Progyny and Happify Health Give People Dealing with Infertility New Digital Emotional Support Tools


NEW YORK, May 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For many people dealing with infertility, the emotional impact may be as challenging as the medical roadblocks. But there are resources that can help. Progyny, the leading fertility benefits provider, has teamed with Happify Health, a leader in mental health and wellness technology, to create proprietary digital tools aimed at giving Progyny members the resources they need to manage stress, anxiety and negative emotions associated with infertility and fertility treatments.

The interactive, digital program, designed specifically for Progyny and its members, uses science-based activities and exercises from leading clinical psychologist, Dr. Georgia Witkin. Dr. Witkin is an assistant professor in both the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science and the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center and is Head of Patient Development Services at Progyny. Dr. Witkin has focused her career on the impact infertility has on emotional wellbeing, and the design of clinically-proven methods to help members through various stages of infertility and the related treatments.

Resources on-demand
By participating in Happify Health exercises, Progyny members can regain a sense of control, develop effective coping strategies for stress, anxiety and negativity and, ultimately, manage their emotions in a way that supports their fertility objectives (with a goal of shortening the path to pregnancy).

“Infertility is a disease that has a significant impact on emotional health, including self-esteem,” said David Schlanger, CEO of Progyny. “Women and men dealing with infertility can have elevated levels of stress, anxiety and depression which, in turn, can impact physical health. We are proud to partner with Happify, the pioneer of evidence-based digital emotional health solutions, to bring this exciting new emotional support tool to our members.”

Progyny members can access the proprietary track, “How to Survive the Emotional Roller Coaster of Infertility,” through the Progyny member portal or Happify’s iOS and Android apps. Progyny members also have access to 24 additional Happify Health tracks designed to improve feelings of happiness and promote resilience and mindfulness. The activities and games in each interactive track are based on more than 20 years of research in the fields of positive psychology, mindfulness and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT).

Science-based emotional wellbeing resources, delivered online
Happify Health’s digital guided exercises for individuals experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression have been designed to improve overall emotional wellbeing. A 2016 study published in The Journal of Medical Internet Research1 explored the relationships among Happify Health usage, language and outcomes. The study found that Happify users, predominantly aged 25-54 who used various Happify activities to address negative thoughts through the Happify Health platform on a regular basis were able to improve their positivity.

“At Happify Health, we believe that the systems and channels to deliver mental and emotional support resources can be vastly improved,” said Ofer Leidner, president and co-founder of Happify Health. “The team at Progyny saw an opportunity for us to combine clinically-proven resources from a leading fertility psychologist with Happify Health’s activities designed to reduce stress, depressive symptoms and anxiety. But most importantly, by offering this to members, Progyny is opening up access to effective emotional wellbeing resources to members at a time when they need it most.”

Online emotional wellbeing resources can be as effective as traditional resources and allow people to engage with the resources at any time, on any device. By changing the system and channels used to deliver assistance, Happify Health is helping increase access and reduce the stigma around asking for help – making it easy to engage and interact at a crucial time.

About Progyny
Progyny is a leading fertility benefits management company that combines clinical and emotional guidance, science, technology and data to provide comprehensive value-based fertility solutions for self-insured employers. Progyny’s benefit plans are designed to improve outcomes, shorten time to pregnancy and reduce total fertility-related costs. Progyny is privately held and is headquartered in New York, N.Y. Please visit www.progyny.com.

About Happify Health
Happify Health, a leader in mental health and wellness technology breaks down barriers to achieving better emotional health by creating an engaging, stigma-free environment that allows individuals to access online resources with any device – at the place and time when it matters most. Our clinical, evidence-based activities and interventions are designed to be effective, and our digital, gamification approach helps users create positive change in their lives by developing skills to reduce stress and build resilience. Happify Health uses scientific research from positive psychology, CBT and mindfulness and combines it with leading-edge technology to impact everyday lives. For more information go to www.happifyhealth.com.

1 Seeing the “Big” Picture: Big Data Methods for Exploring Relationships Between Usage, Language, and Outcome in Internet Intervention Data. http://www.jmir.org/2016/8/e241/

Selena Yang
Progyny
selena.yang@progyny.com