Aetna Better Health of Illinois partners with Kooth Digital Health

Kooth Digital Health, a mental health and well-being platform for young people, and Aetna Better Health of Illinois announced a one year partnership to provide thousands of teens and young people in Illinois access to Kooth’s digital platform at no cost to the end user.

"Data shows that teens and young people benefit from access to well-being tools to help develop better skills and mental health management. According to a National Alliance for Mental Illness report, 61.8% of 12- to 17-year-olds in Illinois who have depression did not receive any care. The same report indicates that high school students with depression are more than twice as likely to drop out than their peers, and seven in 10 youth in the juvenile justice system have a mental health condition," the company said.

The Kooth platform offers young people access to safe, confidential and moderated content, community, and professional support from Illinois licensed clinicians. Certain Aetna members will have free, on-demand access to Kooth’s resources, including:

• Self-guided journeys, including evidence-based therapeutic content and tools like mood tracking, breathwork, free writing and journaling prompts, podcasts, videos and more.
• Safe, moderated community spaces for peer support.
• Professional support through drop-in chat or ongoing, structured counseling sessions.

[Read more: Aetna Better Health of Illinois continues to address health disparities]

“Aetna is committed to pursuing innovative interventions to surround our members with healthcare solutions to build healthier populations across our state,” said Rushil Desai, CEO of Aetna Better Health of Illinois. “Our schools are Ground Zero of the mental health crises facing our children and teenagers each day. By partnering with Kooth, we are providing a transformational service to our youngest members delivering real-time, digital support for those facing complex issues. Our goal is to support them before a crisis emerges.”

Worldwide, 17 million people have access to Kooth’s support, helping teens and young people dealing with stress, anxiety, depression and other challenges. Kooth Digital Health supports approximately 100,000 students across Pennsylvania. In California, more than 6 million 13- to 25-year-olds now have access to Kooth’s platform through Soluna, which the state Department of Health Care Services launched in January 2024 as part of a historic $4.6 billion commitment to youth mental health.

Kooth Digital Health chief services officer Patrick Johnston, said, “The mental health crisis threatening our teens and young people is unprecedented in scale and scope. Thankfully, leaders in every corner of the United States appear ready to act. But action doesn’t need to just happen at the state or federal level. We can all make a change. Aetna Better Health of Illinois’ decision to bring preemptive care to teens and young people proves that government, private business, and nonprofit organizations can all offer teens and young people the lifelines they deserve.”

[Read more: Aetna Better Health of Illinois intros new benefits to eliminate health disparities]