Challenge seeks online tool to connect socially isolated Americans to existing social engagement programming and technologies
The registration and submission deadline for the MENTAL Health Innovation Challenge to address social isolation and loneliness among older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans has been extended to September 14, 2020.
Launched by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (both divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), a total of $750,000 in prizes will be awarded for the development of an easy-to-use online system that matches socially-isolated people's needs, interests, and abilities with programs, activities, technologies, and resources that can help users connect to others and engage in the community. The winning system will be announced and demonstrated in January 2021 at CES. And the winning system ultimately will become the centerpiece of a national public awareness campaign.
Supporting partners for the Mobilizing and Empowering the Nation and Technology to Address Loneliness & social isolation (MENTAL) Health Innovation Challenge include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Challenge is coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
More information about the MENTAL Health Innovation Challenge, including timeline, evaluation criteria, resources, and informational webinars can be found at ACL.gov/MENTAL and at challenge.gov/challenge/MENTAL-health-social-isolation-challenge.
About the partners for MENTAL Health Innovation Challenge:
- The Administration for Community Living (ACL) at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was created around the fundamental principle that older adults and people of all ages with disabilities should be able to live where they choose, with the people they choose, and with the ability to participate fully in their communities. By funding services and supports provided by networks of community-based organizations, and with investments in research, education, and innovation, ACL helps make this principle a reality for millions of Americans.
- The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services oversees the Department’s key public health offices and programs, a number of Presidential and Secretarial advisory committees, 10 regional health offices across the nation, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
- In 1976, Congress established the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to provide the President and others within the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the environment, and the technological recovery and use of resources, among other topics.
- The mission of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is to fulfill President Lincoln's promise “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans. Within the VA, the Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated health care network in the United States, with 1,255 health care facilities serving nine million enrolled veterans each year.
- The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the Commission is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s communications law and regulations.