PRESS RELEASE: Inspiring Comfort Selected for Third Research Study
March 13, 2023 (Oconomowoc, WI) — Inspiring Comfort announces that it has been selected once again by the NY Office of Mental Health for funding and approval of a third study for their Project Comfort programming for youth — a Compassionate and Pro-Social Behavior intervention against the effects of loneliness and depression.
The follow-up study comes off of a successful pilot funded by NYOMH and SPCNY in partnership with Montclair State University, conducted at the Lorges School, a special education middle school in New York City.
Against odds, in the midst of a pandemic needing to administer the program remotely, the results from self-report measures demonstrated a significant decrease in depression and loneliness symptoms in students from pre and post intervention, and a significant increase in compassion for others and self.
This third pilot will study the scalability of the program, working with 4th grade students in Yonkers, NY. Eight staff will be trained to facilitate the sessions in groups of approximately 10:1. Inspiring Comfort will train the trainers and will debrief before and after each session.
“This program and study really speak to this reciprocal dynamic between compassion for others and compassion for self,” says Taylor Walls, M.A. and Montclair State University researcher, “It imparts in youth skills and strategies to increase their feelings of belonging.”
Inspiring Comfort is most grateful to the New York Office of Mental Health and the New York State Suicide Prevention Center for continued advocacy of their programming.
ABOUT PROJECT COMFORT
Project Comfort is a character development program that offers eight valuable lessons. It is a “learn by doing” program that awakens the empathy that lies within our students. The program can be delivered in the classroom or in afterschool or community settings.
The eight lessons of Project Comfort are core to developing the skill to comfort. Each lesson includes an accompanying activity of creating and delivering a signature comfort plaque. This intentional action allows student the push through the gap between the feeling of empathy to the action of caring for others.
Learn more about the program and bring it to your group/school/organization here.
ABOUT INSPIRING COMFORT
Inspiring Comfort is a social good company founded on the belief that today’s increasingly isolated, socially disconnected, and hurting world demands that we do a better job of caring for one another. We train workplaces, organizations, communities, and individuals to show up, lead with heart, and cultivate a culture of empathy, care, and connection.