Stigma around mental health affects many. By the time we reach age 40, will have experienced mental illness鈥攁nd with mood, anxiety, or substance use disorder don鈥檛 get treatment. Surprised it鈥檚 so many? That鈥檚 stigma at work.
Responding to this national problem, the Stratford School鈥檚 2024 Design Jam sponsored by Sun Life Financial challenged students to design digital platforms where the user experience (UX) 聽can help destigmatize mental health.
The students on this year鈥檚 winning team know that stigma isn鈥檛 something we can overcome alone. Their project鈥攁 platform they called Mello鈥攊s all about connecting people to people.
鈥淧ersonally, I want to engage with mental health supports by engaging with real people,鈥 says Graeme Tooley, a Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA) student. 鈥淚 don't see how being put on hold on a call line or messaging a chatbot is helpful if I am seeking mental health assistance. I think that being face to face, or even voice to voice is critical for getting the support that is needed.鈥
Along with 骋叠顿础听肠濒补蝉蝉尘补迟别蝉听Olivia Dunford, Aydan Nardi, Tina Nguyen, and Gaurav Shah, he helped design a platform that connects users to nearby health services that are covered by the user鈥檚 insurance. As well, Mello offers breathing exercises to calm an anxiety or panic attack, and allows users to track and record experiences and symptoms鈥攃reating a data log to support them during discussions with health care providers.
But Tooley points out that while their app can help build connections, someone must be on the other end for users to connect to: tech can鈥檛 replace trained professionals. 鈥Reducing long wait times is also critical for designing solutions moving forward,鈥 he says. 鈥淗aving more availability for students to see psychiatrists or therapists would go a long way to stopping mental health crisis before they go too far.鈥
