Inspiration
In any epidemic, it is common for all the people to feel stressed and worried. We are fear of falling ill and dying, lose our job, be powerless in trying to protect family and friends, face stigmatization if you are a citizen of a country with a large number of patients with coronavirus, afraid to feel helplessness, boredom, loneliness and depression due to being isolated. Doctors experience emotional burnout, tourists who cannot return to their homeland are under stress. With our project, we want to give people the opportunity to receive psychological help and psychosocial support, regardless of their location and causes of stress. Decrease in the level of psychoemotional burnout by doctors who can more comfortably continue to work with patients. It will be easier for people to adapt to the situation, not to make rash decisions (immediately quit their jobs, buy a lot of products at a time, try to fly to another country to relatives).If you deal with the first signs of stress on time, this will reduce the number of people who may need psychotherapeutic help in the long run. Stress is a trigger for various chronic diseases and causes a decrease in immunity. By reducing stress, we help the body fight disease better. Under stress, people can do freelance work and training worse than when they are calm
What it does
We offer a universal online platform where any person experiencing stress and psycho-emotional experiences can receive psychological support. Here you can get a free first consultation, maintain complete anonymity and get advice from professionally trained specialists anywhere in the world without leaving home. Our experts are well aware of the coronavirus pandemic and are guided by the WHO and UNICEF billboards on how to provide psychological support in a pandemic.
How we built it
Created a web platform for online consultation. Created chat for volunteers and specialists in the field of psychological support. We connected notifications for specialists about an incoming application to Telegram. Сreated a convenient design and page on social networks.
Challenges we ran into
People are afraid to express their emotions, so they want to be absolutely sure of anonymity. It is necessary to quickly distribute consultation flows between volunteers. Partnerships with government and non-profit organizations take a long time. The motivation of volunteers and psychologists to work around the clock during an epidemic may decline. People during quarantine do not have income, therefore they cannot pay for a consultation with a psychologist.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We made it possible for completely anonymous psychological counseling. In addition to the opportunity to receive psychological support, we can provide volunteers with the opportunity to realize their potential, and psychologists with the opportunity to earn during the quarantine period (money or a client base, since the psychologist has the right to give his name). We allow people to minimize stress, which is a trigger factor for reducing immunity and exacerbating chronic diseases. Now the project already has its first users and psychologists who through social networks learned from the founders about the project and wanted to join. We have created a ready-made and working platform that can be easily adapted to the needs of different countries, organizations and people. We have a wonderful strong team!
What we learned
Our project must be sustainable, so we developed a model of our work after the pandemic. We sorted out the technical nuances in order to separate the flow of applications, added video calls as an option. Improved design by understanding the importance of design and usability. And we also learned how many cool and caring people around the world want to help each other.
What's next for WithYou
We are launching a platform for psychological counseling thanks to existing volunteers and psychologists. We are expanding the volunteer base and the base of psychologists through advertising in the media and social networks. We tell about ourselves through different communication channels so that our target audience learns about the capabilities of the platform. We are launching cooperation with the Red Cross to join forces. Red Cross volunteers trained in providing psychological assistance can integrate our platform into their work and provide consultations not only by phone, but also online. Recruitment of the customer base through the first free consultations. Next - discounts for attracting new users and recommendations. Partnership with a center for psychotherapeutic care, which we can recommend to patients with severe forms of depression and panic attacks.Grant support. We make an international base of volunteers and psychologists, dividing it into languages. pending applications will be filtered by language and delivered to the appropriate consultant. After a pandemic, we adapt the platform for regular consultations of psychologists on various topics with a fixed price per consultation and the possibility of subscribing to a specific psychologist / group psychotherapy session / monthly subscription. We adapt the platform for corporate customers (individual consultations 24/7 for large companies, Red Cross rapid response units, etc.). We connect freelance psychologists and people who need a consultation of psychologists. We conduct webinars and training seminars for psychologists and volunteers who want to join the project. We continue to work in our friendly team, expanding, but not stopping :)
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