What is this course?

This course is a collaboration between Arizona State University's (ASU) Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience and the Arizona Department of Health Services (AzDHS).

This course falls under the AzDHS state-wide strategy to address loneliness and social isolation. Strategy 2 in the Health Improvement Plan (HIP) Mental Well-Being Action Plan is to “improve awareness of, and address, the impact of social isolation and loneliness on health” by “launching a public campaign that raises awareness of the normalcy of isolation, and ways to combat it.”

ASU and AzDHS have a long-standing collaboration, and this is mission-driven work for both institutions. The ASU Charter states that we are to assume fundamental responsibility for the overall health of the communities it serves. ASU’s Design Aspirations state that ASU is to be Socially Embedded into the community, making this joint effort be mutually beneficial to AzDHS, ASU, and the people of Arizona.