March 23, 2022

Emotional support coaching now available from Ginger

The Ginger app, part of Kaiser Permanente’s digital self-care portfolio, provides members with on-demand, text-based coaching at no cost, with no referral needed.

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Elizabeth Whitehead
elizabeth.m.whitehead@kp.org
720-910-3016

DENVER — Kaiser Permanente adult members in Colorado now have access to a 90-day subscription to Ginger, a leading on-demand mental health care solutions provider. Ginger provides confidential emotional support through on-demand coaching via text-based chats and skills-building content.

Eligible members can use their smartphone to connect with a highly trained emotional support coach 24/7 — at no cost and with no referral or appointment needed. The private, one-on-one texting sessions provide support in coping with common challenges such as managing stress or getting better sleep.

“Kaiser Permanente is committed to making sure our members in Colorado have access to the mental health care they need, when and where they need it. This new offering puts immediate self-care options at our members’ fingertips to help them find support for concerns that may not require a clinician,” said Mike Ramseier, regional president of Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. “With the addition of Ginger to Kaiser Permanente’s portfolio of world-class mental health apps, which includes Calm and myStrength®, our members now have more options than ever before to receive immediate and personalized support for many of life’s challenges and stressors.”

Emotional support coaching can provide members with in-the-moment help and may be able to reduce symptoms to prevent more serious health conditions from developing. With the Ginger app, Kaiser Permanente members can:

  • Text with a coach anytime, anywhere, 24/7 for 90 days
  • Discuss goals, share challenges, and create an action plan with their coach
  • Get personalized, interactive skill-building tools from a library of more than 200 clinically validated activities and resources
  • View recaps from each texting session, track their progress, and work with their coach to adjust action plans as needed

"As our global mental health crisis continues to intensify, innovative health plans like Kaiser Permanente are smartly leveraging digital offerings that provide in-the-moment support, with a focus on prevention," said Katie DiPerna, vice president and head of partnerships, Headspace Health, parent company of Ginger. "We're proud to provide Kaiser Permanente members in Colorado with 24/7, on-demand access to Ginger's team of behavioral health coaches for support with all of life's challenges, whenever and wherever they need it."

Kaiser Permanente members in Colorado are the first to have the offering available to them, and Ginger will be made available to all Kaiser Permanente members later this year. Eligible Kaiser Permanente members in Colorado can access the Ginger app by going to kp.org/coachingapps/co and clicking on “Get Ginger.” Members will be prompted to sign in using their kp.org user ID and password. They will complete their registration on Ginger and can begin accessing coaching and additional resources. The 90-day, no-cost subscription to Ginger begins when a member activates an account. One year after initial activation, the member will have the opportunity to start another 90-day subscription at no cost.

“Research suggests that coaching can help drive behavior changes and improvement in participants in 8 to 12 weeks,” said Ramseier. “Our members will have unlimited access to text-based coaching during the 90-day subscription. Once the subscription period ends, members will continue to see their chat history and will be able to use Ginger's extensive self-care library to work on the skills they learned through coaching and will also have access to other digital self-care tools and support from Kaiser Permanente.”

The new Ginger offering is the latest addition to Kaiser Permanente’s comprehensive mental health and addiction care portfolio of services. In 2020, Kaiser Permanente added the first 2 apps to its digital self-care portfolio: Calm, a leading app for mindfulness meditation, and myStrength, an app designed to help adults improve well-being and enhance sleep or mood. These digital self-help tools are in addition to, not a replacement for, treatment services provided by Kaiser Permanente’s mental health care clinicians.

Kaiser Permanente’s integrated mental health care focuses on early intervention, personalized treatment, and patient empowerment and support. The organization draws on the latest innovations in care delivery, including telehealth services and digital self-care tools, as well as evidence-based practices to support the mental health of its members. 

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.5 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health.