Learning Session: The Upswing Fund Partner Showcase

By The Nod Team, 6/16/2022

In a recent partner showcase, hosted by The Upswing Fund, a joint conversation between our team and The Colorado Education Initiative focused on our pilot to address the pressing issue of loneliness among adolescent populations. Our joint work in transcreating Nod for a high school audience allowed us to officially launch our pilot in spring 2022 across eight high schools in Colorado. See below for some highlight areas from the presentation about the pilot:

  • Project Accomplishments:
    • Completed the Nod app transcreation process through a co-design process with a student advisory committee (now live in the app store).
    • Designed onboarding protocols for pilot schools and developed a pilot launch package for easy implementation.
    • Onboarded 8 high schools that served 3,859 students during the spring semester of 2022.
  • Key Takeaways:
    • Loneliness is a challenge within high schools
    • Teachers & students alike are willing to engage with the right interventions
    • Devote adequate time for multipronged recruitment & onboarding
    • Size of the pilot allowed us to identify challenges to explore solutions
    • Students and teachers felt they were just getting started and wanted the opportunity to continue to use Nod in the future
    • Student co-research & design is essential for success
    • Nod resonated with high school students: design, topics, and activities were on point
  • Student Feedback
    • “I’ve tried a lot of these [apps] in the same vein, and I always came away feeling a little patronized. I don’t feel like I ever experienced that while using Nod. I always felt like it was designed for me, with me in mind.” (Senior, University High School)
    • “Nod has helped me see the other side of people.” (Freshman, West Grand High School)
    • “I’m a freshman doing sports for the first time. Nod really helped me communicate with my seniors and juniors – it helped me to get my emotions out.” (Freshman, Sargent High School)

Watch the presentation:

From The Nod Team

Connect with our team to learn more about the success of our Nod for High School Pilot.

digital health
Grit Digital Health
High School
Loneliness
Mental Health
mental health awareness
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