Early Intervention in Mental Health
There is a growing shift to put more emphasis on mental health in schools. Brains are forming some of the forming elements during the early years of life, and it is imperative that proper care and support is given to them to ensure a healthy life.
Without providing the proper care or support, increased rates of unemployment, prison, and school dropout take place. Schools present a pivotal piece of the puzzle to provide care to those in need during this important time of their lives.
Dropout rates are estimated at 40% for students who do not receive proper mental health support, according to the 2016 Child Mind Institute Children’s Mental Health Report. Many students who experience troubled emotions or behaviors are now quickly expelled, which only puts more of a barrier to a successful educational journey.
The key is to provide some level of easily accessible support on a medium that people are already on. Technology invented in partnership with the National Science Foundation by Chicago-based Prevail Health Solutions, is just that. Novel technology known as Anywhere Based Care provides on-demand support on any phone, tablet, or computer. The programs have been validated through the rigorous Veterans Health Administration path to market that include multiple published clinical trials to show their efficacy as well as national pilots to show people would engage in this sort of care.
Failure to provide the care poses enormous costs. Those in high school who drop out are 63 times more likely to go to jail. This creates tremendous costs for society with the average one-year cost of incarceration above $30,000 per person. Estimates show that roughly 68 percent of state prison inmates have not completed high school. This vicious cycle only spurs more costs and burden for society with over 70 percent of youth in juvenile justice system meet criteria needing some sort of mental health treatment.
Reaching people early on while they are in school is a perfect opportunity to mitigate down the road problems or costs. Prevail’s solution has been proven effective in touching thousands of people, and has over three years delivering nationally to the Veterans Administration. Starting with a simple assessment that could be done early on in the school year, students can build a profile on their unique needs, and Prevail tailors a solution exactly to the individual.
Interested in building mental resilience and seeing how this solution could be applied to other populations? Check out iPrevail.com today.
