Innerworld Announces New Collaboration With The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs To Improve Veteran Mental Health And Well-Being

Tuesday, March 12 (NEW YORK, NY) - Today, Innerworld, an innovative virtual mental health platform, announces a new collaboration with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) aimed at improving Veterans’ overall well-being and fostering a sense of community and belonging.

The collaboration will roll out across six Veterans Administration medical centers(VAMCs) and Veterans Health Care Systems (VHCSs) in Houston, Detroit, New Orleans, Orlando, Palo Alto, and the greater Gulf Coast. A total of 100 Meta Quest headsets equipped with the Innerworld app will be distributed to the sites, offering Veterans an immersive and safe space to engage in peer-to-peer support and access proven mental health tools and resources, building a virtual community with resources available around the clock.

Innerworld, which was co-founded by Grammy nominated singer-songwriter and mental health pioneer Jewel, offers unprecedented (24/7) access to mental health tools and resources. Founded by Noah Robinson, who also serves as CEO, the platform offers anonymous peer-to-peer support via self-created avatars, who are then led by guides trained in Cognitive Behavioral Immersion™ (CBI). CBI is a form of psychological intervention developed by Robinson at Vanderbilt University that has demonstrated efficacy for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorder, and more. The platform recently received a $2M grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to continue their research on how CBI tools help to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Innerworld shares VHA’s dedication to supporting Veterans’ well-being and boasts an established community of over 3,000 Veterans and their family members. Veteran members have the ability to participate in all virtual programming as well as Veteran-specific programming, and also have the opportunity to become paid, trained guides to facilitate meetings. You can hear current Veteran members discuss their experiences with Innerworld HERE.

 "We are honored to collaborate with the Department of Veterans Affairs in this transformative endeavor," said Noah Robinson. "This collaboration comes at a pivotal time as we face high rates of Veteran suicide. Our platform provides a virtual sanctuary where all Veterans can connect, share experiences, and receive the support and tools they need and deserve, regardless of time or location."

“Accessible mental health tools are so critical and Veterans are such an important part of our society.” said Jewel. “We’re excited to continue sharing Innerworld’s proven resources with Veterans in a new capacity.”

 Innerworld has gained national media attention for its innovative approach to combating our global mental health crisis and national therapist shortage. The platform has been featured on CBS Mornings, Fox & Friends, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and Tamron Hall Show, and in Fast Company, Forbes, People, Women’s Health, and more. You can watch the trailer for Innerworld HERE.

Innerworld is collaborating with VA Immersive, a division of VHA’s Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning (OHIL), through a cooperative research and development agreement. VA Immersive sees ITx as critical to the future of health care and aims to scale exciting new immersive technologies across the nation's largest integrated health care system.

About VA Immersive

VA Immersive is defining a new reality in Veteran health care delivery and experience through immersive technologies like virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality, reinforcing why Veterans and staff choose VA. We're focused on getting heads in headsets—where experience brings understanding. VA has now deployed over 3,000 headsets across more than 170 VA sites of care in all 50 U.S. states, Guam, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico.

About Innerworld

Innerworld Inc. addresses the critical need for more scalable mental health solutions through Cognitive Behavioral Immersion™, a proprietary technique to deliver mental health help at scale. Their app, which is currently the #1 rated wellness app in the Meta Quest store, is available on Meta Quest, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android. Learn more at https://inner.world.