Dr. Julie Kinn is a clinical psychologist, working at the Department of Defense in their Defense Health Agency’s Connected Health department, creating health technology to teach mindfulness to veterans and those in the armed forces. It was a treat getting to have Julie on the show, she is lovely mix of innovation, smarts, and passion, and I think you’ll just love getting to meet her.
Using Health Technology to Teach Mindfulness
Focusing on behavioral health, (also called mental health), Dr. Kinn works to help create apps, podcasts, and tech options for the DoD. To date, they’ve created apps to help support sleep, meditation and mindfulness, breathing, ongoing pain and stress, and anxiety and depression. All of the apps and tools they create are free to everyone (not just veterans and active military), and they are used anonymously. I found this to be fascinating because I didn’t realize that the military was creating these kinds of tools, and I also didn’t realize they were available for use.
The other thing that the DoD has created are apps in conjunction with Sesame Street to support the children of military families: both a diaphragmatic breathing app, and an app about moving. These apps help children explore topics in a safe and supported way, and teach kids how to “Breathe Think Do” as well as how to approach the many moves that military children face.
In this episode, Dr. Julie Kinn and I talk about:
-Health technology to teach mindfulness
-DHA Connected Health and its role in the DoD (Department of Defense)
-Behavioral health and mental health
-Sleep, and the importance of good sleep in your day
-Military healthcare innovations
-Apps to support military children
-Free apps and podcasts that are available to everyone, worldwide
-DoD’s partnership with Sesame Street to create apps to support kids
-How to approach the overuse of apps and screen time by children
-Living beyond pain
-Her thoughts to jump start your joy: indulge in hobbies, bake bread, and learn to quilt
Resources
Military Health Podcasts:
Next Generation Behavioral Health
Breathe Think Do with Sesame Street
The Big Moving Adventure with Sesame Street
