Youth Personalized Mental Health Care

Suicide and depression among the youth in Rwanda is becoming a major health issue in the country. In addition to trauma and other consequences of the genocide in Rwanda, youth today continue to experience issues related to increased level of unemployment, isolation, bullying, technological and developmental changes that do not take into consideration their problems. This solution is creating an application for scheduling appointment, consultation, prescription and counseling services through smartphone use. A diversified team of psychologists,medical doctors, elders will be ready to respond to inquiries 24/7. For those that do not have access to smart phones, a number to dial will be created and provided to the public for easy access to mental health services. This solution can change lives if scaled up globally as youth are facing issues related to mental health worldwide.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created uncertainty in lives of people worldwide. It has added burden to the already fragile mental health in the Rwandan community which was still struggling to cope with the consequences of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and the current life challenges that affected communities especially for the youth, youth minorities in particular. Recently, a 26-year old lady jumped from the fourth floor of a high-rise building in Kigali and died on spot. Another suicide incident was reported in May 2020. This trend in the rise of the number of suicide cases represents a concerning public health issue. The rate of suicide, mental health issues among youth has increased in Rwanda and the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the level of depression and mental health disorder.

This solution is making mental health services available to all youth in rural and urban settings in Rwanda through an countrywide scale online clinic. An application will be developed to facilitate consultation, counseling, prescription and general health care. Mental health for some communities is considered to be a shame and those that are suffering mental health issues get stigmatized.

An online clinic will be providing freedom to the youth to fully express their health conditions without fear of being shamed,low cost service affordable by everyone and serve for advocacy to making mental health a priority and integration into primary health care at all levels in Rwanda. The solution is building the capacity of the youth to be able to think independently and support in counseling beyond mental health enabling them to contribute in job creations and developing ideas that contribute positively in Development in Rwanda.

This solution serves youth, minority groups in particular especially the LGBTIQ.The proposed innovation is working to put in place personalized mental health services for the youth and the community in general by putting in place specialized clinic in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda providing consultations whereby youth minorities treatments will be taken care by specialized psychologists as they are no such services so far in Rwanda. Further more, the programme aims at using social media and games to facilitate provision of appropriate services for young people. The advent of digital innovation will unlock new opportunities for early detection and treatment of mental illnesses. The youth have been consulted and developed this solution together for their benefits. 

This innovation is relevant to the youth in Rwanda due to increase of suicide, depression and other mental challenges that youth are passing through to date. Inter generation transmission of trauma has affected parenting behavior. There is also a need to develop capacity for psychologists to take care of youth and participate at supporting youth to avert issues of mental health through the use technology to make it happen as youth embrace it more and personalize their services to suit their needs

A good number of young people use technology in their daily lives. It however contribute in affecting negatively their mental health and there is a need for using technology in resolving mental health issues among the youth. The proposed innovation is working to put in place personalized mental health services for the youth and the community in general by putting in place specialized clinic in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda providing consultations whereby youth minorities treatments. This will support youth to think more and create jobs and sustain themselves while being mentally healthy and contribute positively to development in Rwanda.