Global Therapy

The goal of this solution is to provide crisis support for those who have no access to services

Connecting people in crisis with people who want to help.

Mental health is the greatest unmet and essentially unaddressed health problem across the world. This is largely because of insufficient funding, lack of trained personnel and, in many cases, societal ambivalence about the problem. There is no evidence to suggest that these factors are going away. The proposed solution bypasses these issues by providing a safe, easy and free means to connect people. Those who want to help will be given simple training/rules to provide the most basic help and resources. Those in need will be able to reach someone to talk to/communicate with in a manner that assures their safety and anonymity while not being left adrift and alone.  

This solution does not propose to fix the world's mental health problems but to provide a support network that allows people a positive outlet at times of crisis. It builds on a background of organizations such as the Samaritans and various crisis hotlines, albeit with the differences of (1) global reach to communities with no/minimal support services, akin to a virtual Médecins Sans Frontières, and  (2) use of varied communication modalities (primarily centered around cell phones). This is to ensure that as many people as possible can access the service.

Following pilot studies to refine the process in defined geographies it is expected that expansion would be global in scope. Provision of a crisis safety net would provide a novel resource that tangibly demonstrates to those in need that others care . At the individual level it may provide a helpline that allow them to get past a crisis, at the societal level a message is sent that people's emotional well-being matters.

1/3 of people will suffer from a significant mental illness, more will have less severe events. There are not enough specialists for the need, even in wealthy parts of the world. It is unlikely that resources will increase sufficiently. A solution that does not require significant resources is urgently required.

Traditionally, the individual’s community should provide the support but people in crisis may not be able to turn to family, friends or community leaders/members for a variety of reasons e.g. fear, geography, social stigma etc...

This solution provides an accessible and relevant alternative for people in need.

Gould & Kalafat’s review of the evidence for crisis hotlines (Oxford Textbook of Suicidology and Suicide Prevention, 2009) supports benefit in reducing callers’ crisis and suicidal states.  The NIHR research report on the Samaritans (Pollock et al.,2010) reported challenges but also that the majority of users found some benefit, similarly, Stack’s article “Crisis Phones - Suicide Prevention Versus Suggestion/Contagion Effects” of 2015. Other reviews in the public domain, though limited and hampered by lack of controlled data, appear to support the role of crisis helplines in potentially reducing suicides and crisis intensity. Would areas with no support networks benefit more?

The impact is to provide a psychological safety cushion to people who are desperate and without hope and with nowhere for them to turn. It provides an outline for them to safely express themselves and to be heard. anybody in crisis can potentially benefit. There are no limits whether the problem be internally driven eg potpartum depression, external factors eg poverty, coercion upon speech, thought, body, etc. It will be deployed through cell phone, wired phone, internet cafe.

creation of functional system with technical support network. Test functionality of technology - set up infrastructure

identification and signed on support of people who will help to lead recruitment of volunteers in each region. Interval meetings to track commitment with benchmarks regarding volunteers in their bailiwick - recruitment of local leadership

Volunteers connections will be tracked to determine time commitment. Calls not being answered quickly will be tracked to allow for early intervention from a regional perspective or at individual volunteer level. Feedback of recipients will be tracked - cadre of volunteers to man the support posts providing high quality service to those in need

Creating a mental health intervention option that is readily expandable for a minimum of resources, yet will grow to be continuously accessible even in the furthest corners of the earth has quite simply not only not been done, it has not been attempted

My technology is the people. The tools that will be used to connect them are merely a vehicle to connect people

Deployment will be via freephone numbers, website, email addresses (anonymized at each end), text, private anonymized social media connections

Support from relevant organizations eg social media outlets, software and hardware companies

sponsorship form companies/people willing to support the organization

possible advertisement options from appropriate resources (only if set crtieria to avoid abuse are met) eg accredited psychiatric hospitals, charities, publishing houses

1. Inability to build the network infrastructure

2. Inability to recruit volunteers

3. Insufficient revenue to support costs

To make a positive difference

none

I am not aware of any