Dartmouth Health Children’s is launching a new season of its popular “Heads Up” mental health awareness series, focused on children’s mental health, called “Heads Up: Foundations for Youth Mental Health.” The new series, which is based on priority concerns identified in a recent survey of parents and caregivers, will feature videos, toolkits and community conversations that will be made available as a resource to the public. The first five videos and other online resources are currently on the Dartmouth Health website and the first community conversation in the series will kick off in May, in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Heads Up has been a vital resource to our patients and communities during what has been a turbulent four-plus years, to say the least,” said Dartmouth Health CEO and president Joanne M. Conroy, MD. “As a leading academic medical system, Dartmouth Health firmly asserts that mental health is a crucial component of overall health, especially in children. This new installment of Heads Up will be of tremendous value to anyone with influence in the lives of young people.”
Mental health challenges, particularly among children, are of chief concern among parents and caregivers in the region. Dartmouth Health recently commissioned a survey of New Hampshire and Vermont caregivers of children ages infant to 18 to gather insights on the mental health topics that are of the greatest importance in raising their children. Based on the results of the survey, Dartmouth Health produced a series of short videos to serve as a resource for parents and caregivers. In addition to the videos, this new iteration of Heads Up will conduct a series of community conversations featuring Dartmouth Health Children’s clinicians, community partners and other experts who will discuss specific mental health topics informed by the results of the survey. Dartmouth Health Children’s is also producing a toolkit that will be shared with caregivers, schools, and both adult and children’s mental health support organizations, with links to online resources.
“All of us at Dartmouth Health Children’s and throughout the health system have a vested interest in doing all we can to help children grow into healthy and happy adults,” said Keith J. Loud, MD, physician-in-chief at Dartmouth Health Children’s. “We hear from kids and their families about what is impacting children and adolescents the most, and their mental health is one of our top concerns. Kids are not immune to the stress and anguish caused by social media, current events and cultural realities. We look forward to addressing these challenging topics in our newest Heads Up series.”
The first community conversation will focus on establishing healthy media habits and the impacts that social media and networked devices like mobile phones have on children’s mental health. Additional panel discussions will tackle the importance of relationships with family and peers; foundations of good mental health; helping children navigate grief, loss and trauma; and building resilience to protect against mental health issues such as anxiety.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in spring 2020, Dartmouth Health developed and launched the first Heads Up webinar series to provide people with information and resources on mental health concerns brought about by the pandemic. The most recent online series, called “Heads Up: A Year Long Mental Health Awareness Journey,” concluded in May 2023 after 13 webinars on multiple topics, including: the impacts of social media on teenagers; the interplay between mental health and the criminal justice system; tips for parents and caregivers; the pitfalls of isolation and grief among older adults; mental health in the workplace, the relationship between substance use disorder and co-occurring mental illnesses; state and federal mental health policy; and the mental health of veterans and active military.
To learn more about Heads Up, including dates, upcoming topics, resources on mental health, and to view feature articles and previous webinars, visit go.d-h.org/mental-health.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.
About Dartmouth Health Children's
Dartmouth Health Children's is the only comprehensive pediatric healthcare system in the region. Fully integrated in Dartmouth Health and anchored for more than 30 years by Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD)—in Lebanon, NH—Dartmouth Health Children's promotes health, advances knowledge, and delivers the best patient and family-centered care for infants, children, and adolescents across New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health Children's conducts groundbreaking research and educates the next generations of health professionals as the primary pediatric partner of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Highly skilled and collaborative child health professionals provide care in multiple settings across the region. Outpatient specialty visits and same-day surgery services are available at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) and Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics Manchester. Primary care appointments in general pediatrics are available at Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics in Bedford, Concord, Lebanon, Manchester and Nashua, NH and Bennington, VT; as well as at Dartmouth Health members: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Cheshire Medical Center, New London Hospital and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center.