There is so much pressure for teens to be their best in school, at home, online, during after-school activities, in their social life – just about everywhere. Reducing stress is not always about changing your life; sometimes it’s about changing the way you deal with it. That’s why Allina Health created Change to Chill™ (www.changetochill.org), a free online resource to help teens get perspective on what matters.

Change to Chill™ is a community health improvement initiative designed to help teens stress less and live a more balanced life. The online, mobile-friendly resource launched in November 2014 and provides free, easy-to-use information about stress – what it is, what can trigger it and how to best manage it.

To date, 15,000 users have interacted with content on the Change to Chill™ website, and content and images from the website are effective on social media, reaching more than 300,000 people to date. Online, teens can:

• Watch, listen and learn about stress and its triggers, meditation, ways to focus, guided imagery and more.
• Chill and win: Teens can enter the Chiller Challenge to win cool prizes and have their “Chiller” posted on the website. Chillers are visuals that help us slow down and step back from stress.
• Help others Change to Chill: Access train-the-trainer modules and activities to help others find balance.
• Videos: Press play on a variety of videos that offer stress reduction tips and examples for everybody.

“Mental wellness was identified as a priority in our recent Community Health Needs Assessment,” said Susan Nygaard, RN, manager of community health improvement. “Change to Chill is one resource we can provide to fill a gaping need in the community. The program is a prevention resource for teens. We want to teach them positive ways to react to stress so they can live a healthy and balanced life."

While the program is geared toward teens, adults can use the site to benefit as well. Sharing information about Change to Chill™ is a great way to start a conversation with teens.