Learn to Develop a Mental Health App

Recently, we have seen an upsurge in the Mental Health services apps claiming to treat mental illnesses.in a blog published by Havard Business Review; it has been argued that mental health mobile apps may not be able to completely cure the disorder but may help people get aware of the symptoms (if they are having any) and may also help patients in establishing a healthy relationship with their therapist. You cannot completely eliminate the human element from the therapeutic process.

In recent years, especially during and after the catastrophe of the pandemic, there has been a sudden upsurge in demand for mental health care services. According to a KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), at the time of the pandemic, 4 in 10 adults, as compared to 1 in 10 adults in the first half of 2020, reported symptoms of deteriorating mental health such as anxiety and depression.

Step-by-Step process to develop a mental health app

1. Identify your Target Audience:- Identifying the target audience is a crucial step any product owner has to undertake right after deciding to create a mental health application. Devising a target group of people with a specific set of mental illnesses is crucial at this stage. All these aspects will also help the product owner to devise the monetary investment it would take to develop the application.
2. Conduct Human-Centered Research:- Employing this form of research methodologies would help the designer and developers consider the subjectivities and experiences of people with mental health disorders.
3. Validate by Prototyping:- Validate your interface, your services, and the nature of the delivery of services by identifying a set of major stakeholders. It is crucial to experiment as much as possible at this stage because each experiment will result in a much-improved iteration of the application.
4. Developing Stage:- After undergoing such comprehensive stages, the mental health app developers can start writing codes for the mental health application.
5. Deployment:- Once the development stage is over, product owners can start distributing the mental health app on various distribution channels such as Google Play or App Store.

Significant Features of a good Mental Health app

1. Supportive & Likeable
2. Data Security & Privacy
3. Smooth Onboarding
4. Regular Assessments and Reports
5. Digital Journal
6. Specialist Intervention
7. Comprehensive Video and Audio Content
8. Emergency Service Access
9. Support Groups
10. Notifications
11. Third-Party Integrations
12. Workflow Automation and Dashboard Management

Different Types of Mental Health Apps

1. Anxiety, Depression & Mood Control
2. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
3. Addiction Recovery
4. Self-Development
5. Eating Disorders
6. Meditation and Mindfulness
7. Suicide Prevention
8. Bipolar Disorder
9. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
10. Autism

Read our blog on how to develop a mental health app for further understanding.