StopCOVID19now - Mental Health screening (research project)

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  Use Case

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Inspiration

At the start of the Covid-19 confinement, when most people were preoccupied with whether they were infected or not, we realised that very little focus was being given to people's mental health. Spending time in isolation, practicing social distancing and the looming uncertainty about the future take a toll on every person’s mental health. Of course, particularly those suffering from pre-existing mental conditions like anxiety, depression or OCD are suffering right now. However, the sudden perceived loss of control and constant worrying can take a toll on healthy people, too.

What it does

It informs, guides and tests users to assess their mental well-being, depression, and anxiety. With the help of mental health experts, we made sure all the content, self-assessments, recommendations, and information are in accordance with international mental health standards. Information is accessible not only through an app but also through our chatbot which allows access by phone, text, WhatsApp, and Facebook messenger, making it very inclusive to everybody, including the elderly and disabled people.

How I built it

Thanks to the close cooperation of a thirty strong team comprised of Bosenet's and Oracle's engineers, product designers, solutions architects and designers, and with the phenomenal support of a team of doctors, scientists, translators and other health experts, we were able to create an entire platform to address the aforementioned issues using a React Native app, a Python Flask middleware and Oracle's Gaya cloud infrastructure.

Challenges I ran into

Conceiving an entire platform in 3 weeks is no easy job even with a large team like ours, we had to prototype, design and build everything in days when normal processes often take months, so it was a mixture of knowing we are helping the greater good, incredible leadership to keep us motivated and unhealthy amounts of coffee...

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We managed to set up an interdisciplinary team within a very short space of time, which now makes a contribution to dealing with the crisis not only in Europe but also in the Middle East. With such an incredible team it's hard to pick what we are most proud of, but I think everyone's dedication, commitment and focus to bring together this project stands out as what most made me proud of being part of this team.

What I learned

Unfortunately, only a few recognize that the virus knows no national borders, stock prices, races, religions or nationalities. In this crisis we are all in the same boat and are proud and happy to have met people who are ready to row and steer. It is a great opportunity to prove that Europe is indeed a community of values. That no matter how bad things get sometimes, people will always work together and have the drive to resolve the issues at hand and find solutions to keep this little blue earth humming along, even if sometimes we all need to hum along from within our homes making sure that we are in a good mental state. :)

What's next for StopCOVID19now - Mental Health

We are working hard to improve the content and the reach of the platform and we are keen to partner up with more governments, health services, NGOs, universities and anyone else that may benefit and help us accomplish our goals of maintaining or improving mental health during this pandemic. We hope that the EU will support our research project with the help of money, relationships and contacts, to be able to share the results, methodology and technology as a reusable asset with other countries in Europe.

Built With

• autonomous-database
• gaia-x
• oracle-cloud-infrastructure
• react-native