MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

Airada Youth Health Application

One-line solution summary.

Helping young adults to understand, learn to deal with emergencies, and assist them with their mental and physical health.

What is your solution?

Our app will help young adults connect with a doctor, plot their growth and daily medication (if needed), check up on their mental and physical health, and assist them with any anxiety or uneasy feelings they might be dealing with.

They will be able to connect with a specialized doctor via phone calls or chat, and if the user suddenly needs a hospital, the app will contain a button that will show a map showing the nearest hospital. It can also collaborate with hospitals to check in on their patients and provide their specific needs from anywhere across the world. There would also be a page where teens could learn about symptoms, medicines, and diseases in case of any emergency situation so that they could handle them properly.

This app will enable them to express themselves by writing or drawing anything (and can also be used to test the mental state of the users by analyzing the drawing and colors). They can also use our podcast or meditation included in the app, or check their mental health as well.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

Social media has caused 10–40% of teens and young teens to have depression or anxiety, which was more than before. Over 6,000 teenagers commit suicide per year in the US alone (the second biggest reason for the age range for death). According to Everytown for Gun Safety, 3,000 children and teens were shot and killed, and about 15,000 children were injured. An estimated 3 million children in the US are exposed to shootings every year. It is really hard for teens to deal with their emotions, especially during their puberty period. They may get bad information or deal with it in a harmful way. We want to ensure that all young adults receive proper advice and are able to deal with their mental and physical health properly. Our app would provide support and advice from professionals on our podcast and in chats with therapists and professionals. It would help young adults from developed countries to be able to meet and be assisted by professional doctors, and also help others with illness to have a better lifestyle as well. This would teach them about basic medication in case of emergencies.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

We target young adults and teenagers who need help with a medical condition. This might be to help others, or to receive help for themselves without needing to go to the hospital (this can work in developing countries). Many teens are unable to receive proper treatment, especially concerning their mental illness, because it is harder to understand than physical illness, and some adults still believe that it is not as important. One example is an adult I interviewed. He said that, in the past, therapists were seen only as for crazy people, so people were ashamed if they needed one. Data from the WHO also stated that between 30% and 80% of people with medical illnesses don’t seek treatment. With our app, teens will be able to receive any treatment needed if they need to, without going to the hospital, and help take care of their loved ones as well.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

I have asked and interviewed some of the doctors that I know (the professionals). One of them is a pediatrician. She agrees with the problem, stating that "one of the biggest issues and most common ones for teens nowadays is anxiety and mental health problems." She also agrees with me that everyone should be able to receive education regarding emergencies or how to deal with basic health symptoms.

I also did some interviews with some of my friends aged 12–14 (the users), and they all agreed that most of them have faced anxiety or mental breakdown, especially during the online learning period. I also found this to be very common when discussing issues. Another thing that most of them agree on is that they don't know how to contact a doctor. That is a very bad sign, in my opinion, because if anything bad ever comes up, they would need to be able to contact a professional or be able to take action on their own.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Improving healthcare access and health outcomes; and reducing and ultimately eliminating health disparities (Health)

Our solution's stage of development:

Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?

I chose "concept" since it's an idea that hasn't been made yet. I’m sure it can be done since they use a similar idea to some illness testing websites, meditation apps, or Google Maps. It is a basic idea that can be implemented and become helpful to many people, especially during the pandemic. I wasn't able to make the app yet because I'm not skilled at programming, but I did some research and found some facts that are helpful, and I made a draft of the app. I’m also in the state of exploring and learning, and I'm currently educating myself about machine learning and how it can possibly be used to test the users' mental health by analyzing data and the use of colors.

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

Bangkok, Thailand

Team Lead:

Aiko (Airada) Nontaragchaisorn