Mentale

• Nowadays people are consumed by daily struggle of life and most don't have time to take care of their health. Despite busyness but also economic crisis, pandemics, insecurities, conflicts keep rising. That keep putting people's mental health at sake as well as overall health. What makes the challenge complicated is that there is little access to mental health services due to far away hospitals, few professionals and lack of time to seek for support. Therefore, mental health issues like depression, trauma, drug abuse and others increase daily.
• Mentale can provide easily accessible mental health services to reduce mental health issues and improve mental well-being of people as well as overall health. 
• Once Mentale is scaled globally, the countries with limited access to mental health care can benefit from it so that none should be left behind in sustaining mental health of human beings as our vision states.

According to WHO, globally 10,7% of people have a mental health disorder meaning that 1 in 4 people suffer from a specific mental disorder. Among common mental disorders depression affected 264 million people globally. 

Access to mental health care and social services capable of providing treatment and social support is key to putting end to the problem but health systems have not yet adequately responded to the burden of mental disorders. As consequence, gap between the need for treatment and its provision is wide all over the world especially in low- and middle-income countries like African countries where between 76% and 85% of people with mental disorders receive no treatment for their disorder. A further compounding problem is the poor quality of care for many of those who do receive treatment. 

Rwanda is among low and middle income countries which faces an exceptionally large burden of mental health disorders and most are related to Genocide in 1994 because of the magnitude of the destruction and loss. But there is a challenge of shortage of mental health care facilities and professionals that can be located far from many people and that prevent many Rwandans from seeking for professional assistance in need.

Mentale came with a platform which allow people to have access to mental health services wherever they are whenever they want. It is accessible in form of Website, Mobile App and USSD. It helps Rwandans and others to get mental health assistance from home or at workplace in case of emergency or in need, track their mental health status every day and get diagnosed either online or in-person by mental health professionals. 

The system will be an internet and non-internet-based platform which use different questions in assessment and screening of user, provide feedback directly on mental health status and specific mental health support. 

The user have to answer specific questions to get the feed back and recommendations. Recommendations can be self help tips or seeking for professional support. The user can request an appointment with a mental health professional either Psychologist, Psychiatric doctor or mental health nurse which can be done online through chatting, video and voice call or in person. 

Mentale uses top of technologies like Artificial intelligence and Machine
learning to simplify user experience. 

All it requires to get those services is to have access to a mobile phone whether smart or not or a computer.

The target population are divided into 3 segments including youth suffering from drug abuse and other mental disorders, employed people who are always busy but facing stress and other related problems due to overworking and other life problems and low / middle-income class people who need mental health status checkup and mental support.

Firstly we are approaching universities and high schools to reach youth and private and public institutions/organizations/non-organizations/companies to reach their employees. In that way, we will be approaching our target population  and get to know more about mental health services they need the most.

Mentale will help youth to get mental health services easily. Usually they hate to go to mental health institutions because of fear of stigma but they will be supported wherever they are and most of them have access to mobile phones or computer. Also employed people who can't get time to wait long to meet professionals in mental health facilities can get be supported in their little free time they get whether at work or after work. Also for individuals  who need to be aware of their mental health status and get support without going to specific mental health facility.

Like other unexpected bad events, pandemics and other health threats brings a lot of uncertainty and dramatic changes in people's lives which cause trauma, emotional and mental insecurity that add to underlining risk factors to developing mental health disorders. Youth is the large part of population for many countries and in period of pandemics most stop their studies and most employed people loose their jobs just like in this period of Covid-19 causing fear, worry and stress. All those highlights need for mental health services which can be provided by Mentale to cope with the situation.

As Mentale is based in Rwanda I'll consider local competitors.They are Partners in Health, Babylon, Public and private health care institutions providing mental health services. 

• Partners in health help help poor to get health care in all domains including mental health by empowering health care providers who are not psychiatrists with mental health skills. This differs from Mentale as Mentale have already qualified professionals to provide quality mental health assistance.
• Babylon provide digital general health care services by focusing on consultation and care of medical diseases. While Mentale use that digital way in caring for mental health disorders by providing mental health services.
• Public and private health care facilities provide in person mental health care consultation, diagnosis and treatment without using any digital platform or a little. Usually full services are not available 24/7 especially in public institutions for out patients. In contrast Mentale use digital platform to provide mental health services, which can be not only in person but also on line accessible anywhere a person is. Also services are available 24/7 meaning anytime a person need them. For some private institutions which use little technology like solid minds wile Mentale use mainly technology for better services. 

Nowadays people desire to have access to mental health services that are affordable and less expansive comparing to their economic status and in line with the technology trend. They need to sustain their mental well being that will positively affect their economy and productivity that is exactly what Mentale brought.

Almost 100% of Mentale involve technology. This is because everything is done via the system of the platforms like Mobile applications, websites and even USSD. In addition in provission of mental health services on mentale platform involve web.2o technology which include chatting, video and voice calling and so on.

Not only the platform but also hardware to be used are technology based specifically mobile phones and computers. 

Mentale also uses top of technologies like Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data science and Machine learning to simplify user experience.

In assessing and diagnosing mental health disorders there are various ways used but among them, the most used are different questions used to assess individual mood, perception, behavior, speech and other information that can help in diagnosis. There is no blood test that confirms mental health disorders but they can be used to assess general health and factors that can be associated with mental health disorders. So, using artificial intelligence and  machine learning can be effective in mental health care where the system can work and help the user whether the mental health professional is available or not. but this does completely remove the involvement of mental health professionals or replace mental health professionals but can be used to assist them. Also patients can use them to reach those mental health professionals easily wherever they are.

Below are some references that can be used to make it more understandable

Artificial intelligence in mental health care

Machine learning in mental health care

Mentale is a platform which provide digital mental health services that are accessible anywhere anytime. Through Mentale website, Mobile App and USSD, users can access to mental health services in need or in emergency. Those services are tracking mental health status daily by completing some questions in assessment so that the system provide the feedback on results and recommendations automatically generated by system or manually given by a mental health professional. After assessment, the other service is diagnosis of the user that brings an other service of requesting or booking an appointment with the mental health professional. The appointment is always on request and it can be done online via chatting, voice and video call or even in-person. 

Our immediate goals are promoting awareness of mental health among people, improving accessibility of mental health services and early diagnosis of mental health disorders before reaching at critical condition among people.

These immediate goals are linked to long term goals which are reduction of rate of disability as a results of mental health disorders, improvement of quality of life, improvement of productivity and development.

Nowadays the technology is evolving and many people are becoming involved so, this theory of change can work where people can shift from analogue  way of doing things to digital ones That is to say instead of traveling to long way to the hospital and wait for couple of hours for a professional, people can access to the same services at home without wasting time even with better quality. It will be applicable since most people have access to mobile phones and computers that will allow them to access to one of mentale platform. In statistics 61.51% of people in the world are cell phone owner by 2020 and 49.7 % had computer by 2019.

Currently we have not yet implemented our solution but in one year we intend to serve more than 100,000 people, ranging from institutions to independent individuals.

In next five years, we intend to serve more than 500,000 people ranging from institutions to individuals.

Within one year, Mentale platforms will be fully functional. 

Specifically, in first 2 months, there will be Web development and Mobile App for Android development, the following 3 months will be for piloting, development of USSD and Mobile App for iPhone (IOS) development. In following 7 months, the platforms will keep being tested in combination of working on data science and machine learning. In a year it will be implemented in 5 institutions in different parts of Rwanda and reach on different individuals in Rwanda.

In next Five years, Mentale will be implemented in more than 10 Rwandan institutions and reached more individuals. In addition, it will start to be implemented in different health care institutions(hospitals and health centers). Also, Mentale will start to be implemented outside Rwanda in other countries. Apart from reaching many people, mental services provided will keep being developed and increased so that users/customers receive high quality and efficient services. 

This will be achieved by partnering with different institutions we want to work with and raising more funds from investors and grants. By starting with institutions will be an advantage as we can reach to many people easily than reaching to individual per individual. Also annual or monthly subscription by those institutions will help mentale to get reliable funds to carry out its activities.

Barriers that can limit our impact include financial barriers, legal and market barriers.

Starting with financial barriers; since mentale is a startup, the capital needed is high and we don't have it and it's usually hard to get investors in first place as a startup

Legal barriers are met in application of intellectual property rights and registration. It is a long process that takes time and besides it's very expensive to carry it out here in Rwanda and the whole Africa. 

About market barriers; till now mental health issues are things that are still stigmatized and it's hard for people to understand that they have to seek for help about mental health issues despite the high level of mental health issues among people of all ages. Barriers will be about getting more users/market. In addition, since it is technology based, people with limited access to mobile phones or computers can be hard to reach them. 

Financial barrier will be solved by keep persuading different investors and applying in different grants and funding to get funds. we believe that Solve community will help us to be exposed to different opportunities and even giving us more advises how we can raise more funds. 

Legal barriers will be solved by finding enough funds to be used in  whole process of application of intellectual property so that it doesn't hinder the other business plans and activities. What Solve community can help is to provide needed funds that can enable us to complete the whole process of application of intellectual property rights and registration. 

Market barriers will be solved by comprehensive advertisement and awareness campaigns that will increase the awareness of mental health in people and be familiar with seeking for support of mental health services and that will favor us to get more users/customers. Also reaching to more institutions will help in reaching more customers or increasing market in short time. Solve community will facilitate in exposition of Mentale, just to reach to many people. 

NA

They are 4 persons who are all full time staff, and 1 Software development  intern.

Our team have variety of backgrounds, skills and experiences which are perfect for the implementation of this solution as described below:

• One of the team member is Liliane NIYIGENA, a team leader and  a mental health nurse student in final year in University of RWANDA with mental health care skills gained through studies and internships in community and different mental health care facilities. Those skills will help in better delivery of quality mental health services.
• An other team member is Cyber Security and Data Science Engineer MIZERERE RUKUNDO Jean Sauveur, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate in Data Science and Information System. He will help in technology related matters so that our system will function with maximum quality.
• There is also Theoneste NIYOMUGABO , Marketing and Financial consultant with 4+ experience sales and finances consultant for different businesses.  
• HURIRO MWEZI Vladmir, Investment Manager and advisor.
• MUNEZERO BAGIRA Sostene, intern and Software Developer an award winner for 2019 best performer in Rwanda national exam.

We believe that it is the right team to work with because we have all necessary skills to run the implementation of the solution. We are able to get mental health expertise skills , tech skills and skills related to marketing and finances within the team that will help in finding right resources in mental health, developing Websites Mobile apps & USSD and managing well our finances as well as market respectively. All those skills will make our solution really implementable as  flawless solution to mental health problems.

Currently we don't have organisations as partners but we plan to partner with ministry of health and Rwanda Biomedical Center(RBC), hospitals, private and public companies, educational institutions and rehabilitation centers.

For ministries of health and Rwanda Biomedical Center(RBC), we look forward getting their approval and help us in implementation in public and private health care facilities.

We plan to partner with private and public mental health care facilities so that they can deliver mental health services through Mentale platform. Their patients can get assistance via Mentale.

For rehabilitation centers, it don't differ from mental health care facilities but there is a slight difference where Mentale can have a periodic in-person appointments with people in rehabilitation centers. this is because sometimes in rehabilitation centers there are few mental health professional.

For private companies and educational institutions the partnership is the same as we can partner by letting Mentale take charge of mental health of these institutions employees and members by providing all needed mental health services. 

A time goes the partners will increase as Mentale will be expanding. 

Mentale offers Platform which help users to get mental health assistance from home or at workplace in case of emergency or in need, track their mental health status every day and get mental health diagnosis and support easily. Mentale will be full functioning 24/7 and will be an internet based website, Mobile Application(Android and IOS), and USSD for those who don't have access to internet. The support provided with mental health professionals will be either online, chat and video, and or in-person. Mentale will make money through subscriptions of institutions for their  workers and Commission from individuals who need mental health assistance within our platform. Each institution will pay monthly subscription of 3$ per employee and individuals will pay 10$ upon each appointment within our platform.

Our Key customers and beneficiaries include Employed people who are always busy but facing stress related problems due to overworking and other work related factors or other mental disorders, Individual low- and middle-income class people who need mental health status check-up and mental support, and Youth in Schools even those one suffering from drug abuse and other mental disorders.

As we know, everyone face mental health problems but on different level so everyone should have an opportunity to know their mental health status and quick access to quality mental health care. By then we are coming with a game changing Mental health system which will help everyone be aware of mental health everywhere, anywhere and anytime. 

 We will be selling mental health services which include mental health status tracking, assessment and diagnosis provided by qualified mental health professionals. Also we will be providing psycho education on mental health skills and related matters in line of promotion of mental well being and prevention of mental disorders. 

We are continuing to apply for grants and seek for investors to bring money on table for business implementation support and raising investment capital which will help us within project implementation and we are looking forward to potential partners including government and private institutions.

Solve can help to overcome financial barriers, as me and my team can get funds to implement Mentale and cover costs of different expenses. In summary, Solve can help us get capital to start not only financial barriers but also market barriers, where we can get funds to run different marketing campaigns and widen our market. 

Not only financial issues but also through mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT networks we can be able to develop Mentale and overcome different challenges by using helpful advises provided. 

Through Solve we can join a supportive community of peers, founders, and experts to help advance our innovative work through Solve's nine-month program provided. This can keep increasing our development especially via networking with different people from different backgrounds by learning from them, share our experiences and support each other.

Solve can also contribute in exposure of our project by meeting different people and connect. This help in recognition of the business as a result of getting more partners, customers and investors. 

Currently, mentale is a prototype. In the process of developing , we need an effective and high quality technology to convince people that Mentale is a real deal and beside we need a strong, efficient and reliable business model so that we be able to get enough funding for current and future expenses. In addition funding and revenue model is important in every business development. 

Legal and regulatory matters will help us in smooth running of the business.In product and service distribution, our product market will increase if we get support in addition, Marketing, media, and exposure will keep contributing to market growth and open us to different opportunities. 

All that won't be possible without reliable board members or advisors to help in everyday decisions taken and activities.

We actually have a team to help with basic activities of business but with solve support Mentale can improve and reach further. 

We'd like to partner with Solve members, Organisations and MIT initiatives which have interests in health especially Mental health.We would partner with them depending on their vision and activities in consideration of our goals. They can help in improving our activities by sharing experience and ideas. Not only that but also we can work join force and together toward the common objectives.

Nowadays mental health of people is being affected by many things and people with mental disorders are increasing day to day. For instance COVID 19 have affected not only physical health but also mental health of many people. Despite all risk factors there are some countries which are more affected due to preexisting factors like Rwanda.

1994 Genocide against Tutsi affected Rwandan's mental health. Till now, trauma, depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorders and related mental health issues are still prevalent. The challenge keep being complicated due to limited access to mental health services and stigma toward people with mental disorders. 

In period of pandemic where people need more mental health support, It is hard to get it that's why Mentale came up with the solution that can make it easy for accessing mental health services wherever you are 24/7.

With Mentale  the awareness of mental health will increase and stigma toward people with mental health disorders  will decrease. Thus the sense of taking care of our mental health will increase and people will be valued equally as they will understand that everyone's mental health matters despite the challenges and vulnerability in some people.

Mentale team will use The Elevate Prize for Health Security to impact more people by providing quality, efficient and effective mental health services to more people and to cover required costs. 

We believe that providing health care services to all people is among humanitarian activities. Mentale contribute to humanity by providing mental health services to all people toward the improvement of quality of life. 

In most countries mental health is almost abandoned part of health and people with mental health disorders are really stigmatized and half of them never seek for help mostly due to stigma. Consequently mental health becomes one of the leading factors of disability globally. 

Mentale is a technology based solution where all mental health services provided will be via Mentale website, Mobile App and USSD Application. It will involve technology of data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning and Web.2o to fully function. 

Users will use Mentale platform to be assessed, diagnosed and even get support and recommendations. Users will also be able to request and book the appointment with mental health professionals that will be done via chatting, voice and video call and even in-person depending on type of appointment the user requested. 

AI for Humanity Prize will help Mentale team to get funds to keep impacting more people with effective and efficient mental health services. 

All people struggle with mental health issues at some point in life but researches have shown that women are about twice as likely as men to develop mood disorder-depression and that they are more likely to show symptoms than men. 

It is said that women have more risk factors that men due to differences in socio economic status, developmental stages and even life challenges (most women face abuse/violence at some points in life). We believe that all people need mental health services but since women are at more risk they need mental health services more.

Mentale a technology based platform to provide mental health services is a solution to all those who need mental health services of all ages and gender. So, women will benefit those mental health services and have better mental health as well as overall health. 

Mentale is in form of Website, Mobile App and even USSD which make it a technology based solution. 

Women Prize will advance our solution by enabling us to get more funds to make services provided efficient and effective and to reach to many people as possible so that many women can benefit from Mentale mental health services. 

Below is the link that clearly explain the problem

Women and mental health

There are many reasons why refugees need more mental health support compared to normal citizen in a given country. 

Generally refugees are forced to leave their home countries to live in overcrowded reception facilities that have an effect, turned into long term detention centers with poor health and safety conditions while waiting for resettlement or asylum decisions. All these conditions created medical challenges and psychological challenges that lead to excessive need for the usage of health systems. 

Mental health is a key to health but it seems like the overwhelming needs in Refugees can't allow them to focus on their mental health. So consequently Most of the refugees suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the circumstances that they faced which might affect the quality of their life. Not only depression but also other mental health disorders like depression keep affecting Refugees. 

The challenge keep being complicated because of little access to mental health services and that creates a gap in their health and well being.

Mentale mental health services are for all people  including refugees where they can get mental health services right in their centers. Due to large number and their vulnerability the services can range from assessment, diagnosis and support of mental health professionals to psycho education so that we can have impact to many people in short time. 

Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion can help Mentale team to get funds to get all needed funds to cover the resources needed to provide mental health services freely to refugees. Resources needed range from human resources as we might need large number of mental health professionals who can support them at periodic basis and to provide psycho education to raise awareness of mental health and ways to make it healthy by employing various coping techniques. below is the link that indicate the need for mental health services in Refugees.

We believe that with health mental health, refugees' resilience and ability to work productively can increase and have not only healthy life but also high standard of living (economic status). 

Mentale contribute to more than one UN Sustainable Development Goals especially good health and well being that involve ensuring healthy lives and promotion well-being for all at all ages. 

Mentale vision is to maintain the well being of people by providing mental health services that are accessible to all. It is an innovation to existing provision of mental health services where normally people have to travel to the mental health care facilities to get professional support but with with mentale, users of mentale platforms (website, mobile app and USSD) will access to mental health services by using their mobile phones of computers. 

This innovation will facilitate all people especially those who live far from mental health care facilities where they will have opportunity to be assessed, diagnose and get support from mental health professionals wherever they are. In addition, users will be able to request the appointment with mental health professionals that will be done online through chatting, video and voice call and in person where possible depending on requested appointment. 

With the People's Prize, Mentale vision can be the reality where we can expand the business and reach to more people as possible. This will go along with increasing Mental health professionals to support as many as possible people from urban to rural areas. So, People's Prize will help in covering all costs required to achieve our goals. 

Nowadays, Mental disorders are affecting millions of people from children to older people globally. Mental disorders are considered as a leading cause for disability all over the world. It accounts for around 13 %of the global burden of disease and responsible for 33% of total years lived with disability. This highlights need for mental health services among people but the problem is that there is still a gap in provision of mental health services in many countries. 

Since the world is becoming more digital, Mentale brings a tech based solution through its platform of Website, Mobile App and USSD. 

Mentale will fill that gap by providing mental health services to people and enable early diagnosis of mental health disorders. That will promote mental well being and reduce disability caused by mental disorders. 

Mentale team will use the the Future Planet Capital Prize to scale the business in many places as possible to impact more people. Mentale will start by expanding its boundaries across all districts of Rwanda and later in other countries. There is a potential for Mentale to work because everyone needs mental health services at at points in their lives. This is because not everyone suffer from a specific mental disorder but we all face mental health issues in everyday life and we usually need support to cope with normal stressors of life.