AKRON, Ohio – Akron Children’s is partnering with Sonar Mental Health to offer its patients access to 24/7 chat-based well-being support, combining real human connection from trained well-being coaches with artificial intelligence tools that help them deliver support to more young people.
The partnership marks Sonar’s first relationship with a children’s hospital and a significant next step in Akron Children’s effort to integrate behavioral health into pediatric primary care. Akron Children’s TABBICAT model (Triage, Assessment, Brief Behavioral Interventions, Care Coordination, Tracking) has already transformed how the health system delivers behavioral health care by improving referral rates and access to behavioral health services, a news release states. Sonar will complement this model by helping extend support beyond the clinical visit.
Starting in mid-June, five of Akron Children’s primary care practices will be able to recommend Sonar to patients age 13 and older, with plans to expand availability to patients across the entire system. The platform is most often recommended for youths experiencing mild to moderate stress, anxiety or sadness, as well as those who may not yet feel comfortable seeking help from a clinician. Topics such as academic stress, social conflicts, dating and break-ups, bullying and peer pressure, anxiety, depression and grief are commonly addressed.
“We are excited to partner with Sonar because the platform combines trained well-being coaches with a structured, clinically informed oversight, quality assurance and escalation model,” said Dr. Eva Szigethy, Lois C. Orr Chair of Pediatric Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Akron Children’s. “AI operates in the background to help support coach consistency, safety, quality and care coordination. A human is always communicating with the user. Patients do not interact with AI.”
Szigethy said Akron Children’s providers can recommend Sonar as a supplement to therapy, as support after hours and between appointments and for youths who may benefit from support but do not require specialty behavioral health care.
“Young people are comfortable communicating through texting,” she said. “While not therapy, the well-being coaches can be there in the moment to provide positive reinforcement or reinforce mindfulness skills.”
If there are signs that a teen using the platform is in crisis, Sonar will follow jointly defined safety and escalation protocols established with Akron Children’s to intervene quickly to ensure the teen receives additional behavioral health support.
Akron Children’s and Sonar plan to implement a research study in the coming months to assess Sonar’s role and impact within Akron Children’s TABBICAT model.