Well Being Trust aims to increase awareness of the issues in a way that normalizes conversations and engages people so they can show up for one another and overall mental health and well-being is improved.
To further improve conversations around mental health and well-being, Well Being Trust worked to change attitudes online/on social media, intentionally among teens/tweens and their caregivers. We partnered with iHeartMedia, BuzzFeed, Complex and others to launch the #BeWell, #BeHeard, #BeThere tween/teen campaign to activate youth to support each other’s well-being. This campaign also gives parents and families tools to start conversations and find common ground. Since the campaign launch, we have helped spark more millions of impressions, including tens of thousands of uses of the hashtags #BeWell and #BeHeard, activating youth to stand up for mental health and well-being. Our work has received notable support from national personas such as Abby Wambach, Brandon Marshall and Azealia Banks, among many others.
With media partner Ozy, we helped coordinate and publish an incredibly important article by two teens: Teens Taking Time to Talk Mental Health. With our help, OZY found two teens who aren’t afraid of their own imperfections and face their mental health issues head-on and, in their own words, told the world about them. The article was incredibly well-received, resulting in 46,000 pageviews, with an average time spent of 7:12, and more than 100,000 impressions across channels. The teens also presented their stories in their own words at the Fall Conference of the Oregon Student Council Association, inspiring hundreds of teens to tell their stories and embrace their whole selves.
In addition, WBT worked with Ozy to launch several articles on mental health parity and an online hub—“Mental States of the Nation”— featuring work on the parity scorecard with the Kennedy Center. This work resulted in nearly 180,000 pageviews.
WBT partnered with Providence St Joseph Health, the Oregon Association of Student Councils, #ICanHelp, YouthLine, Providence Oregon, and iHeart Media to create the #Work2BeWell Campaign and Youth Board. These organizations have created a foundation and strategy for serving communities and providing resources for emotional and social well-being with a youth voice. The Youth Board is a group of 16 students from Oregon and California who together work on ideas, topics, social media campaigns, state legislative advocacy, and school events, and have created a hub to house information for the various programs—making content and help accessible to anyone. The program is designed to be replicated across the country through the network of other student council associations that already exist.
In total, WBT’s youth-focused work—from just June through December—reached more than 20,000 teachers and school administrators and more than 120,000 students.
At the start of April, Well Being Trust launched its 30-Day #BeWellChallenge, an influencer-led campaign that encouraged users to prioritize their mental health and wellness, and engage with the #BeWell movement. Every day in April, an influencer issued a #BeWellChallenge on social media—a quick daily activity aimed at pushing participants to be mindful of their mental well-being and health needs. For example, Michael Flowers Jr. asked participants to “focus on the mental and physical health benefits of laughter and humor by posting a video that makes them laugh.” And, on day 13, Demrick challenged participants to “focus on the importance of social healthiness by calling a loved one to say, ‘Hi.’ ” then, on day 30, Kia Shine challenged participants to be a helping hand, and then he taught us about the mental wellness benefits of altruism. By the end of April, the #BeWellChallenge amassed more than 4,000 engagements, 253 mentions, and 159 unique authors, with a reach of over 6.9 million.
Well Being Trust began posts “Wellness Wednesday” chats/videos about #mentalhealth from a variety of influencers. The program is designed to educate people by utilizing influential spokespeople to reinforce that we are all human and that we all deal with mental health challenges big or small. The program is normalizing mental health conversations, building resilience, and creating hope. To date, the program has published 10 videos featuring Tyron Woodley, Ricky & Amy Correa, Joseito Lopez, Zo Williams, Kris Lofton, Kalin White, Khleo Thomas, and Ayyde.
WBT launched a PSA across channels, using influencers such as Christina Milian, Walk the Moon, Echosmith, Hayley Kiyoko, Leon Bridges, Marlon Wayans, T-Boz, Shar Jackson, Big Boy, JoJo, Brandon Marshall, Jermaine Jones, and DJ Skee.
