Inspiration
Mental health is a broad topic, and many people are afraid of seeking professional help, or reaching out to those around them. There are several factors which directly contribute to overall mental health; we determined that some of these factors were friendships and social circles, how physically active an individual is, how balanced their diet is, and stress from financial troubles, or lack thereof.
For those individuals who choose not to seek professional help, the next step is to set realistic goals, both short and long term, which will over time improve your situation within each of these factors.
Our application seeks to hold the user accountable, and remind them of the goals which they have set in order to keep them focused on self-improvement and healthier mindset.
What it does
It works in the form of a chrome-browser extension that asks users to rate on a five point scale how well certain aspects of their well-being are at the moment.
-Mental Health -Nutrition -Fitness -Finances -Social Circles
This data is stored locally and users are then asked to create a short-term goal, long-term goal, or both, that will improve their situation within that aspect of their health. The extension also asks the user how often they would like to be reminded of these goals, so that they can remain focused.
The user can later return and claim to have accomplished the goal, or choose to postpone its completion. The objective is to not allow the user to give up on the goals they set for themselves, or forget about them in order to bring about a positive lifestyle change. Goals that are accomplished are kept in a list for the user to see, and gain confidence in themselves when pursuing future goals, while goals that they postponed are also shown in a separate list in hopes that they will reconsider and tackle those challenges in the near future.
If more goals are being put-off, than there are being accomplished, the extension will begin to decrease the health-rating for that specific area, and begin to offer support in the form of external resources.
How we built it
Building a chrome-extension was a first time experience for both team members, and we learned a great deal by reading directly from google's documentation on the subject, and another great deal through trial and error. It was all built using the Atom text editor, and written using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript. Testing was done directly through the Chrome browser.
Features we would like to implement at a later date:
To be more effective at holding the user accountable to their self improvement, a feature that allows for two individuals acquainted with one another to have access to a live feed of the other's health-rankings within Balance in each subject area. This means you can hold your friend accountable for not keeping up with their fitness goals, and they can do the same to you about your financial goals.
Furthermore, a LifeLine program that serves as an anonymous service that the user can opt-into. When Balance scores the user's mental-health ranking to be dangerously low, it will contact an emergency contact with your consent, and notify them about the situation. The goal is to hold someone who may commit self-harm accountable through their friends, who will reach out to them when they are alerted about a friend in need, who may be too afraid to be the first to speak out.
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