This World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to look back and reflect on our progress in the last 12 months in helping expand access to early and preventative mental health support, and to set the path for the year ahead. In 2023 we pledged to develop culturally relevant content and services; we continue to uphold our promise by putting the communities we serve at the centre of our work by fostering a co-design culture within our products. Here is what we have accomplished: We launched Soluna in California to 6 million 13-25 year olds. We’re seeing positive early outcomes and youth feedback with usage in every one of 58 counties, 52% of service users from areas of high health inequality, and incredible youth feedback. 95% of service users that engage with coaching would recommend Soluna to a friend. We forged a new partnership with Aetna of Illinois to help tackle health inequality by expanding access to free mental health support to the Medicaid population, removing barriers to access to reach people early and reducing the distress and demand for acute mental health care. Continuing to support children and young people in the UK at a time when the NHS is facing a significant pressure with both funding challenges, and 82% of NHS Trusts reporting they are unable to keep up with the current level of demand for mental health support.
While the UK has had a challenging year, there are some green shoots of optimism as the new Government focuses on reforming the NHS with a focus on digital, prevention, and shifting care into community-based services. Looking forward, a critical area of focus for us is to tackle health inequality.
We know that marginalised communities are often the least likely to seek support given the stigma and discrimination that they experience. In addition, low-income and rural communities face huge barriers to accessing effective mental health care.
As we look to the year ahead, this will be a key focus for us. After all, access to quality mental health care is a fundamental human right. This is only possible because of the passion and purpose that every one of our Koothers shows every day as they lead by example to break down barriers to access and help create a mentally healthier population. Thank you team