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Many teens lack access to mental health care because of lack of transportation, cost, or stigma.
UT Teen Health, a grant-funded program of UT San Antonio Health Science Center, is filling that gap by relaunching and revamping Project YES, a free, anonymous online program for teen mental health.
Project YES, funded with support from the Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio, offers teens short sessions on different topics, focusing on mood, body image, and staying safe when experiencing moments of emotional struggle.
UT Teen Health project coordinator Jacklynn Ware says the relaunch of Project YES includes new features. One of the new features includes an intervention during the teens’ modules.
“(I)f a student writes in something in Project YES that we've marked as, ‘hey, this is kind of a high risk,’ or ‘this is maybe a warning sign, we need to do a check in,’ it'll redirect the student in the middle of the module to do a check in, ask them how they're doing, connect them to any immediate crisis resources,” said Ware.
Ware said the evidence-based, online modules for adolescents have been shortened in the new program to 10 minutes as opposed to 30 minutes.
“And although they were great modules, a lot of teams said that, those were too long, and so we really wanted to make sure we incorporated that team feedback,” said Ware.
Ware said the program is tailored for teens in San Antonio and across South Texas. She encourages adults, parents and guardians to utilize the program to give them an insight of teens’ current struggles.
“For example, some of the modules talk about social media,” said Ware “That's a big thing that impacts teen mental health, so it is tailored for teens 13 to 17, but anyone can benefit from Project YES.”
More information can be found at TryProjectYes.org.
UT San Antonio is a financial supporter of TPR. We cover them as we would any other organization.
