Bergen's Promise presented for the Seton Hall School of Medicine in support oftheir Voices Program. Bergen's Promise Director of Operations, Shelisa Foster, and Director of Care Management, Crystal Wytenus, presented to medical students togive them acomprehensive understanding of mental health, strengthening student's experience with theVoices Program.
The Voices Program is a unique opportunity for individuals and families to develop a relationship with medical students who will be the next generation of doctors. Students will be matched with an individual or family and visit them in their home once every other month for one year, with an opportunity to continue for longer. By sharing their life experiences with medical students, the families will be teaching them how to be better doctors by helping them understand all aspects of their daily lives and the impact on health, and students can help families with their health and wellness goals.
Bergen's Promise has families that are participating in this program. By presenting at this event, we were better able to educate medical students on understanding the significance of mental illness and addictive disorders and recognizing possible symptoms of anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. We also explored how to respond to someone showing signs of addiction and mental illnesses using a stigma free, trauma informed approach as well ascommunicating available resources for mental health problems and planning self-care strategies.
