wellness is critical for all of us — especially during this challenging time of change and social isolation,” said Betsy Hunsicker, Chief Executive Officer, West Valley Medical Center. “This program allows us to serve beyond our hospital walls by supporting students and providing educators with more mental health resources in an easy to access format.”
 
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.
 
The program has already launched in a few area schools, including South Middle School in Nampa, Idaho where one student said, “The course was super helpful and gave me a better light into mental health. The coping strategies section was my favorite because it gave me examples of how I can cope in certain situations.”
 
“It is critical to approach the challenge of mental health with awareness from all perspectives,” said EVERFI Co-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, West Valley 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.
• Psych Hub: 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.
• Beacon Health Wellbeing Program: a program where employees can schedule confidential in-person, phone or video call sessions with a licensed counselor.
• Bright Horizons Care Advantage: access to programs to support employees looking for a babysitter, nanny, support for a special needs child, elder care provider, dog walker or housekeeper.
• Doctor on Demand: a telemedicine app currently free for all employees and their dependents that connects them with board-certified physicians via video on a smartphone, tablet or computer. In addition to colds, sinus infections and skin and eye conditions, physicians can also provide care for anxiety, depression and stress.
• 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.