Kaiser Permanente adult members in the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Northern Virginia regions now have access to a no-cost, 90-day subscription to Ginger, a leading on-demand mental wellness solutions provider. Ginger provides confidential, emotional support through on-demand coaching via text-based chats and skills-building content. Starting today, eligible Kaiser Permanente members can use their smartphone to connect with a highly trained emotional support coach 24/7 – at no cost and with no referral or appointment needed. The private, one-on-one texting sessions provide support in coping with common challenges such as managing stress or getting better sleep.
“Kaiser Permanente is committed to ensuring that our members have access to the full continuum of mental health care services, from digital self-help tools to psychotherapy. This new tool offers immediate self-care options in a simple, convenient format to provide support for concerns that may not require a clinician,” said Lawrence Hamilton, chief operating officer, Kaiser Permanente, Mid-Atlantic. “The addition of Ginger expands Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to preventive care, seeking to offer members with immediate, personalized emotional support to help manage many of life’s challenges and stressors.”
Emotional support coaching can provide in-the-moment support and may be able to reduce symptoms to prevent more serious health conditions from developing. With the Ginger app, Kaiser Permanente members can:
- Text with a coach anytime, anywhere, 24/7 for 90 days
- Discuss goals, share challenges, and create an action plan with their coach
- Get personalized, interactive skill-building tools from a library of more than 200 clinically validated activities and resources
- View recaps from each texting session, track their progress and work with their coach to adjust action plans as needed
“As our global mental health crisis continues to intensify, innovative health plans like Kaiser Permanente, Mid-Atlantic are smartly leveraging digital offerings that provide in-the-moment support, with a focus on prevention,” said Katie DiPerna, senior vice president, head of partnerships, Headspace Health. “We’re proud to provide Kaiser Permanente members in the Mid-Atlantic region with 24/7, on-demand access to Ginger’s team of behavioral health coaches for support with all of life’s challenges, whenever and wherever they need it.”
Kaiser Permanente’s Mid-Atlantic region is the second to make Ginger available to its members this year, following Colorado, which launched in March. Ginger will be made available to all Kaiser Permanente regions later this year. Eligible Mid-Atlantic members can access the Ginger app by going to kp.org/coachingapps/mas and clicking on the “Get Ginger” button found on the page. Members will be prompted to sign on using their kp.org user ID and password and then will be taken to Ginger where they can complete their registration and begin accessing coaching and additional resources. The 90-day, no-cost subscription to Ginger begins when the member activates their account.
“Research suggests that coaching can help drive behavior changes and improvement in participants in 8-12 weeks,” said Julie Isaacs, LCSW, regional director, Behavioral Health, Kaiser Permanente, Mid-Atlantic. “Our members will have unlimited access to text-based coaching during the 90-day subscription. Once the subscription period ends, members will continue to see their chat history and will be able to use Ginger’s extensive self-care library to work on the skills they learned through coaching and will also have access to other digital self-care tools and support from Kaiser Permanente.”
One year after initial activation, the member will have the opportunity to start another 90-day subscription at no cost. For more details about the offer, members can visit kp.org/coachingapps/mas.
The new Ginger offering is the latest addition to Kaiser Permanente’s comprehensive mental health and wellness portfolio of services. In 2020, Kaiser Permanente added the first two apps to its digital self-care portfolio: Calm, a leading app for mindfulness meditation, and myStrength, an app designed to help people improve well-being and enhance sleep or mood. These digital self-help tools are in addition to, not a replacement for, treatment services provided by Kaiser Permanente’s mental health care clinicians.
Kaiser Permanente’s integrated mental health care focuses on early intervention, personalized treatment, and patient empowerment and support. The organization draws on the latest innovations in care delivery, including telehealth services and digital self-care tools, to support the mental health of its members with evidence-based practices.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve almost 12.5 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. For more information, go to about.kp.org
