In the last decade, the world has seen a rise in mental health issues which have only been amplified by global events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine and climate change. Moreover, with around half of the European youth reporting unmet needs for support, it is crucial to find accessible ways to reach them and help them build resilience, thus improving their wellbeing. Our international partners, led by the Anatta Foundation, set out to do just that, with their Erasmus+ Youth Wellbeing App project. They are developing an evidence-based and practice-informed mobile app for promoting positive mental health. The mobile format, in addition to a non-profit approach, will enhance accessibility and promote the development of emotional and social skills and competencies in youth of diverse backgrounds and needs.
More about the project
Aim
This project aims to identify a successful market positioning, non-profit sustainable funding model and socially responsible use of the Youth Wellbeing App in the European context.
Project Approach
To reach our objectives, we divided our project approach in to three main phases: orientation, market analysis, and advice development. The orientation phase includes preparatory activities for the project and familiarising ourselves with background literature. In the market analysis phase, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Youth Wellbeing App will be identified through literature review and personal assessment of existing mental health apps on the market, user surveys and youth focus groups. Moreover, potential external funders will be interviewed and expert interviews will be conducted to investigate privacy regulations relevant for the app. Data obtained in this second phase will be critically analysed in our advice development phase and findings will be summarized into a business plan.
Deliverables
The final product, an advisory business plan, will encompass the following key deliverables: (1) A collection of our findings from the market analysis (summaries of expert & youth focus group interviews, SWOT analysis, personal assessment of similar apps and analysis of user survey data), (2) a market strategy advice, (3) advice on a sustainable non-profit funding model and (4) data privacy guidelines.
Students
Lena Szabó, Anne Marijn Bruijn, Marija Žuvela