NeuroFlow is excited to announce that we’ve partnered with the United States Air Force and the Air Force Innovation Program (AFWERX) to implement our mental wellness platform and support Air Force clinical specialists on-site. With support from an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, we’ll be able to provide service members access to NeuroFlow’s mobile app built to help support and manage personal wellness.
The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the SBIR process and to broaden the pool of applicants. NeuroFlow was selected through a competitive process as a top vendor to help modernize the Air Force’s approach to mental resilience and readiness and to ultimately help augment and scale the delivery of existing behavioral healthcare and training leveraged by the Air Force. A recent article in the Air Force Times noted that 78 airmen have taken their own lives in 2019. Given the wave of tragedies and increase in Airmen suicide, the Air Force has been focused on fostering Airmen resiliency and a creating healthy, supportive environment for reporting mental health symptoms.
“A chorus of academic research and medical evidence has proven the connection between physical and mental health, underscoring the need to combat a critical issue in the military community,” said NeuroFlow CEO and Co-Founder Chris Molaro, a former U.S. Army Captain and West Point graduate.
There have been some advancements integrating mental health into physical health settings within Air Force clinics, but mental health screenings are still only conducted in-person at medical clinics or during annual Periodic Health Assessments (PHAs). This is a barrier for the majority of active duty military personnel that cite a desire to handle behavioral health problems on their own rather than seeking professional services, leaving clinical care teams and Air Force leadership unable to identify which Airmen are most at-risk.
“Supporting the U.S. Air Force in their efforts to leverage actionable data in the treatment of physical and mental wellness aligns perfectly with the mission and DNA of NeuroFlow.” – CEO and co-founder Chris Molaro
In response, NeuroFlow is providing a customized resource to Airmen in select commands. The NeuroFlow app includes crisis lines, content libraries, and individually tailored wellness content sent directly to an Airmen’s mobile device. This technology allows care managers to quickly risk stratify populations through validated screening tools and other patient generated data. Air Force leaders can dynamically monitor group-level data to identify trends proactively, helping to allocate resources to specific units in a more precise and effective manner.
Another former U.S. Army Captain on the NeuroFlow team, Matt Miclette, Sr. Manager of Clinical Operations, identified the need for the platform at this moment: “NeuroFlow can provide insights into the direction and eventual evaluation of suicide prevention and wellness initatives that the Air Force needs now more than ever in response to the increase in suicide deaths throughout the military.”
Since debuting its first commercial product in 2018, NeuroFlow has built an award-winning platform supporting over 20,000 patients and 140+ organizations across the country. Major healthcare organizations like Jefferson Health, Philadelphia VA Medical Center, and Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health have teamed up with NeuroFlow to leverage tools that increase clinical productivity and create a data-driven approach to measuring and addressing behavioral health.
