The UK is the second most miserable nation in the world, according to the 2024 Mental State of the Year report. This underscores our mental health crisis and the critical need to rethink our approach to mental health services. With difficult access to treatment and inefficient digital communication, our systems often make people feel more alone rather than less.
We believe that with an optimistic approach, these challenges are opportunities for businesses to design products, platforms and services that improve people’s mental health, fill the gaps in public services, and are part of the wave of change that’s setting a new standard. Considering how common mental health concerns are, changing the narrative on an often negatively portrayed issue can’t come soon enough.
The core problem
Our mental health system is failing, due to chronic underfunding and a persistent shortage of qualified staff. Patients’ experience is often one of inefficiency, long waiting times and not enough available services. Interactions are impersonal. This systemic neglect puts people off trying to get support and perpetuates the stigma around mental health care.
A human-centric, innovative design approach, focusing on simplicity, accessibility and effective outcomes, could offer what the NHS can’t. It could radically transform the landscape of what’s available to people, with desirable, timely and empathetic care.
Public policy has to be involved in systemic change, to establish robust frameworks for privacy and data protection, and support research and development so that innovation is ethically sound and based on empirical evidence.
Digital innovation
Digital services done well can be a force for good, connecting people with therapists and treatments, and making it accessible. They can create social connections, when that’s what people want, or be private and anonymous when they don’t. Flexibility and respect for individual preferences can build trust.
They can also help to remove stigma. Anonymous interactions can be a safe space for people who might be reluctant to use in-person services, and make it easier to seek advice and treatment.
Organisations are using technology to transform modern mental health care, providing access to professional advice and therapy, whenever and wherever people require it. BetterHelp is the world’s largest therapy platform, with more than five million video calls, voice calls and messages every month.
Ieso is a text-based therapy platform connecting patients to clinical therapists in a fraction of the time the NHS can. Early academic research suggests it achieves equivalent efficacy to traditional face-to-face therapy. Togetherall is a community therapy platform, with two-thirds of users saying they have shared something on Togetherall that they hadn’t told friends or family and 78% saying it helped them while they were on a waiting list.
Personalisation and AI
Kooth Digital Health is pioneering personalised care by using data to match therapies to people. It has one of the largest anonymised mental health data sets, with 24 million data points. It identifies the right treatment, but also reveals emerging trends in user behaviour.
Woebot is a 24/7 AI chatbot companion based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It uses a rule-based conversation pattern based on clinicians’ conversation to build a bond with each patient and give personal, science-based advice. Platforms like this can analyse behaviour patterns and adjust interventions in real time, for a dynamic, responsive experience that evolves with the patient’s needs.
This is an excerpt from our 2024 book, Optimism. Order your copy here.
Written by Thea Manton and Mark Webster.
