COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 10, 2023) — Since its inception five years ago, The On Our Sleeves Movement for Children’s Mental Health has grown, providing free tools and learning resources for more than 11 million people across the United States to help make mental health part of the upbringing for all children. While the number of resources provided through On Our Sleeves is remarkable, so is the evolution of the organization from a homegrown local initiative to one of the nation’s largest children’s mental health movements.
During the past five years, with championing from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the support of many generous corporate partners and donors, On Our Sleeves has steadily grown the number of parents, caregivers and educators it’s able to reach with its free health content now available in all 50 states – expanding from 1 million users in 2019 to more than 11 million users today. Nearly 500 resources have been created to build literacy and prevention habits on topics including: anxiety, bullying, body image, safe social media use, minority mental health and suicide prevention. Partners, including corporations, educators, health care organizations and individual champions – including celebrities – have helped support the movement, increasing visibility and promoting resources.
Research shows that more than 50% of all lifetime mental health disorders start by the age of 14. To address the growing national children’s mental health crisis, Nationwide Children’s Hospital founded On Our Sleeves on Oct. 10, 2018. The hospital, which first showed its commitment to children’s mental health by creating the country’s largest facility dedicated to children’s mental health (The Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion), realized that barriers to care not only included local access to facilities, but nationally, there was much stigma and a lack of awareness around children’s mental health.
On Our Sleeves is dedicated to building mental health literacy, teaching skills to promote children’s mental health, and breaking stigmas. Nearly 1,000 mental health professionals and researchers at Nationwide Children’s, in partnership with other trusted experts, provide their real-world knowledge and expertise to power On Our Sleeves. Together, they create free, expert-backed, accessible resources to teach and empower parents and educators with the skills necessary to manage children’s mental health before there is a concern and to help parents who may be navigating mental health challenges or disorders with their child.
Key tools and initiatives since the launch of On Our Sleeves have included (but aren’t limited to):
- Million Classrooms Project
- Operation: Conversation
- Studies on the impact children’s mental health has on the workplace
- The Mooderators, a partnership with GoNoodle
- Kindness Challenge
- Mental health curriculum for teachers, including one supported by Ryan Day, The Ohio State University Head football coach, and his wife Nina
- Bloom
- Growing Our Gratitude
“Meeting the mental health needs of a child should happen each and every day – not just when there’s a crisis,” said Ariana Hoet, PhD, executive clinical director of On Our Sleeves and pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Children’s. “Through the creation of On Our Sleeves, we’ve set out to eliminate barriers by making sure everyone has access to evidence-informed resources to proactively build the mental health skills of a child in their life. Those tools and resources range from starting conversations and continuing them, to dealing with big emotions, building positive mental health and more – all strategies we know science has shown to benefit a child’s mental health. Just like most adults know what kind of habits to build in children for their physical health, these resources promote the behaviors needed to promote mental health.”
The name of the movement serves as a reminder that children often don’t have the words to express their thoughts and feelings, i.e., they don’t wear their thoughts “on their sleeves.”
“It can be difficult for children and teenagers to share what they are thinking and feeling and because mental health wasn't always talked about among previous generations, many adults don't feel like they have the tools to encourage them to share,” said Whitney Raglin Bignall, PhD, associate clinical director of On Our Sleeves and pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Children’s. “Over the past five years, On Our Sleeves has been dedicated to developing and distributing hundreds of resources aimed to help families break stigmas, increase literacy and build daily habits that promote mental health and wellness.”
While steps are being taken in this massive movement to promote the mental health of all children, more work is needed to uphold the mission of On Our Sleeves: to ensure a world where mental health is a part of the upbringing of every single child – no matter their background.
“If you’re a new parent who’s wondering ‘how do I protect the mental health of my child now?’ I hope you will seek answers from On Our Sleeves,” said Dr. Hoet. “It’s my hope for the next five years and beyond, that as our society tries to reverse the children’s mental health crisis, that parents, caregivers, teachers and more turn to On Our Sleeves as a trusted resource to build important mental health skills to help promote mental wellness for their children.”
Hoet has become a go-to national expert for outlets including USA Today, CNN, Good Morning America, and Newsweek, and helped draw U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy to Nationwide Children’s in October 2022 to discuss the county’s growing pediatric mental health crisis.
Dr. Hoet works closely alongside Dr. Raglin Bignall, who brings expertise to On Our Sleeves from previously working with primarily low-income families and a racially diverse community at Nationwide Children’s Primary Care Center.
“I have a passion for making mental health services equitable for all children and families,” Dr. Raglin Bignall said. “Building trust and creating positive relationships with families and communities is vital, and I look forward to growing that more and more as we look to the future of On Our Sleeves.”
The work of On Our Sleeves would not be possible without the support of our lead corporate partners – many of which have supported On Our Sleeves from the start – including Big Lots, Nationwide Foundation, JOANN Stores, Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch, Columbus Automobile Dealers Association, Donatos, DSW, Germain Automotive Partnership, Jersey Mike’s, Kokosing, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Panera, Thirty-One Gifts, Tim Hortons, Washington Prime Group, Columbus Crew, and Mattel/Monster High.
To follow The On Our Sleeves Movement for Children’s Mental Health and access resources to make a difference in the life of a child, visit OnOurSleeves.org.
About the On Our Sleeves Movement for Children’s Mental Health
Children don’t wear their thoughts on their sleeves. With 1 in 5 children living with a significant mental health concern and half of all lifetime mental health concerns starting by age 14, we need to give them a voice. The On Our Sleeves Movement for Children’s Mental Health, created by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, one of the United States’ largest network of pediatric behavioral health treatment providers and researchers, is on a mission to give expert-created resources to all U.S. communities so everyone can understand and promote mental health for children. On Our Sleeves’ vision is to build a world where mental health is a part of the upbringing of every single child. Nearly 1,000 mental health professionals and researchers at Nationwide Children’s, in partnership with other trusted experts, provide their real-world knowledge and expertise to power On Our Sleeves.
Since the inception of On Our Sleeves in 2018, more than 11 million people in every state across the United States have interacted with the movement’s free pediatric mental health education resources at OnOurSleeves.org.