Granite Health partnership promotes '5 Signs of Suffering' campaign

CONCORD — On Monday, Granite Health and its partnership of five of the largest community-based health systems in New Hampshire, including Catholic Medical Center, Concord Hospital, LRGHealthcare, Southern New Hampshire Health, and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, announced their joint support for the Change Direction New Hampshire Campaign, which aims to change the culture around mental health in America by increasing awareness of the issue and sharing the campaign's "5 Signs of Suffering."

Travis Harker, chief medical officer at Granite Health, leads a group of clinical leaders within the five health systems to improve population health and embrace innovative solutions for the delivery of care. "Through our clinical initiative for screening and treating patients with depression, we will work to integrate the 5 Signs of Suffering as part of a broader effort to help identify, treat, and raise awareness of patients with emotional suffering," said Harker.

Further, Granite Health pledges to keep mental health and emotional suffering at the forefront of their efforts to improve the care of patients in their communities. Rachel Rowe, chief executive officer at Granite Health, adds, "Mental health is a critical issue for many in our communities and just as we look for the symptoms of stroke or heart attack it is important for people to know and understand the 5 Signs of Suffering."

Over the next year, Granite Health will work with its member organizations to share the campaign's 5 Signs of Suffering with 300,000 people in New Hampshire through their depression screening clinical initiative, social media, and community newsletters.