Mental Health First (AI)der

MentalWellness(AI)der.tech

Inspiration

Suicide. roughly one death takes place every 40 seconds. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in the world for those aged 15-24 years. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Inspiration is "Suicides are preventable".

What it does

A self-help application which provides personalised support and resources in the time of distress. The resources included helps create a safety plan and a physical mental wellness first aid kit.

A platform by which you can help yourself in the times of distress by getting support via; positive distractions, safety plan, resources, helplines, activities, hobbies, and social community support - the individuals you trust. It operates by giving you the recommendations on the screen (based on your age-group, demographic location, interests, ) The user have three options to

swipe right (to own the recommendation and save it)
tap on the screen to learn all the possible information about it
swipe left (let it go and move to next one)

In the time of distress - say, at 0400 am in the morning if the user finds themselves emotionally distressed they can activate the call for help button. This in turn will show all the activities that the user believed works for them and via Twilio API will connect the individual with the helpline and their personal contacts.

How we built it

Since the start of the hackathon, we have been testing the hypothesis and have been developing drafts. We have started developing the app using non-coding platform.

Challenges we ran into

Literature Review - Researching on the topic took the longest. However, it shaped the outcome beautifully.
Completion of the application development, On paper we are way ahead Illness (bad flu) - Dr Pashmeen did catch flu this weekend, which slowed down the progress.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Inclusivity - In case of physical disability and religious minorities. If an individual puts in his data as they are paraplegic (have lower limb weakness) the app being mindful of the disability won’t recommend activities like walking/jogging. For most humans, their religion gives spiritual support at the time of mental hardship. If an individual is a christian, his recommendation would be then not from scriptures of buddhism.

Upon signing-up the sex question gives the additional non-binary options to select from.

One of the team member is Mental Health First Aid Provider, Suicide Safety Trainer, and a medical doctor which gives the team the edge of having a professional on board.

Serves the purpose by being both - Virtual and Physical. The resources included helps create a safety plan and a physical mental wellness first aid kit.

Community Social Wellness.

End User Free of Cost to use - The application once developed will be sold to institutions, organisations, and government bodies making sure it is free of cost for end-users.

What we learned

36-hours is a good time to start developing an idea. We have a strong foundation for application development.
The Hackathon administration/organising team was extremely supportive. Raffle is a one cool way to keep the participants engaged in the cool activities curated by the organiser.

What's next for Mental Health First Aid Application

Use the feedback from the session for the betterment.

Focus Groups - We will test how users (youth) takes this as an idea - A mobile application that can serve as a first responder in the time of breakdown.

Will complete the application development and using the domain we got during the hackathon, will create a website serving the purpose.

Apply for IP and registration.