BehaVR

Zenia Johnson

 

 

Maternal Health Leaders Share a Call to Action During National Breastfeeding Month

Photo by Luiza Braun on Unsplash

In recognition of National Breastfeeding Month in August, BehaVR and its partners authored a nationwide letter-to-the-editor to shine a light on the need for health care providers, insurers, IT and community leaders to work together to eliminate barriers to quality mental health and lactation support for all moms.

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During the pandemic, hospital International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) were some of the first providers to be furloughed, and staffing has not returned to normal levels to serve all the needs of new breastfeeding moms. Due to the shortage, many moms face a slew of burdens such as being unassisted, under-informed, overly anxious and fearful regarding their breastfeeding concerns.

One can only imagine how this situation is amplified for minority and rural populations long plagued by the lack of proper maternal care. There are unique cultural barriers among diverse communities that are often left unaddressed.

Breastfeeding is not like portrayed on TV, and the latest statistics are telling a story of moms and babies being left under-nourished physically and emotionally which is leading to a 41 percent newborn re-admittance rate for feeding problems. Maternal false expectations about breastfeeding can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety that impacts both her health and her baby’s. Studies are now quantifying just how big of a toll the pandemic has taken on pregnant moms’ mental health, causing twice the rate of anxiety and depression, in large part due to limited time with OB/GYNs and lactation experts who also serve as a moms’ information providers and support system.

August is National Breastfeeding Month, a moment when we must raise the level of awareness to combat maternal healthcare problems.

It is through strategic partnerships and fresh ideas that we can blaze a trail to sustain change. Healthcare providers, health plans, IT and community leaders must partner to implement affordable and scalable ideas — like utilizing telemedicine, and the neurological power of virtual reality for mental health to solve for our nation’s maternal mental health and lactation support issues. Strong partnerships can empower and inform moms resulting in positive health outcomes for themselves and their children. Thinking bigger, together is the only path forward.

Signed,

Aaron Gani, founder and CEO of BehaVR, maternal mental health via virtual reality
Lauren Majors, IBCLC, Sonder Health– telelactation and telenutrition services
Fran Ayalasomayajula, Save Moms– national maternal mortality and morbidity prevention campaign

 

Can Virtual Reality Ease the Emotional Toll of COVID-19 on Healthcare Workers?

Dr. Neda Gould, clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

As hospitals and health systems explore new ways to support their employees on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual reality has emerged as a powerful tool to help healthcare workers reduce chronic stress and build coping skills. For frontline health workers who have managed a consistent flow of COVID-19 patients for well over a year, the psychological effects of the pandemic have taken a severe toll.

According to a survey conducted by Mental Health America, 93% of healthcare workers reported experiencing stress, 76% reported exhaustion and burnout, and 75% reported being overwhelmed. Despite these experiences, 45% of nurses said they were unlikely to have emotional support.

In recognition of this challenge, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Orange County, California, introduced CenteredVR to its nurses working in the hospital’s COVID unit. CenteredVR, developed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a dynamic, personalized virtual reality (VR) experience that can reduce chronic stress by building resilience and coping skills. The program gradually guides individuals through a soothing, immersive VR experience that helps alleviate stress through educational elements and mindfulness practices. It teaches users to optimize their stress responses, becoming less reactive and more resilient to stressors.

Early results on CenteredVR’s impact on users’ stress levels have been positive and among those who have used the program to date, stress levels decreased, on average, by a reported 34%.

“We have seen the power of virtual reality-enabled programming to support the mental health and wellbeing of our patients so it was a natural fit for us to offer a tool like CenteredVR to our nurses,” said Robert G. Louis, M.D., the Hoag Empower360 Endowed Chair for Skull Base and Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery at the at Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute. “Mindfulness practices are shown to reduce chronic stress and CenteredVR combines those principles with the neurological and psychological power of virtual reality, offering our nurses new resources to reduce stress and improve their overall health.”

Rick Martin, Ed.D, MSN, RN, senior vice president, clinical operations and chief nursing officer of Hoag, offered details on the initial uptake of the programming: “Nearly two thirds (64%) of our nursing staff in the COVID-19 unit signed up to use the CenteredVR programming and we’ve continued to receive positive feedback on the program’s impact in their day-to-day lives.”

Nurses at Hoag download the BehaVR Mobile App, which syncs with a virtual reality headset, to begin their immersive experience. Over the course of six, 20-minute sessions focused on mindfulness practices, which can be done in the safety and comfort of their own homes, nurses learn new skills and information to help them adapt and cope with stress in their daily lives more effectively.

“Stress and burnout among healthcare workers is not a new phenomenon but the unrelenting pace and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has taken these common challenges to new, unimaginable heights, bringing sustained, intense levels of stress,” said Aaron Gani, CEO of BehaVR. “We are pleased to bring CenteredVR to healthcare settings. VR has shown that it can mitigate the effects of chronic stress, reduce anxiety, and enhance the overall mental health and wellbeing of those who use it. We are hopeful that CenteredVR can bring these benefits to our nation’s tireless and dedicated healthcare workers. In addition, we have a strong belief that any employee struggling to cope with stress at work would benefit from using CenteredVR.”

 

 

Celebrating Female Leadership at BehaVR

Author: Aaron Gani

For the second year in a row, our team at BehaVR has been awarded a spot in the Best Companies for Women to Advance™ List 2021 of Parity.org, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on bringing gender and racial equality to the highest levels of business.


We’re in great company, with a total of 34 companies on this year’s list, including larger organizations like Adobe, Airbnb, Best Buy, The Clorox Company, Deutsche Bank, Nasdaq, PepsiCo, and Ralph Lauren Corporation. As a smaller standout we’re incredibly proud to be a two-time winner, particularly now when we believe our mental health programs answer a critical need for support at a time when our country is experiencing record rates of anxiety and too few clinicians to support the demand.

The Best Companies for Women to Advance List was established in 2020 to recognize organizations that have benefits, policies, and programs that are particularly beneficial for women to advance in the workplace. Companies were rated for their organization’s equality, representation, inclusion, and enablers, or those benefits and policies that help create and sustain equal representation.

As the founder and CEO, I truly believe that it is because of the leadership, creativity and grit of incredible women at BehaVR that we have found unique ways to harness the neurological power of VR, through various experiences that will address a broad range of needs around stress, anxiety, and fear. We feel proud to take on the enormous challenge of distributing high quality, high engagement mental health care at a scale that matters in our country — and to do it alongside a team that has developed a culture of celebrating and nurturing all talent. Further, to earn a spot alongside such an impressive list of brands is quite exciting at this inflection point in our growth.

The need for companies to commit to the “Parity Pledge” is even more necessary after the challenges of this past year. Cathrin Stickney, Parity.org founder and CEO, best clarified that need: “After a year that has erased all the corporate gains women made in the past several decades, there are still companies that are making progress to support women’s advancement at work. The companies on the 2021 list of Best Companies for Women to Advance are shining examples of taking action to help create equal representation, now. We hope more companies will follow their lead and help get women back into the workforce and advance in their careers.”

Companies on the 2021 list share many common best practices that are known to support women, such as work-from-home or telecommute options (97%), flexible working hours (94%), and equal paid family leave for men and women (88%). Nearly every company measures and reports on gender parity to the executive team (97%), and every single company regularly communicates their gender-parity values to employees, encourages men to take their full family leave, and has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.

I’m very proud of the work we’re doing at BehaVR, and even more proud that we are and will continue to be committed to do our part to ensure gender parity at all levels of our business.