It’s important to give our bodies the best care we can offer. That’s why getting proper nutrition, exercising, sleeping well, have ample time to rest, and taking care of your mental and emotional health should be your priority.

Another way to take care of your body is by taking health supplements, which could provide your body with the extra boost it needs for going through your day-to-day routines.

What Are Health Supplements?

Health supplements, also known as dietary supplements or nutritional supplements, are products that are geared to supplement your diet and lifestyle. They can be in the form of capsules, powders, liquids, or pills, and they can be manufactured from both natural and synthetic sources.

People take health supplements for a variety of reasons, but the main one is to boost their overall health and ensure that their bodies are getting the proper care. The body needs a lot of nutrients throughout the day, and health supplements may help boost its nutritional intake. That’s why companies, like Vitaliving, have a whole selection of health supplements meant to help you become the best you can be and help your body stay in tip-top shape.

Here are five of the benefits you can get by taking health supplements:

1.      Supply Your Body With Extra Nutrients

Typically, a balanced diet can help you get all the nutrients that your body needs. However, there are times that we all have difficulty eating balanced meals, which is where health supplements come in.

As mentioned above, health supplements can help supply your body with the extra nutrients it needs. They can also help your body have enough nutrients if you have a health condition that causes you to have a nutrient deficiency.

2.      Can Be Used To Prevent Medical Conditions

Some medical conditions stem from one’s lifestyle and the lack of nutrients in the body. Fortunately, some health supplements can help reduce your chances of getting such medical conditions.

For example, hypertension may be avoided by taking health supplements. A birth defect called spina bifida may also be avoided by taking folic acid.

Thus, health supplements may help reduce your chances of getting affected by certain medical conditions because of the nutrients they provide to your body.

3.      Help Improve Your Mood

Taking health supplements daily may have a positive impact on your mood. Certain nutrients, which can be found in health supplements, like folate, iron, calcium, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids, may help combat depression and improve your mood.

4.      Increase Energy Levels

Alongside a proper diet and plenty of exercises, health supplements can help keep your energy levels up. Feeling lethargic can get you down in the dumps, and health supplements may provide you with the boost you need to keep your energy up.

Supplements like Ashwagandha, Vitamin D, B vitamins, Creatine, and L-theanine may help you increase your energy levels and give you the energy you need to last through the day.

5.      Boosts Your Body’s Defenses

Nowadays, it’s important to keep our immune systems strong and ready to combat any diseases. Health supplements may provide your immune system with the boost it needs to keep you healthy.

Vitamins A, C, and D have been found to improve the response of the immune system, allowing your immune system to get stronger and function properly.

Are Health Supplements Safe To Take?

Health supplement manufacturers typically ensure that all of their products are safe for consumption. That’s why they follow a set of standards to ensure optimal quality, and they’re manufactured, packaged, and labeled with care.

To ensure that the health supplement is right for you, you must research the health supplement you want to take and see what benefits it can offer you. It’s important to check reputable sources to get clear and accurate information. You can also book a trip to your doctor or local healthcare provider to help you assess the right health supplements for your body.

Takeaway

While most health supplements are beneficial for your body and are safe for consumption, they must only be taken in recommended doses. Taking large doses of certain supplements may have negative effects on your body and you may even overdose, which, in some cases, can even cause death. That’s why it’s important to find the right health supplements for you and to follow the instructions on how to take the product.

Most people think that the terms “rehabilitation” and “habilitation” are the same. It’s not even surprising if you think these two terminologies are interchangeable. While it’s true that these words refer to many forms of physical enhancement or therapy given to people with ailments or disabilities, they’re not the same. Rehabilitation and habilitation are two distinct approaches.

What Is Rehabilitation?

Before you train your sights on habilitation services, you must first define “rehabilitation” or rehab for short. The term refers to the restoration of skills and physical functioning that’s weakened or lost due to injury or disability.

A good example would be a bodybuilder who had an accident and broke his arms. Because of the accident, this person has damaged his arms’ mobility and will not be able to lift weights. It would be best for the man to consult a physical therapist and undergo rehabilitation to restore his arms’ strength and mobility.

Rehabilitation is also the best treatment course for patients who suffer after a stroke or have become disabled due to accidents and diseases.

What Is Habilitation?

Strictly speaking, habilitation is designed to help differently-abled individuals acquire, improve, and retain skills that are necessary for functioning in daily life. Habilitation services target skills and abilities that a person may not be able to develop normally. So, such skills and abilities are not yet present or developed. They’re yet to be introduced or learned by the person concerned.

Habilitation can be given to both kids and adults who have special needs. Kids who have motor skill deficiencies and adults with cognitive disabilities can benefit from this type of service. Patients who have cerebral palsy will need habilitation services to learn functional abilities like sitting and walking. People with speech and hearing impairment since birth are also given resources that include information about habilitation services.

The goal is to help challenged persons improve their adaptive and social skills so that they can normally live in their communities.

The Need To Distinguish Habilitation And Rehabilitation

Life would have been more comfortable had the terms “rehabilitation” and “habilitation” meant the same thing. After all, both are about helping people. But, believe it or not, there’s a need to distinguish these two words. Your insurance coverage is the biggest reason you need to know the difference between these terms.

Suppose you take a close look at a typical insurance plan. You’ll see the insurer’s liability will specify that they will only cover therapy for skills or abilities lost due to injury or illness. It means that if your loss of skills and abilities didn’t result from disease or injury, you don’t qualify for therapy covered by the insurance. In short, most employer insurance plans don’t typically cover habilitation services for now. Some organizations are working to have regulations put in place regarding this matter.

Common Types Of Habilitation Services

There are many types of services that habilitation providers can offer. Not all persons requiring habilitative care have the same needs. Therefore, their parents or family members should make sure that the services offered are suited to their unique needs. Here are some examples of standard habilitation services.

• In-home or Residential Habilitation

This service is well-suited for persons who require support while living in their own communities. Residential habilitation is provided right in the client’s home. Typically, this service aims to develop and improve a person’s social functioning and other skills associated with daily living.

• Supported Living Services In Provider-Controlled Environment

Clients who may exhibit challenging behaviors brought about by development disabilities or those with demanding medical and physical needs may require a more comprehensive approach in an environment controlled by the habilitation provider. This type of service is usually given to persons living outside their own homes.

• Family Support Services

These services are provided not just to the persons requiring habilitation, but also to their family members. Habilitation is done in-home or within the community to educate and train family members in caring for persons with developmental disabilities.

• Day Habilitation

This service offers flexible programs and daytime supervision for adults who need habilitation to develop their daily living and social skills. Day habilitation services focus on communication and behavioral skills to improve the person’s well-being and chances of social integration.

• Career Counselling

Some providers, such as CDS Life Transitions, offer career counseling to clients with developmental disabilities. Persons requiring habilitative services don’t necessarily mean they can’t find gainful employment. Sure, there may be challenges, but overcoming those challenges is the purpose of why habilitation is needed in the first place. Helping clients explore various career paths and boost their skills to find jobs may be the most critical step toward giving adult clients a chance to achieve a truly independent life.

Main Thrusts Of Habilitation Programs

All the different habilitation providers and consortiums have one common thrust: It’s to help patients or people with disabilities get a better shot at living independent lives. Regardless of when habilitation is introduced in a person’s life, the primary goal is to build up that person’s independence and open up opportunities to study and even to obtain employment.

Many accredited programs focus on individuals with intellectual difficulties, autism, and cerebral palsy. These are persons who are most likely to have functional disabilities. That said, habilitation can be applied to any person who didn’t have the chance to develop normal daily living skills due to physical or mental disabilities.

Providers adopt a basic approach that teaches their clients how to do some of the most foundational things in life without other people’s help. These skills include anything from brushing one’s teeth to changing one’s clothes. Some programs will even involve cooking, managing finances, and even buying personal items. Habilitation covers everything that the patients need to develop essential skills that will allow them to live their entire lives independently.

Human Rights And The Right To Choose

Habilitation is given to clients with specific disabilities. Some would argue that such disabilities prevent the patients from making their own decisions, and therefore the habilitative services provided may not be what the patients want. What if the client really doesn’t want to interact with society or even to learn how to brush his teeth? How can the providers know that they’re not infringing on their clients’ right to choose?

Right from the onset, habilitation and the right to choose aren’t contradictory. As a matter of fact, habilitative services will ultimately help the clients learn how to decide for themselves. Although it may not be evident during the early parts of the program, habilitation and the right to choose should work hand in hand to boost the clients’ participation in their own functional development. It’s vital that any habilitative program must allow the client to make choices regarding the abilities or behaviors he needs to learn.

On another note, as habilitation teaches the skills needed to go to school, work, or live independently, persons with disabilities can break down the barriers or limitations that prohibit them from enjoying the same rights as regular people. In this respect, habilitative services encourage equality and human rights.

Who Provides Habilitation Services?

Accredited providers work with habilitation specialists who, in turn, are responsible for working with clients or patients. The specialists are sometimes supported by assistants, and they use a wide array of strategies customized for the needs of children or adult clients.

Teaching functional abilities to children and adults with disabilities can be challenging. This is why habilitation specialists undergo training and certification. Qualifications can vary, depending on the duties that they will focus on.

Ideally, they’re registered and qualified habilitation specialists. Many providers would require their specialists to have relevant prior experience. First aid certification is essential because working with differently-abled persons can be prone to accidents or emergencies. Employers mainly look for specialists who have a degree in psychology, social work, and education. Apart from the degree and job skills, the right habilitation specialist should also have the patience and attitude that suit working with persons with disabilities.

They can also work with other professionals, such as schoolteachers, to ensure the patient’s seamless transition from home to school or work. Specialists can help develop a range of skills in areas like personal care, travel, and even leisure activities.

For patients with visual disabilities, habilitation specialists may also be referred to as mobility specialists, orientation and mobility teachers, or specialists for the visually impaired.

Contact a support coordinator who will connect you with habilitation providers and other specialists near you.

Conclusion

Habilitation is not the same as rehabilitation. While both are important in helping people with disabilities, habilitation is focused on assisting persons in acquiring, developing, and retaining skills and functional abilities to live a normal life. As a service, habilitation can be applied at any point in a person’s life. Both kids and adults with disabilities can benefit from this service. There are many types of habilitation service. Providers can work at the client’s home or in-house.

Habilitation specialists are certified and accredited professionals. They’re the ones who work with the clients face to face. Anyone can become a specialist, but it would be best to have a degree in fields like education, social services, or psychology. A lot of patience and the right attitude will go a long way when working with persons with special needs.

Habilitation providers are crucial in teaching differently-abled individuals how to participate in their communities. It’s essential that resources about habilitation reach the persons and their families who need such services.

Olympus Corporation  announced the launch of a new comprehensive educational platform designed to provide healthcare professionals (HCPs) all over the world with learning opportunities and training to put their skills into practice and keep them performing at their best.

The “Olympus Continuum”  platform will empower HCPs at every stage of their career with innovative, premium education and specialized training experiences. The platform builds on the existing Olympus training program, which trains more than 25,000 HCPs annually over 1,400 courses.

Chief Medical Officer, Ross D. Segan, MD, MBA, FACS, said: “Healthcare professionals work in a variety of settings and have a multitude of needs–and their expectations for training courses have evolved well past traditional skills-based learning. Our new platform connects the continuum of care with the continuum of learning. A truly blended experience, Olympus Continuum maximizes digital self-guided pre-learning, direct in-person training, and post-learning collaboration to support healthcare professional across every stage of their career and to improve patient outcome.”

HCPs using the “Olympus Continuum” platform will enjoy the following benefits:

– Comprehensive platform programs covering basic to advanced levels: The Olympus global professional education strategy is to establish a continuum of blended learning that takes HCPs from basic to advanced, providing more educational opportunities/experiences and increasing accessibility through the utilization of technology. Hands-on courses will be provided in our 15 dedicated Olympus training labs, as well as hospitals and other labs all over the world.

– Beneficial for remote areas, including emerging countries: In some emerging countries and hard-to-reach areas, it has been difficult for HCPs to receive training or enroll in educational programs because of limited course offerings and large geographical distances. “Olympus Continuum” is a globalized and comprehensive platform of training and education experiences led by healthcare experts from around the world.

– Effective platform that fits well with current conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic: There was growing demand from healthcare professionals for on-demand, digitally-enabled virtual training and this has increased further during the current COVID-19 pandemic. This new platform exactly meets this demand and provides an excellent combination of virtual and on-site training.

About Olympus Continuum

Olympus Continuum is a newly launched educational platform for healthcare professionals that will bring the benefits of digitally-enabled learning to remote regions, as well as those impacted by COVID-19. Basic and advanced training for healthcare professionals will be provided through Olympus training centers and hospitals all over the world.

About Olympus

Olympus is passionate about the solutions it creates for the medical, life sciences, and industrial equipment industries. Olympus’ Medical business uses innovative capabilities in medical technology, therapeutic intervention, and precision manufacturing to help healthcare professionals deliver diagnostic, therapeutic, and minimally invasive procedures to improve clinical outcomes, reduce overall costs, and enhance the quality of life for patients. Olympus’ Medical portfolio includes endoscopes, laparoscopes, and video imaging systems, as well as surgical energy devices, system integration solutions, medical services, and a wide range of endotherapy instruments.

Kindred Healthcare, LLC and UofL Health announced a joint venture to build and operate an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.

This new 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital will be located at 5000 Chamberlain Lane, near the intersection of I-71 and I-265 in the northeast area of Jefferson County, and will serve the growing East End of Jefferson County and adjacent counties. The approximately 55,000-square-foot, two-story rehabilitation facility will have all private rooms and focus on acute rehabilitation for patients who suffer from stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, complex neurological disorders, orthopedic conditions, multiple trauma, amputation and other injuries or disorders. Large multidisciplinary therapy gymnasiums will be outfitted with the latest therapeutic technologies, including augmented reality balance training, therapy bionics and a full body exoskeleton. The hospital will also include a therapeutic courtyard with exterior amenities.

UofL Health – Frazier Rehab Institute is recognized nationally as an innovator in rehab care. For more than six decades, patients from across the world have sought out Frazier Rehab for life-enhancing treatments and therapies. The new facility is expected to help manage the growing needs of the region and will free up access to the array of specialty programs at its downtown location with one common goal – helping people of all ages with disabilities reach their fullest potential in physical and cognitive functioning.

“We are proud to partner with UofL Health to offer the Louisville community increased access to high-quality inpatient rehabilitation services,” said Jason Zachariah, Kindred’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “Frazier Rehab has an impressive legacy, with more than 60 years in rehab care, and we are excited to work alongside them to improve patients’ lives. This new hospital will be dedicated to passionately advocating for and providing hope, healing and recovery to patients in its care.”

“This new inpatient rehabilitation hospital will combine Kindred’s national expertise in rehab excellence with Frazier Rehab’s first-in-class care and leading innovation,” said Tom Miller, CEO of UofL Health. “The new hospital will increase access to our rehab services, addressing unmet needs in our growing community.”

The partners expect the hospital to open by the fourth quarter of calendar year 2022, subject to several regulatory and other approvals.

Almirall, S.A., a global biopharmaceutical company based in Barcelona, and Happify Health, a leader in digital therapeutics solutions to improve mental and physical health based in New York, will develop a version of its digital platform specifically for people with psoriasis in Spain, UK, Italy and France to be rolled out this year. It is estimated that 20-30% of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression¹. Happify Health, through evidence-based and clinically validated platforms, delivers mental health solutions targeted to patients with chronic diseases.

The Almirall partnership with Happify Health will focus on a solution called CLARO targeted to addressing the mental health concerns of psoriasis patients. The goal of the CLARO program is to create a solution/service to help psoriasis patients improve their well-being when living with a chronic disease providing a meaningful, dynamic and fun user experience. CLARO will be delivered through the Almirall patient support program.

This new partnership demonstrates Almirall’s commitment to deliver digital solutions to patients suffering from psoriasis. “We are so pleased to be joining Happify Health on their mission to improve the lives of patients with chronic conditions. This partnership will allow us to provide patients with psoriasis a solution based on a clinically validated positive psychology platform. We selected Happify as our partner as they have already demonstrated a positive impact on the mental health of patients with chronic conditions, including psoriasis, in published research,” said Francesca Domenech Wuttke, Chief Digital Officer at Almirall.

“Since mental health events act as stressors that can trigger psoriasis flare ups, Happify is excited to work with a European leader like Almirall in this condition to address the mental and physical health symptoms of these patients,” said Chris Wasden, Head of Digital Therapeutics at Happify Health. “Our digital therapeutic solution acts as a complement to Almirall’s commitment to psoriasis patients to empower people with psoriasis to live full lives through meaningful behavior change. Together, we can help psoriasis patients, one patient at a time, and at scale.”

About Almirall

Almirall is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on skin health. We collaborate with scientists and healthcare professionals to address patient’s needs through science to improve their lives. Our Noble Purpose is at the core of our work: “Transform the patients’ world by helping them realize their hopes and dreams for a healthy life”. We invest in differentiated and groundbreaking medical dermatology products to bring our innovative solutions to patients in need.

The company, founded in 1943 and headquartered in Barcelona, is publically traded on the Spanish Stock Exchange and is a member of the IBEX 35 (ticker: ALM). Throughout its 77-year history, Almirall has retained a strong focus on the needs of patients. Currently, Almirall has a direct presence in 21 countries and strategic agreements in over 70, through 13 subsidiaries, with about 1,800 employees. Total revenues in 2019 were 908.4 million euros.

About Happify

Health Happify Health is a global healthcare platform that combines digital therapeutics and care delivery solutions to improve mental and physical health. Incorporating advanced AI, Happify Health’s effective, evidence-based connected platform uses scientific research from positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness, combined with a gamified approach and leading-edge technology, to positively impact everyday lives. Happify Health’s unique end-to-end, personalized approach emphasizes the mind-body connection and implements meaningful behavior change to address the stress, anxiety and depression that is often comorbid for people living with chronic conditions. The platform offers a multi-channel suite of products for employers, health plans, pharmaceutical companies and consumers. Available in 10 languages, Happify Health’s science-led, clinicallyvalidated platform provides access to a comprehensive intervention catalog, delivering better health outcomes by design.

Reliq Health Technologies Inc., a rapidly growing global telemedicine company that develops innovative Virtual Care solutions for the multi-billion dollar Healthcare market, announced the launch of its new multilingual Interactive Voice Recognition product, iUGO Care IVR, and a new contract with a physician practice in Maryland to use iUGO Care IVR with both their English- and Russian-speaking patients.

“We have incorporated Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) in the iUGO Care platform to support patients who are using their own, non-connected monitoring devices, have cellular or internet connectivity challenges or simply prefer an automated daily phone call in the language of their choice as a reminder to collect their vitals,” said Dr. Lisa Crossley, CEO of Reliq Health Technologies, Inc. “The new product uses Interactive Voice Recognition to communicate with patients in any language, record patients’ self-reported readings and automatically upload the data to the iUGO Care platform, where it can be accessed by their care team. This solution is of particular interest to private insurers and employer-sponsored insurance plans who want patients to use their existing, non-connected biometric monitoring devices. Clinicians can also leverage existing Medicare reimbursement codes for Remote Patient Monitoring involving self-reported data. This is a highly scalable product that will allow us to serve a large patient population that was not previously addressed by standard Remote Patient Monitoring technology.”

The Company has signed a new contract with a physician practice in Maryland to provide Remote Patient Monitoring with Interactive Voice Recognition to a significant Russian-speaking patient population. Onboarding started in Maryland this week. The Company expects to expand the IVR product offering into additional geographies requiring a variety of different languages later this quarter.

About Reliq Health

Reliq Health Technologies is a rapidly growing global telemedicine that specializes in developing innovative Virtual Care solutions for the multi-billion dollar Healthcare market. Reliq’s powerful iUGO Care platform supports care coordination and community-based virtual healthcare. iUGO Care allows complex patients to receive high quality care at home, improving health outcomes, enhancing quality of life for patients and families and reducing the cost of care delivery. iUGO Care provides real-time access to remote patient monitoring data, allowing for timely interventions by the care team to prevent costly hospital readmissions and ER visits. Reliq Health Technologies trades on the TSX Venture under the symbol RHT, on the OTC as RQHTF and on the WKN as A2AJTB.

SilverCloud Health, a leading digital mental health platform, together with a group of international mental health stakeholders, announced that the American Psychiatric Association’s Psychiatric Services journal has published the findings of an expert group aimed at increasing the adoption of digital mental health treatments (DMHTs) within the U.S. healthcare system.

The paper, “Banbury Forum Consensus Statement on the Path Forward for Digital Mental Health Treatment,” was authored by The Banbury Forum for Digital Mental Health Treatment, a group of over 20 international stakeholders including SilverCloud Health and representing healthcare organizations, insurers, employers, patients, researchers, policymakers, digital mental health companies, and the investment community. The Banbury Forum was formed in 2019 to review the current state of evidence and identify the primary challenges to adoption of DMHTs in the U.S. healthcare system, including in response to the challenges COVID-19 presents. The resulting paper identifies the core challenges, as well as opportunities, and provides recommendations to facilitate the successful and sustainable implementation of effective digital mental health interventions in the American healthcare system.

“Through years of rigorous trialing, digital mental health treatments have consistently proven to be effective interventions while also solving the issue of access that many face, yet there is a noticeable gap in adoption, reimbursement and regulation of these treatments within the U.S. healthcare system,” said Banbury Forum member and co-author Derek Richards, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at SilverCloud Health and Research Fellow at the School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin.

The paper reports that more than 100 randomized controlled trials demonstrate the effectiveness of DMHTs, and determined DMHTs can effectively overcome access and provider shortage issues that are an inherent part of the U.S. system. Each year, roughly 20% of Americans experience a diagnosable mental health condition, but many don’t receive treatment due to barriers to care, such as stigma and a shortage of mental health providers. For every 100,000 Americans, there are only 30 psychologists and 15.6 psychiatrists, and nearly 120 million Americans reside in designated health professional shortage areas – areas in which the ratio of mental health professionals to residents is smaller than 1 per 30,000 people. The integration of DMHTs into care pathways could improve the efficiency of mental health services and would extend effective treatment to the millions of Americans who are currently unable to access treatment.

“Amid the pandemic, DMHTs are helping to meet the increased demand and reduce the barriers that often prevent people from seeking care in traditional settings, as demand for mental health services – even before the pandemic – has long been higher than supply,” said Ken Cahill, CEO, SilverCloud Health. “We believe now is the time for the power and clinical outcomes of these proven programs to be realized, and our hope is for policymakers and stakeholders to unite in creating a framework that enables the broad adoption of truly effective and proven tools within the U.S. healthcare system.”

“This report makes it clear that for mental health to have parity, digital mental health tools should be an integral part of the U.S. healthcare system, owing to its accessibility and potential impact on mental wellbeing for everyone, regardless of where they live,” said Banbury Forum member and co-author Patricia Areán, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who co-chaired the forum along with David Mohr, Ph.D., Professor of Preventive Medicine and Director of the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies at Northwestern University.

“While there is increasing recognition of the effectiveness of digital mental health treatments in improving common mental health conditions, two principal barriers to broad implementation and adoption were identified,” Mohr said. “Barriers are the absence of reimbursement mechanisms, which for many healthcare systems makes implementation financially unfeasible, and the lack of expertise among decision makers in determining which digital mental health products to use.”

The Banbury Forum was unanimous in making the following actionable recommendations:

Guided DMHTs should be offered as a treatment option to all patients experiencing depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD.
DMHT products and services should be reimbursable to support integration into the U.S. healthcare landscape.
An evidence standards framework should be developed to support digital formularies and decision making in healthcare organizations, states, and commercial health plans/payers in selecting DMHT products that are effective, safe, and equitable.

About SilverCloud Health

SilverCloud Health is the world’s leading digital mental health company, enabling providers, health plans and employers to deliver clinically validated digital health/therapeutic care that improves outcomes, increases access and scale while reducing costs. The company’s multi-award-winning digital mental health platform is a result of over 18 years of clinical research with leading academic institutions. Today, SilverCloud is being used by over 300 organizations globally to meet their populations’ mental health needs. Global experts have deeply validated the platform through full randomized control trials and real-world data from over 550,000 SilverCloud users. The platform continues to lead the industry with its effectiveness, engagement and range of clinical programs that encompasses the spectrum of mental health needs.

Lyra Health, the leading provider of comprehensive mental health care benefits for employers, today announced a Series E financing round of $187 million. Addition led the round and was joined by new investors Durable Capital Partners LP, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Baillie Gifford, along with other existing investors. This financing will enable Lyra to further expand its investments in pioneering tech-enabled mental health care, a growing and diverse provider network, and new partnerships to support the world’s largest global organizations.

More than 83% of U.S. employees are experiencing mental health issues, according to research Lyra Health conducted in 2020 in partnership with the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. Additionally, 40% of workers feel employers don’t support their mental health.

Transforming Mental Health Care
Lyra more than doubled its customer base in 2020 and extended its services to support more than 2 million members with comprehensive mental health care. Lyra customers include Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; Morgan Stanley; Zoom Video Communications; and dozens of the world’s largest, most respected brands.

Lyra also continues to pioneer new evidence-based, technology-enabled mental health solutions that accelerate access to care and match members to clinically proven programs that prioritize fast and durable symptom improvement. In 2020, the company introduced Lyra Blended Care, which pairs video therapy sessions with personalized digital lessons and exercises based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) principles. Lyra Blended Care is scalable and extensible, leveraging technology to deliver better care quality and clinical outcomes, while reducing the cost of care. In 2020, peer-reviewed Lyra research demonstrated the effectiveness of the Blended Care treatment program for clients with depression and anxiety. Lyra plans to continue expanding Blended Care to serve a wide range of members and mental health challenges.

In 2020, Lyra announced a partnership with Calm, the top mental fitness and resilience application, with more than 90 million downloads to date. Through the partnership, Lyra is making it easier for employers to offer a wide range of mental health tools from a single platform.

“2020 put the need for mental health care transformation in sharp focus, as more people sought help during these extraordinary and difficult times,” said David Ebersman, Lyra Health CEO and co-founder. “The traditional mental health care system cannot address the critical needs people have today. Lyra is now able to directly support more than 2 million members as we enable employers to offer their people easy, effective access to clinically proven mental health care. This latest financing round will allow Lyra to continue to develop new and innovative care solutions while reaching new customers and members.”

About Lyra Health
Lyra Health, a leading provider of innovative mental health benefits for more than 2 million U.S. employees and dependents, is transforming mental health care by creating a frictionless experience for members, providers, and employers. Using matching technology and an innovative digital platform, Lyra quickly connects companies and their employees — plus spouses and children — to world-class therapists, mental health coaches, and personalized medication prescribing. Leading self-insured employers partner with Lyra to tailor value-driven mental health benefits programs specific to their workforce. With Lyra, benefits leaders can offer employees fast, reliable access to providers who practice evidence-based mental health care treatments.

Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital will start construction this month on a new mother, baby and family unit that will transform the experience moms and families have when delivering their baby. The new space will ensure that the birth experience and first days as a mother include the highest quality care in a state-of-the-art unit that provides a safe, supportive environment for the new family.

“This remodel will provide our patients and community with a modern state-of-the-art LDRP unit,” said Brian Zwoyer, president of Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital. “We recognize the importance of comprehensive Women’s Health at Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital and the communities we serve; we are excited to embark on this journey.”

In the past, it was common for moms to move between rooms as they check in at one location, deliver in a separate room, and recover in a third. But now, new mothers and their family members will be able to stay in one place throughout the process, allowing them to settle in and get comfortable as they welcome their bundle of joy into the world.

This unit is equipped with the necessary tools and supplies to care for mother and baby before, during, and after the birth. Most of the time, the baby will get to remain in the room with the mother instead of being taken to the nursery. “The renovation of the rooms to accommodate LDRP is a much anticipated improvement that will enhance our patients’ experience,” said Dr. William Rosche, OBGYN.

While receiving maternity care at Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital, patients have access to highly experienced staff and advanced equipment. The purpose of the LDRP unit is to give the new family a chance to get comfortable, connect with each other and adjust to the changes a baby brings.

“This renovation will bring our unit into the 21st century. It will promote family bonding in a tranquil environment” said, Dr. Joni Abbott, OBGYN .

“This renovation aligns with the Sentara mission, ‘We Improve Health Every day’. We look forward to seeing the completed renovation in the Fall of 2021,” said Zwoyer.

Throughout this remodel you can find regular updates via our Facebook page, Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital, along with some fun contest along the way.