BeMe Health, Inland Empire Health Plan and Molina Healthcare of California team up to empower 72,000 teens with app-based behavioral health support
RIVERSIDE, CA and SAN BERNARDINO, CA November 01, 2023—(BUSINESS WIRE)–Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), Molina Healthcare of California (Molina) and BeMe Health (BeMe) have joined forces to offer access to BeMe’s digital behavioral health platform built with and for teens, to more than 72,000 teens in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The initiative provides teens with safe access to engaging mental health content and skill-building activities, as well as 1:1 coaching and links to clinical services and 24/7 crisis support.
This press release includes multimedia. See the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231101565300/en/
This new community partnership comes as California and the nation further increase efforts to expand behavioral health where services are needed most, including new legislation to help ensure that all Medi-Cal-covered youth have more -equal access to mental health counseling and support, and new grants from the California Department of Public Health to support community-led youth suicide prevention.
“During and immediately after the pandemic, I felt very unmotivated and, well, I just stayed,” said Ava Capen, a BeMe user from California and a dedicated member of BeMe’s Teen Advisory Board. “A friend introduced me to BeMe. It has helped me improve the way I deal with stressful situations, like going back to school after the summer or getting ready for a big basketball game. It also provided me with simple calming techniques that I find myself using on a daily basis. “
IEHP, Molina, and BeMe are collaborating to provide safe, scalable mental health support to teens in 10 California local education agencies (LEAs), a population that includes a high percentage of teens of diverse backgrounds. To better support and prioritize mental health equity, the BeMe app provides culturally appropriate mental health services as well as science-based content tailored to languages, experiences and culture.
This new teen mental health program builds on the current Student Behavioral Health Promotion Program (SBHIP), which supports the goals of California’s Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) program and California’s broader efforts to establish a preventive , a person-centered approach to health and wellness. The new three-way partnership also ties directly into the previous teen mental health collaboration between Molina and BeMe.
“Molina is proud to make a positive difference in the lives of our teenagers,” said Abby Totten, plan president of Molina Healthcare of California. “We believe this continued partnership with BeMe and expanded work with IEHP will continue to empower local teens to take control of their behavioral and emotional health.”
IEHP is committed to supporting its youth members through initiatives focused on the holistic health of the child. This includes the growing need for mental health-based support services, as half of youth mental illness begins by age 14, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Our children are in crisis right now – there is no way around it. That’s why I’m so grateful that IEHP, Molina and BeMe are partnering to bring this resource to our teens,” explained Amrita Rai, IEHP’s Clinical Director of Community Behavioral Health. “Engaging in creative, positive and sustainability-based initiatives on behalf of our children is imperative right now, especially when they are inundated with negativity all around them. Instead of hoping and waiting for a teen to eventually reach out for help, BeMe brings support right to the teen when they need it.”
In a recent evaluation published with Stanford University involving more than 13,000 teens in the US, 84% of teens reported that BeMe helped with self-esteem, 90% of teens found BeMe content helpful, and 84% of teens found BeMe coaching helpful . In a subsequent pilot evaluation with more than 400 teens using the BeMe platform, in just seven days, teens using BeMe reported a 20% reduction in positive screenings for moderate or severe anxiety and an 11% reduction in teens testing positive for moderate or severe depression. as well as significant improvements in hope and the use of coping skills.
“As the mother of two teenage daughters, I live and breathe the real mental health challenges facing teens today and the need for solutions that are uniquely teen-specific,” said Nikki Tessler, PsyD, MBA, CEO and Co-Founder of BeMe Health. “This community partnership with IEHP and Molina is a meaningful and collaborative solution to address the stress and anxiety experienced by too many teenagers, especially this time of year.”
To learn more about this community-focused teen mental health collaboration, visit www.beme.com.
###
About BeMe Health
BeMe Health is a digital behavioral health company dedicated to providing mental health interventions specifically tailored for teens. The BeMe platform provides anytime, anywhere access to engaging content, mood mapping and skill-building activities, as well as 1:1 coaching and links to clinical services and 24/7 crisis support when needed. BeMe is built for and by teens, with an active Teen Advisory Board that ensures the platform is aligned with their lives, and its clinically validated approach uniquely meets teens where they are – on their phones – in a safe, secure and fun environment. BeMe works with health plans, employers and community organizations to provide a digital approach to teen mental health intervention. To learn more, please visit www.beme.com or find us on LinkedIn.
About IEHP
With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the 10 largest Medicaid health plans, the second largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country, and for the third year in a row, certified as A Great Place To Work®. In its 27th year, IEHP supports more than 1.6 million Riverside and San Bernardino County residents enrolled in Medicaid or IEHP DualChoice (those with Medi-Cal and Medicare). Today, IEHP has a growing network of nearly 6,800 providers and more than 3,000 team members who are fully committed to the vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. To learn more, go to iehp.org.
About Molina Healthcare of California
Molina Healthcare of California has been providing government-funded care for more than 40 years. The company serves members through Medi-Cal, Medicare, Medicare-Medicaid (Duals) and Covered California (Marketplace). Molina’s service areas include Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Orange County and Imperial. Through its locally managed health plans, Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, served approximately 5.2 million members as of June 30, 2023. For more information about Molina Healthcare of California, visit MolinaHealthcare.com.
Check out the source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231101565300/en/
Contacts
Media contacts:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]