How mental health tech can deliver on the bottom line

Henry Jones, CEO of online mental health services provider Big White Wall, writes about the need for good, cost-effective solutions to address mental health conditions.

Over the next three years the government has committed to an ambitious programme of change in digital mental health, which will see all mental health service providers fully digitised and integrated with other parts of the health and care system by 2024.

This programme runs hand in hand with the promise of continued support for the development of apps, digitally enabled models of therapy and online resources to support good mental health and enable recovery in the population.

There is no question that the scale of the mental health problem in the UK is rising - and rising fast. The Mental Health Foundation estimates that by 2030 there will be over 2 million people suffering from mental health problems in the UK alone, with mental health problems already being one of the main causes of the overall disease burden worldwide.

Against this backdrop of suffering and lost productivity, there is real and urgent need to address mental health issues at a macro socio-economic level.

One thing is abundantly clear: digital mental health technology – deliverable at scale – is a desirable and necessary part of the solution.

A recent study showed investment into mental health technology exceeded half a billion pounds in 2019, highlighting the increasing appetite for technology for good in the mental health arena.

Additionally, it found that investment in mental health technology in the UK is on the rise – increasing from £350,000 in 2014 to £21 million in 2019.

The success of digital mental health businesses like Big White Wall demonstrate that the delivery of a viable, sustainable model in digital mental health - which simultaneously returns a profit - is possible.

Helping people improve their mental health using technology that can be delivered at scale and is virtually location-agnostic is a strong business model, and one which can deliver a real financial return, as well as doing good for society.

Our business, which has a strong track record of improving outcomes and reaching the hard-to-reach, has real purpose and is making peoples’ lives better.

Using technology to enable mental health support allows providers to offer 24/7 access to their chosen model of support, from one-to-one therapy sessions to peer-supported communities. It can help people with lower levels of distress by providing a clinically safe and moderated online space, which in turn frees capacity for those with higher need, who require specialist and more intense treatment.

Big White Wall, the first ever online mental health services provider to be registered with the Care Quality Commission in England, is an online mental health and wellbeing service offering a clinically managed and professionally moderated community of people who support one another in dealing with common mental health problems.

Our population health approach aims to improve mental health outcomes and promote wellbeing across our large community of online members. The support network is not intended as a treatment service when people become ill; instead, it offers an innovative use of technology to harness the protective and therapeutic effects of connectedness and healthy social networks to help those who may be feeling overwhelmed by the stresses of everyday life. 

Our desire to break the mould and approach things differently also applies to our business model, which takes an alternative, long-term approach to funding. Indeed, our main investor, Impact Ventures, believes that it is not only possible, but necessary to invest in businesses that address societal issues as well as deliver profit.

Mindsets are changing. The global rise of the B Corp movement, a group of businesses committed to pursuing better social or environmental performance alongside their financial targets, is just one example.

There is a growing public awareness about the huge need for better mental health support in our society. New, scalable and cost-effective solutions are needed and digital businesses with health improvement at their centre can play an important part of that landscape.