Why is Mental Health Self Care So Important?

The importance of mental health self care

We all know the importance of taking care of our bodies. When we neglect them, we become ill. Eating right, getting adequate rest and exercise, managing any chronic conditions — these are critical to maintaining good physical health.

But what about mental health?

Studies show that mental health is just as important as physical health. And little things like taking time for self care can make a huge impact.

So why do so many of us neglect this aspect of our wellbeing?

We asked Achievement users how often they made time for mental health self care, what types of activities they typically did, and what keeps them from practicing self care as often as they’d like.

What did we learn? That while many of our users do practice regular self care, the majority of them don’t do it as often as they’d like.

Why?

The most common responses (in order) were:

• Not enough time
• Pressures of daily life
• Financial burdens

We also discovered that while many of those who responded said that self care was very important to them (almost 75%), and almost 70% said they would like to practice self care daily, only 27% do.

So, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’d like to share some quick, easy, free ways to practice regular mental health self care!

10 tips for working mental health self care into your daily routine

1. Take a quick (5–10 minute) walk or bike ride
2. Download a free meditation app — most have practices as quick as 1–2 minutes!
3. Look in the mirror and tell yourself one thing you like about yourself
4. Reach out to someone who helps you feel good about yourself
5. Sing your favorite song
6. Draw or color something
7. Go to bed 10 minutes earlier than usual
8. Close your eyes and focus on your breath for 1 minute
9. Hug someone
10. Write down 5 things you are grateful for

These are just examples of some of the ways you can practice mental health self care daily. We encourage you to find ways that work for YOU!

Mental Health Resources

While taking the time for mental health self care can improve overall wellbeing and keep us feeling good, sometimes we need more.

The following resources are available to you or anyone you know who may be struggling.

Crisis Resources

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Veteran’s Crisis Line

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline

OK2Talk Helpline Teen Helpline

Crisis Text Line

The Jed Foundation

Help Finding Treatment

American Psychological Association

SAMSHA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

American Psychiatric Association Foundation

LGBT National Health Center

The Trevor Project

Office of Minority Health

Additional Resources

Mentalhealth.gov

Nami

Mentalhealthfirstaid.org

The True Meaning of Memorial Day

For many of us, memorial day is the unofficial start of summer. It’s the day the neighborhood pool opens. The day the parks, beaches, and amusement areas start filling up. The day the BBQs, picnics, and beach parties begin.

And it’s good that we enjoy these things. After all, it’s for these things that our service members fight.

But while we enjoy these freedoms, we should also take the time to remember why we honor memorial day in the first place.

History.com defines Memorial Day as,

“an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.”

Unlike Veteran’s Day, which honors all of our service members, Memorial Day is special in that it is a day of remembrance.

And for our veterans and for the families and loved-ones of fallen service members, Memorial Day is often a day of honor and pain. A day of remembering. A day of visiting graves and paying tribute to fallen friends and loved-ones.

History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day (formally Decoration Day) was declared a national holiday in 1971 but has been observed since the end of the American Civil War.

And while the tradition of visiting the graves of fallen soldiers began sometime during the civil war, the first recognized formal observance was held in May 1868 and annually after that.

The first recorded observance, however, actually occurred three years earlier, just after the end of the war. It was held by freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina in honor of fallen union soldiers.

If you’re interested in learning more, this post from History.com is an excellent resource.

Memorial Day, Mental Health, and Veteran Suicide

While memorial day traditionally focuses on those who’ve given their lives while in active duty, it’s important that we not lose sight of those who’ve given all in service, whether their sacrifice occurred during active duty or after their service has ended.

Rates of mental health problems and suicide among vets and active duty service members are staggering and and have increased in recent years. Many sources indicate a rate of around 20 suicides per day.

According to an article by Militarytimes on the latest report on veteran suicide rates,

“The rate of suicide among veterans ticked upwards in recent years despite increased public attention and funding on the problem.”

It’s important to note that while this report was released in November 2020, the numbers reflect rates from 2015–2018. Data suggests that these rates have continued to increase and have escalated even more during the Covid-19 pandemic.

So, since May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, we’d like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those who’ve lost their lives in service to this country — both on the battlefield and at home — and we’d like to remember those who are still with us but struggling.

Thank you. And thank you to the families of those we’ve lost. Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Resources

Honoring The Fallen On Memorial Day

• Carry The Load
• How Do You Place A Flag On A Veteran’s Grave
• Wreaths Across America

Nonprofits Supporting Veteran & Military Families

• America’s Gold Star Families
• Highly-Rated Nonprofits Dedicated to Veterans and Military Service Members

Veteran Mental Health & Suicide Prevention

• Veteran Suicide Prevention
• Veteran Mental Health
• Mental Health Resources For The Military Community
  

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This rich, creamy asparagus soup is one of those go-to comfort meals. It will easily satisfy your want for flavor, and the best part…it’s super healthy. So you get all of the glut with none of the guilt!

It’s naturally gluten free, vegetarian, and keto — and with one simple swap it can be vegan and paleo too!

Food is such an integral part of our daily lives, and while we know that eating healthy is important to our overall well being, it can sometimes seem difficult to find delicious meals that are good for you.

So we’ve decided to create a place to share these gems.

This is just the first of many healthy, tasty recipes we’ll be sharing with our Achievement community. Each of these recipes will come from Achievement team members or Achievement users like you!

We’ll also tell you a little about the recipe author and the dish. Because sharing a meal is about so much more than the food. It’s about coming together.

The Story

I love asparagus! And it just so happens, that May is National Asparagus Month! And since it’s also Celiac Awareness Month, I knew I had to share this recipe.

I’m a sucker for cream soups, but I have celiac disease which can make it almost impossible for me to find safe soup in a restaurant or out of a package. Most cream soups start with a roux to ensure that rich, creamy texture.

Now, I could get that with a gluten-free flour, but I try to keep things as simple and healthy as possible.

So creating a thick creamy soup without the need for thickeners was top priority for me!

Luckily, I love to cook.

This soup gets it’s texture by using the parts of the asparagus stalk that you would normally toss out. Which also means it helps reduce food waste — which is a big win!

And the best part…it’s full of good-for-you nutrients and easily aligns with many dietary needs and preferences.

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh asparagus

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)

1 cup heavy cream

Pinch of fresh ground nutmeg (pre ground will work too!)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Trim woody ends of asparagus and place in a large pot — reserve the rest for later! ***If there are very thick, hard parts at the bottom, remove and discard.
2. Cover with broth and heat to boiling.
3. When the broth reaches a full boil, reduce to simmer, cover, and cook until stalks are tender. 20–40 minutes, depending on the toughness of the asparagus stalks.
4. Remove any stalks that have remained too hard or woody (that won’t puree nicely).
5. Chop onion and garlic and remaining asparagus. Add to the pot. These can be rough chopped as it will all be pureed later.
6. Return to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg. ***You can leave the nutmeg out if you don’t like it or are unsure. The idea is not to taste it, just to add a depth of flavor to the soup.
7. Cook until veggies are tender.
8. Remove from heat and puree using an immersion blender, or allow to cool and transfer to a standing blender in batches and then return to the pan.
9. Reheat until warmed through and add in cream. Allow to heat through, but do not boil.
10. Salt and pepper to taste.

Modifications:

This dish is already gluten free, vegetarian, and keto-friendly (trust me, you won’t know it — it’s so rich and delicious!). But you can easily make it Vegan and Paleo as well by substituting the heavy cream with full-fat coconut cream.

If you’re not familiar with coconut cream, it’s the solid part of a can of coconut milk (before you mix it up). So, if you can’t find canned coconut cream, you can use the solid cream part of a can of coconut milk.

It does change the flavor a bit, but I’ve done it plenty of times and it is still very tasty!

Tips:

• I save the woody ends of asparagus throughout the year and freeze them. Then, when I want to make this soup, I pull them out of the freezer and cook them down with the rest. This gives the soup a much deeper flavor. And it means less food waste!
• Use chicken bone broth instead of vegetable broth for added nutrition and a dose of gut-healing collagen!
  

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Last month was Women’s History Month and later this month we celebrate one special group of women in our lives — the group of women we call mothers.

We know that Mother’s Day can be difficult for many, and we recognize that the word “mother” means many things.

With that in mind, we want to share the love and inspiration that comes from the women in our lives, whoever they are.

Some of these women have given birth, some have raised us, taught us, picked us up when we’ve been knocked down. Others have been friends, sisters, aunts, lovers. Some, we have lost.

But each of them have inspired us in one way or another.

And inspiration is something we appreciate here at Evidation.

So, we’d like to highlight the women who’ve inspired our community of members!

We recently asked Evidation Members about the women who inspire them, and the response was amazing!

Over 19,000 members sent us inspiring stories of the women in their lives.

It took us a while to get through the many heartfelt submissions, and while we’d love to share them all, we’ve chosen to highlight a few here in honor of women everywhere.

Meet our members and the women who inspire them

“Ms. Thomas was my first African American female teacher in the third grade; also my only till I reached college. We instantly bonded and have a relationship to this day. She was such a smart and powerful woman and I think she is one of the many people that have encouraged and supported me to become the woman I am today. I could not imagine what my school experience would have been without her. She was always there to offer me extra support outside of class time and continued to help when I was no longer in her class. I can say that I love this woman and am so glad that she is a part of my life.” — Brieanna, Lexington

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“My friend Michelle inspires me in many ways. She is a retired firefighter/paramedic. She has been a competitive bodybuilder. Is a yoga instructor, painter, quilter and end of life doula. When she turned 50 she walked the Camino de Santiago and hiked the Kalalau in Kauai, both in a skirt. (Because, you know, year of the skirt). She is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She loves life and encourages others to love themselves and their life too.” — Karen, Las Vegas

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“My Lola (grandmother in Tagalog) is a truly inspiring woman. She originally graduated at the top of her class in accounting, then when she was in her 40s, she fought ageism and attended medical school to become an ophthalmologist. Not only is she brilliant, she is also a wonderful mother to 7 children, and Lola to her 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. She was also one of the first female drivers in the Philippines. While my mom’s classmates were being picked up by their drivers, my Lola decided to learn how to drive a car so she could pick up her children herself. At 94 years old today, she is still brilliant, witty and going strong.” — Mariella, Toledo

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“Nhu is a very dear friend of mine and she came to USA around 1980. She became USA citizens and is very much a good person. She has had her struggles along the way as she lives here in the USA and had always been a positive person no matter what happened to her as far as people treat her, she has always look to a more positive attitude towards them as she goes on with her life, she appreciate being here from where she came from she is a refugee from Vietnam and I can only imagine what her life was before her life here! To be so patient and positive about things takes a lot of patience and I love and dearly respect her for that. She has inspired me to look at things in a more patient and kind away in my life. She is a very dear and precious friend to have.” — Sher, Tacoma

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“She has been my head principal for 10 years, and she continually inspires teachers, students, staff, parents, and the community to do and be their best. She never accepts excuses, and is continually looking for solutions to problems that make our high school awesome. She also treats everyone equally, which I never experienced until she came. She even helped our band to get funding for new marching band uniforms which we haven’t had in a few decades. I’m just sad to see her retire at the end of this school year, but wish her the best in her next chapter. I’m very grateful for knowing because she has made me a better teacher. I’ll never forget her.” — Charles, West Jordan

Give back by supporting woman-friendly charities

Evidation Members can donate the money they earn in app to a variety of charities. Some of the charities that are supportive of women and woman-related issues are:

• Black Girls Code
• Black Women’s Health Alliance
• Girls who Code
• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
• Tides Foundation
• Loveland Foundation

Want to learn more about Evidation? Click here!

The release of COVID-19 vaccinations has been a symbol of hope to many people — -and a source of hesitancy to some. For our second survey on COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and behaviors (which we will refer to as “survey 2” throughout this blog post), we wanted to understand how people were feeling about the vaccines as people first started getting access to them. We launched the survey in January 2021, and are excited to share some preliminary results with you!

Participants

100,080 people (“participants”) completed survey 2. 54,701 have completed all surveys in the study so far. The mean age of survey 2 participants was 37.4 (standard deviation: 12.2 years). The majority of survey 2 participants identified as female (80.8%) and identified as white (78.0%).

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Vaccination Likelihood and Hesitancy

One of our main focuses for this survey was to examine how COVID-19 vaccination likelihood and hesitancy has evolved over time.

11.4% of participants had already gotten a COVID-19 vaccine when they took the survey, with an additional 0.6% reporting participating in COVID-19 vaccination trials:

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Overall, survey 2 participants reported being more positive about COVID-19 vaccination than they had been previously. 30% of participants reported feeling more likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine than they had been a month ago:

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People reported a range of reasons for their likelihood of vaccination increasing, with some common responses including:

• Feeling more informed about COVID vaccination overall (for example, “learned more information about it”, “just thinking and researching”)
• Feeling more confident about COVID vaccination safety as more data and research were released (for example, “more data on potential side effects”, “studies are getting better and more people are receiving it.”)
• Feeling more confident about COVID vaccination safety as they saw their friends, family, and community starting to get vaccinated (for example, “seeing those I respect get it”, “watching people I know get it with little adverse side effects”)

We saw a similar trend looking at the differences between reported vaccination likelihood in the first and second surveys; mean reported likelihood was 4.93 in survey 1 (median=5), and 6.53 in survey 2 (median=8.0):

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Although the majority of participants (51.5%) still report being more hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines than other vaccines, a higher percentage of survey 2 participants reported being equally or less hesitant than survey 1 participants:

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Vaccination Informedness

As mentioned above, one common reason people gave for their increase in vaccination likelihood was feeling more informed about the vaccines. Our data reflect this increase in self-reported informedness; in survey 1, only 27.1% of participants reported feeling “informed” or “very informed”, but 53.3% did so in survey 2:

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The most common pieces of information unvaccinated participants reported needing to know before deciding to get the COVID-19 vaccine were all potential side effects (62.7%) and possible long-term impacts of vaccination (58.9%).

We look forward to further investigating these current perceptions and behaviors and see how they change as more people become eligible for vaccination!

Next Steps

To understand how people’s perceptions and behaviors related to COVID-19 vaccination continue to evolve as vaccines become available more broadly, we will send additional surveys over the following months asking for Evidation Members’ perceptions and behaviors. The exact dates of these future surveys will depend on developments in the pandemic and COVID-19 vaccination, so stay tuned for more!

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If you’d like to get vaccinated, see this CDC page with resources to find appointments near you.

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Our Research, Analytics, and Learning team is exploring and analyzing data from our Evidation platform, where members contribute to research and help us uncover insights that could improve their health and the health of others.

During this year’s presidential election there was high voter turnout which included record-breaking numbers of mail-in ballots due to COVID-19. As we now know, this high volume of ballots required multiple days to count, so no final winner could be projected on Election Day. We decided to look at Evidation Members activity data to see what changes the election may have caused for our members.

We used Fitbit data contributed by Evidation Members, to explore sleep characteristics and schedules for the month leading up to Election Day in 2020. We looked specifically at the time that each member went to bed in their local timezone. Equivalent time periods in 2017–2019 were used for comparison. These periods were aligned across years based on week rather than calendar date, so that differences in weekend and weekday sleep cycles would line up. This also syncs the end of daylight saving time, which happened on November 1, 2020, the Sunday two days before Election Day, and temporarily shifts our sleep cycles earlier. Positioning the data in this way allows for appropriate comparisons of data across years.

So, did anything about our sleep change? This plot shows the average time Evidation Members started sleeping on the weeks leading up to and immediately after daylight saving time from 2017–2020:

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There is a clear weekly pattern: we go to bed later on Friday and Saturday nights, when we have a weekend day ahead of us. On daylight savings weekend we started sleeping slightly earlier as we adjusted to the end of daylight saving time, a trend which continues through the following week as we slowly adjust to going to bed later again. However, on Election Day 2020 this pattern was disrupted; bedtimes spiked up over 20 minutes from Sunday and Monday night.

You may also notice the interesting pattern of later bedtimes in 2017, leading up to daylight saving time. This lines up with Halloween night and games 6 and 7 of the 2017 World Series. We’ve examined the impact of the 2017 World Series on sleep in the past.

As we looked closer at our sleep data, we were curious to see if members on the East Coast stayed up later in their time zone than those on the West Coast while they waited for results, so we examined average bedtimes in each time zone. On election night, members on the East Coast stayed up the latest (11:51 PM), compared to members in the Central (11:39 PM), Mountain (11:39 PM), and Pacific (11:43 PM) time zones. Compared to the previous night, members in Eastern Standard Time stayed up 22 minutes later, Central Standard Time 20 minutes later, and Mountain Standard Time 23 minutes later, while members in Pacific Standard Time stayed up only 14 minutes later.

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Regardless of where we live, sleep is an important part of our health. Fortunately, later bedtimes due to the election were confined to Tuesday night. Bedtimes returned to normal after Election Day, as it became clear that election results would take at least several more days to be projected.

Did you stay up late on Election Day? If you have tips to reduce stress or improve sleep, we’d love to hear them.

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We are all looking forward to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruptions it’s caused in our lives. A safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine will form part of the public health strategy to help us reach this endpoint faster. As many organizations work to develop and release such a vaccine, we wanted to understand people’s evolving perceptions and behaviors related to COVID-19 and vaccinations. We launched the first set of surveys in our study in October, and are excited to share some preliminary results with you!

Objectives

This study’s goal is to describe people’s perceptions and behaviors around the COVID-19 vaccine. For example, what reasons do people have for getting or not getting the COVID-19 vaccine? How likely are they to get it once it’s released? Has the pandemic encouraged people to get the flu shot? This study will investigate whether and how these perceptions and behaviors change over time, as COVID-19 vaccines are developed and released.

Methods

To describe people’s perceptions and behaviors, and how those perceptions and behaviors change over time, we are asking for people’s input through a series of online surveys. These surveys will be sent throughout the development and release of COVID-19 vaccines.

So far, we’ve launched 2 surveys: one to understand the backgrounds of the people participating (for example, their demographics, where they live, whether they’re at risk for COVID-19), and one to characterize current perceptions and behaviors. We have started analyzing the data collected between October 9th, 2020 and November 11th, 2020. We won’t be able to understand how perceptions and behaviors have changed until we launch the next survey, but we can start to describe how people are currently feeling about the COVID-19 vaccine!

Preliminary Results

Here are some preliminary results from our first 2 surveys.

Participants

64,750 people (“participants”) have completed the first perceptions and behaviors survey. Mean age was 38.5 (SD: 11.7 years), and the majority of participants identified as female (79.7%) and identified as white (80.0%).

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All 50 states (plus Puerto Rico and Washington, DC) are represented:

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Vaccination Likelihood, Motivators, and Barriers

On average, participants were on the fence in terms of likelihood of getting the COVID-19 vaccine when it’s released (mean=4.93, median=5). The distribution shows a wide range of opinions, with the largest numbers of people reporting at:

• 0 (“Very unlikely”): 18.8%
• 5: 13.6%
• 10 (“Very likely”): 14.3%

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The most common reasons people reported for getting the COVID-19 vaccine were to:

• help protect their family, friends, or community (59.9%)
• lower their chances of getting COVID-19 (56.7%)
• lower their chances of having to go to the doctor or getting hospitalized due to severe COVID-19 symptoms (53.7%)
• feel more comfortable spending time with their friends, family, or community (55.7%)

The most common reasons people had to not get vaccinated were because they were:

• concerned the vaccine is being approved too quickly (61.3%)
• concerned about possible side effects (60.1%)
• not sure the vaccine will be safe (56.2%)
• not sure the vaccine will be effective (57.0%)

Relative Vaccination Hesitancy

Most participants reported feeling more hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine than other vaccines (68.0%), with 24.9% feeling equally hesitant and 7.1% feeling less hesitant:

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Vaccination Informedness

We’ve also found that people don’t feel particularly well-informed about the COVID-19 vaccine in general. 19.8% of participants report feeling “Not at all informed”, 22.7% “Slightly informed”, 30.4% “Moderately informed”, 19.2% “Informed”, and only 7.9% “Very informed”:

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Pandemic Influence on Flu Shot Plans and Behavior

The CDC has stressed that getting the flu shot this season is more important than ever, to help protect oneself and others and to minimize burden on the healthcare system. Many participants seem to agree: of the 35,997 participants who had not gotten the flu shot yet (or were unsure), 20.2% reported being more likely to get it this season due to the pandemic:

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Of the 28,753 participants who had gotten the flu shot, 20.0% reported that the pandemic encouraged them to get it, and 9.1% reported the pandemic was the primary reason they did so:

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We are excited to continue to investigate these current perceptions and behaviors and see how they change over the coming months!

Next Steps

To understand how people’s perceptions and behaviors related to COVID-19 vaccination evolve over the development and release of vaccines, we will send more surveys over the following months asking for Evidation Member’s perceptions and behaviors. These surveys will be sent as big events happen around the vaccine’s development, like its approval or release. The exact dates of these future surveys will depend on when these events happen, so stay tuned for more!

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Don’t let summer pass you by this year! We chatted with our team and consolidated some of our favorite activities.

1. Connect with brainy folks all around the world with Atlas Obscura’s Trivia Night! Rally together a virtual team and participate for $7.
2. Celebrate Blues Artist Mavis Staples and listen to other folk artists including Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Ben Harper, and Phoebe Bridgers for a Livestream concert. Tickets cost $12. Tune in this Friday, July 31st at 8:30pm EST.
3. Join host Saleem Reshamwala as he goes on global expeditions and learns from people around the world who are creatively working to make their communities better. Tune into this Ted podcast to transport to another world virtually in the absence of travel.
4. Host a virtual book club with friends. The benefit of talking about your latest read via Zoom or video chat is that you can connect with friends across time zones.
5. Jump on the geocaching bandwagon. We recently heard from some Achievers that they’ve been geocaching with their family members for an active, outdoor treasure hunt.
6. Make a box fort/cat castle for your cat children if you’re a cat mom or dad. :)
7. Set up a socially distanced front yard hang! Dust off your lawn chairs and pick up some of your favorite snacks and head outdoors.
8. Choose a road trip and safely travel to a closeby spot! Know you’re not alone in opting for a road trip as a staycation during these unusual times. Read up on some of the best road trips in America.
9. Host your very own hot sauce competition with your “quaranteam.” Find some new hot sauces you’ve always wanted to try online and order them in to have a mini hot sauce competition. Pro tip: the Heatonist has some of our favorites.
10. Channel your inner artist with a paint by number kit. Tune into a favorite playlist and enjoy a leisurely weekend art hour.

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Historically, minorities have been inadequately represented in research studies. We’re committed to enrolling a more diverse and representative population in Evidation for studies.

We’re collaborating with BlackDoctor.org to ensure that the effects of COVID-19 are investigated in a representative population.

We, in partnership with BlackDoctor.org and Myovant Sciences, have launched Forward Momentum, a cross-sector coalition working to improve the lives of men with prostate cancer. Forward Momentum is committed to addressing the complex set of challenges that hold back the representation, information, and conversations that all men deserve. By bringing together organizations from diverse sectors and investing in novel digital initiatives, Forward Momentum strives to accelerate progress for men with prostate cancer.

Stay tuned for more updates from us on these research efforts!

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