Tech for Good: Mental Health Organisations to Watch
One in five Australians experience mental illness in any given year and almost half of Australia will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. This knowledge, paired with the increasing capabilities of technology, have allowed a number of game changing social startups to emerge and make waves in the mental health scene. These startups are not only making support more accessible for all Australians, but designing software that can mitigate the signs before mental illness takes hold. Here we’ve handpicked a bunch you need to check out.
Smiling Mind
This evidence-based mindfulness app has already been downloaded by students over 1.5 million times and is used by over 40,000 educators. Smiling Mind are currently championing mental health to be woven into the Australian curriculum.
Be A Looper
Be A Looper is a world first daily mental health check-in and peer support app to keep users “?in the Loop”? with five people globally. The tool, created by leading mental health and design specialists, assists users to both share how their day is tracking in a gamified way while also keeping a close eye on those they care about. Spreading to 55 countries since December 2017, the proprietary application is a testament that social support, chain-diffusion and role modelling vulnerability plays a significant role in chronic disease self-management and in lowering the suicide rate, globally using technology.
OverWatch
The World Health Organisation regards stress as the “health epidemic of the 21st century”. OverWatch was initially a stress management smartwatch app designed for those in the military, but quickly evolved to become an app that helped everyone take control of stress. According to their website, the app “tracks biometric data and alerts you when signs of stress appear, then the partner smartphone app guides you through a breathing exercise or mindfulness meditation to help reduce stress and anxiety.”
Lysn
Finding the right psychologist for your mental health needs can be difficult and expensive. Sometimes, the specialist you need doesn’t reside in your area, so you settle for someone similar, but not completely aligned. Enter Lysn. Lysn connects individuals with qualified Australian psychologists, and allows you to conduct sessions through online video calls.
Uprise
Uprise aims to alleviate stress in workplaces through their Workforce Mental Health Management System. The app was developed by psychology researchers from the University of New South Wales and is based on Stepped Care, which has been evaluated in over 400 publications. The app tracks changes in employee absenteeism, productivity and turnover. The app also tracks ROI (return on investment), so that managers can see that by taking care of their employees, they are increasing their financial return.
Hello Sunday Morning
Hello Sunday Morning is a movement towards a better drinking culture. Their mobile app Daybreak is for those who wish to reclaim control over their relationship with alcohol through a supportive community, habit-changing experiments and one-to-one conversations with health professionals.
PROJECT ROCKIT
In order to scale there 10 year positive impact and reach young people all over Australia, PROJECT ROCKIT has taken our award winning anti-bullying workshops online. In 2014, they received a generous grant from the Telstra Foundation to build ‘PROJECT ROCKIT Online,’ Australia’s brand new curriculum of cool anti-bullying and cyber safety development for students in years 7-9. Consisting of three online workshops that tackle (cyber)bullying by building empathy and leadership, PROJECT ROCKIT Online guides students through a fun, practical and engaging online learning journey that incites reflection and encourage positive change.
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