June 23, 2020 ACL Announces MENTAL Health Innovation Challenge Challenge seeks online tool to help socially isolated Americans connect and engage Today, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health launched the MENTAL Health Challenge to combat the social isolation and loneliness that older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans often experience. A total of $750,000 in prizes will be awarded for development of an easy-to-use online system that offers recommendations for programs, activities and resources that can help users connect to others and engage in the community, based on their individual needs, interests, and abilities. The winning system will be announced and demonstrated in January 2021 at CES. And it ultimately will become the centerpiece of a national public awareness campaign. Social disconnection has enormous health consequences. Social isolation has been found to be as harmful to a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and people who are socially isolated or lonely face higher risk of hospitalization; depression, anxiety and suicide; heart failure and stroke; dementia; and even premature death. Not surprisingly, a recent analysis found that Medicare spends an additional $6.7 billion every year on enrollees who are socially isolated. “We need a multipronged public health approach to change the way we address social isolation, especially among our most at-risk populations,” said U.S. Surgeon General, VADM Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H. “This approach must include the development of innovative solutions to combat the harmful physical and mental health effects of social isolation and the role technology has in promoting better connections for all.” For a variety of reasons, older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans are more likely to be socially isolated and to report feeling lonely. Nearly a quarter of Americans who are 65 or older have few social relationships or infrequent social contact with others, and more than 40 percent of people 60 and older report feeling lonely. In one small study, people with disabilities were more than three times more likely to report feelings of loneliness than people without disabilities. Veterans report higher rates of loneliness than civilians, particularly if they have functional limitations or have experienced traumatic events, and loneliness has been cited as the top risk factor for suicidal ideation in veterans. The number of older adults is projected to almost double by the year 2060, the population of people with disabilities also is growing, and 22 veterans die by suicide every day. There is a clear and critical need to help all three connect with others and engage in their communities. This is particularly true when normal social interaction is limited due to a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. “For many older adults and people with disabilities, increased social isolation and loneliness is one unfortunate consequence of physical distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Lance Robertson, ACL Administrator and HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging. “We need to have a wider range of tools and resources to help people remain connected and engaged, and an easy-to-use way for people to find and access them.” Supporting partners for the Mobilizing and Empowering the Nation and Technology to Address Loneliness & social isolation (MENTAL) Health Innovation Challenge include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Challenge is being coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Staying connected to family, friends, and colleagues is important, especially during the pandemic,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “The FCC has a long history of helping ensure that those at risk for isolation, like older Americans and people with disabilities, can access the communications technologies that can keep them connected, healthy, and safe. We look forward to joining HHS and others in this important effort to enable technology to help vulnerable Americans.” “Technology can provide unique solutions to combat social isolation. The Trump Administration is committed to leveraging the Nation’s entrepreneurial spirit to address the pandemic, and we know America’s innovators will rise to this challenge,” said U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios. More information about the MENTAL Health Innovation Challenge, including deadlines and evaluation criteria, can be found at ACL.gov/MENTAL and at challenge.gov/challenge/MENTAL-health-social-isolation-challenge. ________________________________________ About the partners for MENTAL Health Innovation Challenge: • The Administration for Community Living (ACL) was created around the fundamental principle that older adults and people of all ages with disabilities should be able to live where they choose, with the people they choose, and with the ability to participate fully in their communities. By funding services and supports provided by networks of community-based organizations, and with investments in research, education, and innovation, ACL helps make this principle a reality for millions of Americans. • The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health oversees the Department’s key public health offices and programs, a number of Presidential and Secretarial advisory committees, 10 regional health offices across the nation, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. • In 1976, Congress established the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to provide the President and others within the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the environment, and the technological recovery and use of resources, among other topics. • The mission of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is to fulfill President Lincoln's promise “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans. Within the VA, the Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated health care network in the United States, with 1,255 health care facilities serving nine million enrolled veterans each year. • The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the Commission is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s communications law and regulations. ________________________________________ Back to top Please do not respond to this e-mail. Contact the Administration for Community Living SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Manage Preferences | Unsubscribe | Help

HHS Announces Partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine to Fight COVID-19 in Racial and Ethnic Minority and Vulnerable Communities $40 Million Initiative Will Help Communities Hardest Hit by the Pandemic The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced the selection of the Morehouse School of Medicine as the awardee for a new $40 million initiative to fight COVID-19 in racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable communities. The Morehouse School of Medicine will enter into a cooperative agreement with OMH to lead the initiative to coordinate a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal and local organizations to deliver COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic. “The Trump Administration has made it a priority to support and empower Americans who have been most impacted by COVID-19, including minority, rural, and socially vulnerable communities,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “This new partnership between the Morehouse School of Medicine and our Office of Minority Health will work with trusted community organizations to bring information on COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and other services to the Americans who need it.” The initiative – the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities (NIMIC) – is a three-year project designed to work with community-based organizations across the nation to deliver education and information on resources to help fight the pandemic. The information network will strengthen efforts to link communities to COVID-19 testing, healthcare and social services and to best share and implement effective response, recovery and resilience strategies. “Underlying social determinants of health and disparate burdens of chronic medical conditions are contributing to worse COVID-related outcomes in minority and socially vulnerable communities, and this partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine is essential to improving our overall response,” said Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Brett P. Giroir, M.D. “We’ve made important strides over the past few months in fighting the pandemic, and with Morehouse School of Medicine as our partner, we are ready to advance our efforts to support our most affected communities.” These social determinants of health are the conditions in which we live, work, grow and age, that can include working conditions; unemployment; underemployment; access to essential goods and services such as water, sanitation and food; housing; and access to quality healthcare. Such conditions may reflect inequities experienced by disadvantaged communities, leading to poor health status and adverse health outcomes and requiring community- and systems-level responses.  “We know the power of partnerships to help us solve our most pressing public health challenges,” said U.S. Surgeon General VADM Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H. “This initiative has at its core the community-based organizations who know their people best and who are committed to working collaboratively to reduce health-inequities and make them healthy and safe.” OMH announced the initiative through a funding announcement on May 1. The NIMIC initiative is expected to begin in July and the first award is for $14.6 million. “Communities throughout the country have already done a lot of hard work to adapt and respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on racial and ethnic minority, rural and vulnerable populations,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health RADM Felicia Collins, M.D. “OMH and the Morehouse School of Medicine look forward to continue working with our communities to link them to the information, resources, healthcare and services needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.” The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides public health and science advice to the Secretary, and oversees the Department’s broad-ranging public health offices, whose missions include minority health, HIV policy, women’s health, disease prevention, human research protections and others. OASH also includes the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities. For more information about the Office of Minority Health visit: www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov.