UAMS’ AR ConnectNow Website Connects Families with Mental Health Resources for Assisting Youth

By Tim Taylor

The AR ConnectNow platform offers extensive information for youth mental health engagement, featuring conversation strategies, guidance for destigmatizing help-seeking behaviors, and event-planning frameworks. Users can access downloadable anti-stigma materials, validated screening tools for anxiety, depression, ADHD, and trauma, all complemented by a 24-hour virtual clinic providing round-the-clock professional support.

In 2023, a team at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) conducted a youth mental health needs assessment, gathering information from hundreds of Arkansas parents and school professionals. The materials found on the AR ConnectNow platform are a result of that needs assessment.

The UAMS Health AR ConnectNow program, a virtual behavioral health clinic, was launched in 2020. The enhanced digital platform, uamshealth.com/ar-connectnow/, was funded by a grant from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas.

“Through the generosity of the Blue and You Foundation, we were able to expand on the AR ConnectNow platform to add essential resources and practical tools for children, adolescents and families and caregivers to learn more about mental health,” said Laura Dunn, M.D., chair of the UAMS Department of Psychiatry and director of the Psychiatric Research Institute. “We hope people will access the tools available on the website and download the toolkit that provides great ways to start talking about mental health.”

A joint project of the UAMS departments of Psychiatry and Family and Preventive Medicine, the comprehensive digital hub equips families with resources to understand mental health challenges, develop resilience-building skills and navigate pathways to professional assistance when needed.

“We know that the stigma around mental health continues to prevent Arkansans from getting the support that they need. This May, we are focused on normalizing conversations around mental health promotion, prevention and treatment through our ‘End the Silence, Start the Conversation’ campaign,” said Nikki Edge, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. “We’ve created a free anti-stigma toolkit that all of us can use to create spaces where mental health is part of everyday conversation — at home, school, work and in our faith communities. We are encouraging people to go to our website to get the toolkit and start the conversation in your community.”

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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