LiveX

We are committed to ensuring that every student has access to quality wellbeing support. We do this by providing students with a digital platform that gives them access to original content and curated resources, while also providing students with a booking system to facilitate remote communication between a school's counselor and its students. Additionally, we run wellbeing-focused campaigns year-round at schools to help destigmatize and raise awareness directly. 

The specific problem we aim to address is that of inadequate mental health support at schools. The scale of the problem we anticipate is region-wide. We are currently working in the UAE, specifically Dubai. There are approximately 152,000 students in the UAE we intend to reach. The factors contributing to poor mental health in the UAE that are related to our solution include stigma, accessibility, and expense. 

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 15-29 (WHO, 2019)

• 54% of students who think they have had or are suffering from a mental illness have decided not to seek help (LiveX, 2020)

• Between 2011 and 2030, the cumulative economic output loss associated with mental disorders is projected to rise to US$ 16.3 trillion worldwide (US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 2016)

It should be noted most of these statistics were conclusive before the pandemic hit: the numbers now are far more devastating. Currently, stigma, resource inaccessibility, and lack of awareness are the main challenges faced in addressing mental health concerns.

The complexity of mental health issues requires us to tackle it in a very delicate and targeted manner. Our company offers both a product and a service to address this. Our campaigns serve to destigmatize and inform about mental health whilst directing students towards more adequate resources, like our digital platform. 

Campaigns

We run campaigns throughout the academic year to raise awareness and inform students about mental health: thus aiding in our efforts to destigmatize. 

We design our campaigns with extensive research, tailoring content to ensure its relevance to the student audience. Our campaigns deliver information in an easy-to-understand and interactive manner. 

Digital Platform

1. Access to curated resources + original content

2. Access to school counselors through booking platform

The website will provide students with resources and information that may aid them in improving their mental health. The ‘daily challenge’ (e.g. talk to a friend, write something you’re grateful about) and daily quote also serve as a way to improve their mental health and keep them engaged with the site over a sustained period of time. In addition, the website also offers users the option to book an appointment with their school counselor for further support.

The target population whose lives we are working to improve are students in the MENA region, initially for students in the UAE. They are currently faced with high levels of regional stigma around mental health, which deters them from seeking out support. They are also faced with high expenses for adequate support as well as a difficult path to finding the support when they need it. 

To understand their needs, we are constantly conducting one-on-one interviews with students, parents, and teachers in the region. Additionally, we are running surveys and collecting feedback and data through our campaigns. 

The solution will address their needs through digital means: enabling them to bypass the stigma by privately accessing the support. Additionally, by charging schools directly, students are faced with no direct expense for accessing the support. Even when students seek out support, it is hard to find; LiveX aims to combat through campaigns that raise awareness and direct students to an easy-to-navigate website. 

Ensure the physical safety and mental health of learners—for example, through tools for crisis support, reporting violence, and mitigating cyberbullying.

Our solution ensures the mental health of students/learners by providing them with easy-to-access support, as well as campaigns that destigmatize and raise awareness regarding the regionally avoided issue of mental health. We cater to schools and tailor our content and resources to address the specific needs of the student population. 

Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community.

We piloted in two schools in the UAE: Merryland International School and Al Khaleej National School. We've reached 2800 students with our campaigns, and 1600 of those with our MVP website that facilitates remote communication between a school's counselor and its students. 

Our solution takes a new approach to the problem by partnering with schools to provide mental health solutions for its students. This is different than most solutions that only target the consumer population directly, as we take the expense and most hurdles out of the students' hands. We aim to not only provide services, but ease student transition to them through destigmatizing the topic itself. Additionally, we particularly realize the difficulty and hurdles students face in accessing care: our digital platform is designed to  be easy-to-use. Others in the market may realize the importance of this, and instead of offering more advanced solutions, will focus on providing easier-to-use solutions. 

We have currently served 2800 students. We will be serving in this year 15000 students. In 5 years, we will serve 75,000. These are our conservative estimates, and we plan to reach many more than this as well. 

Afrah Shuja

Uluc Kadioglu

Fatema Elsayed