Interested in mental health app development? Learn here why you should consider it for your business growth and success.
What we’ve seen before the pandemic is that about 20% of the US population had a mental health need, and about 60% of those people weren’t getting care. Now, after the pandemic, the number of those who need mental health care has doubled, and the ratios are still similar—about 65% of those people are not getting care. Recent numbers show that 40 million adults in the United States are victims of anxiety issues, and 56 million adults suffer both from anxiety and depression. Speaking of global reality, around 75% of people with mental issues do not get any care.
Therefore, the main why-and-wherefore in creating a mental health app is obviously the huge demand for mental healthcare as well as room for improvement in digital mental health. According to recent researches, its global market is worth more than 6 billion USD this year, in 2022, and in 10 years. By the end of 2032, it is expected to reach as much as 30 billion USD. Developers have to be creative in thinking about where people can reach help earlier before things get to the highest acuity, and they have to be creative in how to improve access.
How to create a mental health app in 2022.
Dividing Mental Health Apps into Groups
Developing a health app, naturally, begins with a decision on its category, and only then do you and your team define its most important features.
Mental Disorder Apps are a great addition to the professional therapy of depression, schizofrenia, psychosis, neurosis, etc. Chats and calls with clinitinas, guided instructions or educational resources, even games—every tool is meant for patient day and night support and better cure outcomes.
The Mental Self-improvement Apps group is meant for those who want to be more stress-resistant, conscious about their mood changes, free from bad habits, and focus more on positive thinking. Users can find meditation techniques here, as well as all kinds of exercises and practices, as well as professional support.
And finally, the Mental Health Apps For All group combines features of the previous two. Users with serious issues and people who are mentally OK will benefit from the app on their smartphone.
Functionality
Modern on-demand mental health systems are like a virtual clinic for your mental health care with your team of medical professionals and coaches. Powered by great technology and a set of self-care content that allows you to access care 24 hours a day 7 days a week, typically under 60 seconds.
Self-monitoring features aim to record symptoms, mood shifts, progress, to keep track of what is done, and more for a patient’s proactive attitude towards the treatment process and feeling responsible. Notifications and reminders, like a caring friend, will not let you forget about yoga time, a glass of water, or going for a walk, your daily practice, or even bedtime. There are probably no apps without a sharing feature, as it is vital to have social support and create friendly communities with those who do know how it feels. Support groups are actually born from sharing. The only difference is that they are usually supervised by some authorized person. Some apps also have a matching patients with therapists function that helps to make the most relevant choices. Dashboards are crucially important for therapists to have all the cases and progress of each person in one place. Messengers and calls should be there in your app, no need to tell why.
Clinicians feel excited and hopeful moving to something new and more powerful for better cure results. Not just a one-to-one support but really trying to solve the issue at scale so that many more people can come in and get their needs met.
One of the real values of creating a mental health app is collaborative care model where all the best sorts of innovations are stacked up. From behavioral health coaching, where coaches typically have masters degrees, to things like social work, psychology, or counseling, They are helping you to understand what your goals are, what you are trying to accomplish, and they are teaching you the exercises to move from where you are now to where you want to go. And then, just as importantly as anything else, they are holding you accountable.
Apart from coaching, health app development includes some clinical domains. The coach will do an assessment with clinical support. The involved team meets at roundtables once a week, as a rule, and there are lots of ways clinicians and coaches are collaborating around treatment to make the best decision. And if it is determined that therapy or psychiatry would be helpful, then the coach facilitates that. This way, a simple app can support millions of lives through employers in a provider’s health plan contracts.
You Do Not Have To Be Sick
One of the most amazing things about mental health app developers’ work is being at a place that has values aligned to something that they really can get behind. They create a world where mental health is never a stumbling stone. It is important that everybody realizes that you don’t have to be sick to get value from great mental health care. People with a strong feeling of responsibility and self-care are the most beautiful people. Managing your own disorders and being able to access providers at anytime when necessary.
Technology stack
All the aspects of technology are very individual and depend on what you want to create. How complex your project is, what its scope is, budget and resources, deadlines, etc. Back-end development is usually done with Node.js, Python, and other frameworks, and front-end development is often done with JavaScript and React.js. Software Testing for HealthCare is of great importance here.
By the way, in our blog you can find more info on the technical aspects of healthcare app development.
More Aspects To Focus On
The question of how to develop a health app is closely connected to data security and protection. The realm of mental health is probably the most fragile and intimate one, and this is where exceptional attention and efforts should be directed towards providing the best data safety features so that your users trust you and your product. Different kinds of legal compliance are listed and explained here and here. Study them carefully, please. This is one of your top priorities.
Privacy standards, encrypting app data, strong passcodes, and facing all compliancies are not possible without involving safeguards, either technical, physical, or administrative. This is an investment that is not for saving the budget, and you will see the reward later on.
Consider proper usability testing before launching the main version, as well as market research and the kinds of users that are your target audience. Try to see your app through their experience, understand what motivates them and what can be annoying. Make an attractive visual design and include extra services like fast delivery from your chemist that will add more value to your product and make it stand out.
Your development team will offer more ideas. It is a very exciting process of dreaming and watching it come true!
Best Of The Best
From the best in general to education and fun, real therapy, stress relief, meditation, and more, there is an app for everything now. However, do mental apps really work, is an open question. Here we have selected the most popular apps in different categories.
Moodfit is considered to be the all-embracing best. MoodMission is the number one way to learn how to face your mood shifts and improve. The best for therapy is Talkspace. Sanvello is the most effective for relaxation and bringing back peace of mind. Meditation practice needed? Go and find Headspace. Happify will be your daily joy supplier. And Depression The CBT Self-Help Guide has proven to be the most effective in overcoming dark places and times of depression.
Experts warn that relying completely on these services is not right and may even be harmful. Heavy mental issues need professional therapy, and an app is just a part of it. Even though a therapy session costs 70-250 USD and an app is 10-20 USD per month, the value is not comparable here. But the app is a great tool to control yourself and take the right direction to improve your life.
Bringing together incredible technology, great people, and great data helps to deliver an experience that actually addresses people’s mental health. Our vision is to help our most enthusiastic clients to create a mental health system that is clearly oriented around the member that gets them better and faster, but that is predicated on finding incredible talent, and finding high quality providers who believe in that vision and that end game, who want to leverage great technology and, in particular, great data, to deliver their core skills, to really practice their superpowers, and help people get better faster.
What if we are going to become partners in this noble task of healthcare development services? Do not hesitate to contact our team! Have a great day!
