Leveraging an Olympian’s Strength to Increase Awareness of Community Mental Health Services
When defending Olympic champion Simone Biles announced that she would pull out of the team and individual competitions at the summer games in Tokyo citing mental health concerns, R&J knew it had a small window of opportunity to insert its client, CarePlus New Jersey, into the conversation.
As a leader in integrated primary and behavioral health services for adults and children for more than 40 years, CarePlus has long been at the forefront of addressing mental health challenges in our communities.
Biles’ announcement served as an important reminder of how prevalent mental health issues are as well as how the pandemic has not only impacted Olympic athletes but so many in our communities when it comes to mental health and wellness.
To help raise continued awareness of the widespread increase in mental health challenges and the services available at CarePlus, R&J issued an expert available pitch immediately following Biles’ announcement. We offered the client’s VP of Clinical Services to discuss the importance of Biles’ speaking out and the ongoing pandemic’s impact on mental health.
R&J’s ability to quickly provide media with an expert on a trending topic resulted in an important and informative interview with News 12 NJ. The segment aired six times across News 12 NJ as well as the station’s affiliates in Connecticut and New York and was also featured on the website further positioning CarePlus as leader in integrated behavioral health services.