Eight Great Ideas Changing Lives Worldwide

5. One-Stop Help

Where to start? When there are so many options to choose from and you need support, what is the first step? Kids Help Phone launched Resources Around Me at the conference. It’s a directory of trustworthy resources from all across Canada. Kids Help Phone had 20 million interactions in 2020, and this directory helps them provide more support in more places and in more ways – virtual, text, in-person, and more.

6. Expressing Emotions in Sign Language

In Bangladesh, there are a total of 500 practitioners – 300 psychiatrists and 200 psychologists – for a population of 180 million – that’s a giant gap to fill. That’s where PhD researcher M Tasdik Hasan of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is piloting a project co-designed with deaf people, caregivers, healthcare providers, and sign-language interpreters. He notes deaf communities, in Bangladesh and the world over, are historically ignored when it comes to accessible and inclusive mental health solutions. They co-designed culturally and linguistically tailored tools to provide basic mental health terminology – such as PTSD, stress, and depression – in sign language.

7. Building Capacity in Small and Remote Communities

The ATIPAN Project provides telehealth services to Indigenous communities in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, where access to healthcare is often limited by distance, challenging terrain (including islands, mountains, and agricultural or coastal areas), armed conflict, language barriers, and financial constraints. To address these challenges, the project implemented community-based patient navigators and infrastructure development over two years. Named after the Hiligaynon word atipan (“to take care of”), the project offers free consultations, training for community coordinators, and basic medications.

8. What’s App with That?

The Pode Falar project provides mental health support to Brazilians aged 13-24 through a website, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It features a chatbot named Ariel, who handles automated triage and offers assistance based on the complexity of users’ concerns. Users can access self-care tips (“I want to take care of myself”), read or share anonymous stories about overcoming challenges (“I want to be inspired”), and connect with a human agent for additional support (“I want to talk”). This large-scale initiative addresses mental health in an under-resourced area and was highlighted in a panel discussion: “Are Low to Middle Income Settings Ready to Benefit from Digital Mental Health Tools?” The program supports text, email, and WhatsApp messaging services.

Steal These Ideas

The congress’ regular sessions titled “Brag & Steal” offer permission to take projects that have worked well elsewhere and apply them to your own work. In that spirit, we want to underline a few cool concepts.

Pop Up Mental Health

Those attending a mental health conference tend to be a niche bunch, so why not bring it to the people? The Time to Change program that ran for 15 years in the UK until 2021 campaigned to reduce stigma through social contact. People with lived experiences of mental health issues had two-way conversations with unknown members of the public to debunk myths about mental illness. They went to concerts, libraries, and farmers’ markets, said Sue Baker, OBE, founder of Time to Change.

Of Sound Mind

Composer, sound artist, producer, and DJ Satya Hinduja, founder of Alchemic Sound Environment, taps into the connection between sound, music, technology, and health. Hinduja led a deep listening experience, designed to invoke states of reflection, receptivity, and exchange. Thinking about sound as a therapeutic experience gave participants a chance to reflect on the noises around them, frequencies, vibrations, and their own interiority.

North Star

There are so many mental health apps out there – how do we know what to trust? At the congress, the Mental Health Commission of Canada released Canada’s First E-Mental Health Strategy. This guiding star document has six priorities and 12 recommendations to chart the future direction and development of e-mental health in Canada. Use it to advocate, guide, and develop your work.

Narrative Care

Step by Step is a web application used in Lebanon that provides mental health support through storytelling. In the program, fictional characters with depression visit a healthcare worker, and users learn coping skills from a 15-minute illustrated story, observing how the character applies these techniques in their life. The second 15-minute segment is interactive, with the healthcare professional character delving deeper into therapeutic techniques and offering activities for users to reinforce what they’ve learned.

Overheard at eMHIC

• On getting things done: The words “collaborative action” – shortened to “collaboraction” was the name of the game – working together to advance mental health access.
• Beyond shiny objects: It’s not about technology per se, rather, “it’s about people and trust.” The tools enable this work and digital has no geopolitical boundaries.
• Making space for our work: Ian Hickie, professor of psychiatry, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Australia, talked about “the Uberization of mental health.” If those with lived experience and research capacity in this field don’t respond appropriately, it leaves room for others to step in to respond consumer priorities: access, choice, competitive pricing, user experience. Worldwide, demand for personalized mental health services far outstrips supply.
• The meaning of it all: “We all get lifted when someone believes in us,” said eMHIC executive director, Anil Thapliyal, in his closing comments.