The Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at Children’s Nebraska has received a $5.51 million grant from the James M. Cox Foundation — an investment aimed at transforming technology use in behavioral health, Renee Rafferty, senior vice president of the center, told Becker’s.
The center will open in January and provide a variety of behavioral health services — from crisis assessments to inpatient care — on Omaha-based Children’s Nebraska campus.
Technology integration
The behavioral health sector tends to lag behind other areas of care in adopting technology, with a need for more tailored content, Ms. Rafferty said. However, with this grant, the center plans to implement technology to better address behavioral health needs.
“We have the immersion virtual reality tools, the headsets and the opportunity to be able to teach kids basic social skills, as well as learning new techniques for self regulation and reducing anxiety, increasing management of depression and other types of mood disorders,” Ms. Rafferty said. “When you’re feeling distressed and you have these opportunities to kind of be curious, it helps you to move out of the part of your brain that is really overwhelmed.”
Immersion rooms can help students practice for tests or navigate emotions associated with meeting new friends. Sensory panels are designed to leverage app-based games and sensory virtual reality to help patients engage in de-escalation and distraction. The center is also exploring AI translation tools designed to improve real-time translation during therapeutic interactions with children, allowing clinicians, therapists or peer support members to better communicate.
The grant, which will be disbursed over a four-year period, will allow the center to pilot technologies and build on lessons learned, Ms. Rafferty said.
Treatment approach and continuum of care
The center is committed to whole-person care, Ms. Rafferty said, noting that behavioral health conditions can occur alongside any other condition throughout the continuum of medical services. The center’s “No Wrong Door” approach allows children experiencing a behavioral health condition to receive an assessment, and they are directed to the appropriate care resource with the goal of identifying the least restrictive level of care.
“If it really helps them to come in and talk only with a therapist for a few hours and they can stabilize and return home, we’re going to do that,” she said. “But we have those higher levels of care as well. The opportunity to really bring all those services underneath one roof with the philosophy that we will care for them and there isn’t a wrong door is really unique and exciting.”
Technologies such as the sensory panels will be integrated into multiple care settings. For example, they will be available in the center’s quiet and comfort room, where children can adjust lighting and select a scene to experience.
The center also hopes to bring innovations to the medical side of the campus. Patients can go back and forth between the hospital and center, presenting an opportunity for technology to bridge physical and mental healthcare services.
Community and generational impact
The investment is a “signal of hope” to children and their families that reduces barriers, increasing access to care and integrating technology alongside that, Ms. Rafferty said.
“It signals to kids that they’re worth investing in, and that their mental health is a priority for the community. I think that will have an impact for generations,” she said. “It gives kids the reminder that they aren’t broken, that they have the opportunity to heal, that they have a medical condition.”
Leveraging this technology will also allow the center to conduct research, share findings and support program development in schools or other hospitals. The funding will accelerate technological advances, she said. As technology evolves, the center hopes that tools — such as virtual reality headset — can one day be used at home to reinforce skills and coping strategies.
