RestVest

RestVest is a patented weighted vest that uses deep pressure therapy to ease stress and anxiety by calming the parasympathetic nervous system in a discreet and aesthetic manner.

The global mental health crisis has been one of the most pressing issues for youth and adolescents around the world. A JAMA Pediatrics reported 20.5% of children worldwide suffered symptoms of anxiety.  In the United States, The National Institute for Mental Health details 31.9% of adolescents have experienced an anxiety disorder. The Covid 19 pandemic brought about isolation, family tension and other stressor which contributed immensely to the poor mental health of adolescents with the CDC reporting 37% of high school students surveyed experienced poor mental health during the COVID 19 pandemic. The consequences of an untreated anxiety disorder can be insomnia,inability to focus, substance abuse among many others. Stress has also been rising amongst adolescents and only around 9% of those affected receive treatment. Treatment options vary, but often include specialists and doctors that can be inaccessible for many families. Even then, drugs usually prescribed for these disorders can be expensive and have negative side effects.Mental health conditions are estimated to affect about 20 % of the population globally, yet only about 9% of individuals affected by mental illness receive the treatment they need. This disparity is even more pronounced in certain communities, with vast disparities in access to mental health services and resources between different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Additionally, the consequences of untreated mental illness can be severe, including increased risk of homelessness, substance abuse, suicide, and other social and economic issues. Thus, it is essential to identify and address mental health disparities in order to improve access to mental health services and ensure that people in need receive the support they need to thrive.

My solution to combat the stress and anxiety crisis is the RestVest. I developed RestVest through an entrepreneurship program in 2019 after I experienced the benefits of using a weighted blanket when I felt the effects of stress and anxiety. The weighted blanket solution came to many in need and suffering from anxiety and I believe RestVest can provide the same relief. I wanted to find a way to use a weighted blanket when I was outside of my home and experiencing anxiety. I have innovated on a traditional weighted vest to invent a patented design that looks like a regular piece of clothing, but provides the user with deep pressure therapy. Deep pressure therapy is the technology used with the vest as a form of treatment for stress or anxiety. By placing weight on the shoulders and chest users experience the sensation of deep pressure therapy. The RestVest is a breakthrough in the teen mental health crisis as anxiety and stress can be addressed in a discreet non pharmacological way and can be shipped around the world to anyone in need.

The RestVest targets anyone who suffers from anxiety, stress, depression, and many other mental illnesses. The goal of the vest is to help improve an individuals mental health in a discreet and non pharmacological way. Many individuals dealing with mental health issues are not diagnosed and cannot afford expensive doctors visits or medication. Almost always, those who can afford to see a doctor are prescribed medication. This can be an option that is not ideal for families or individuals who have less prominent symptoms but still suffer from the effects of a mental illness. In specific, adolescents are the target audience of the RestVest because they often face social pressure and many do not want to display the fact that they have mental health issues. Being an adolescent myself, many teens I know face pressure from academics and social matters that result in anxiety. Adolescents also live in a social media era, where people are constantly being compared and demoralized online. This group is underserved because many are afraid to seek treatment in forms of therapy or medication in the first place. The RestVest is an accessible option for all and addresses the mental health needs of this population. The RestVest will discreetly help treat anxiety or other mental health related issues in a discreet way making it optimal for adolescents feeling insecure about their condition.  

I have been working on the RestVest since 2019. Throughout the past 4 years I have gotten to truly understand the needs and individual experiences of those who have mental health challenges. I have met people in my local town  and school who have anxiety and wish there could be a product like RestVest in the market. I have personally dealt with school and social related anxiety and see the solution I have created as a means of help and treatment for myself. Being an individual who experiences mental health challenges, I know it can be extremely hard to focus or preform when you have anxiety or stress weighing down on you. Listening to people across the country tell stories about their own mental health struggles have helped me gain perspective and ways I can improve the RestVest and its outreach. I have been a fellow at Civics Unplugged and met other youth innovators who themselves deal with stress and anxiety. My experience of getting to know others who also deal with mental health struggles has greatly helped my efforts with the RestVest and those who it serves.

Our main goal of 2023 is to test the effectiveness of the vest with a research study. Since last year, we have been working with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to design and preform a study on the RestVest and the potential users it will serve. The study will use focus groups and measure the effect the vest has on a user. Variables like age, mental health status, and time of use will be used in the study to find out where the vest if the most effective. We also have used the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence's tool of RULER which helps individuals recognize their emotions and address them. When designing the vest I consulted many occupational therapists to hear about how a product like this could be useful for their clients. The input and feedback I got from my initial product designs has helped me make edits to reach what the vest looks like today so it can be optimal for those who need it.

The RestVest is innovative in the mental health space. There is almost no product in the market simular to it and it challenges the boundaries of mental health and wearables. RestVest innovates on the way users can treat their mental health by providing a solution that is practical and discreet. RestVest's deep pressure therapy technology is proven and is being applied to a new type of product. RestVest's functional and visually appealing design is something that is completely new in the mental health space. Previously, any wearables used to treat autism or ADHD were bulky and had outdated and ugly prints on them. RestVest innovates on this idea by providing a product that looks like a regular puffy vest while still giving users relief from anxiety and stress. RestVest could inspire change in the mental health space by making products more accessible and integrated into our society. It could inspire a new wave of creators and designers to keep mental health in mind when innovating on an existing product. 

RestVest's impact goals are as follows. 

To finish research study into deep pressure therapy with Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to help inspire new forms of treatment in the mental health space.

To improve the lives and provide much needed innovation to those who suffer from mental illness.

To raise awareness around mental health and making resources more accessible to the public.

To help adolescents who struggle with their mental health realize that they are not alone.

To overall shed light on the mental health space and improve the lives of any and all it effects.

RestVest uses deep pressure therapy to calm and ease the parasympathetic nervous system. The technology and form of treatment involves an individual placing weight on their shoulders or chest in order to feel pressure in their muscles providing a sense of tension release. The technology has been previously researched but with RestVest's study of deep pressure therapy with Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence we aim to learn more about its effects. The technology in the vest is purely pressure around the upper shoulders and chest providing the issue with deep pressure therapy. 

We serve around 20 people currently as testers and in one year we will be serving 500-1000 people.

The issue of misinformation and a general lack of knowledge surrounding the technology behind RestVest can serve as a barrier for bringing it to a larger market. The way the vest is produced is currently by hand and machines and as the business scales, the production may need to adapt. Outreach and Restvest's marketing budget could be a barrier for getting more people to access it. 

We currently are partnering with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to preform a research study into RestVest's effectiveness and ideal market. They are providing helpful tools and have aided us in outlining our study. They will also be helping us preform the study by finding focus groups and supplying us with the tools needed to measure stress and other mental health levels.

The RestVest business model is a single product system. RestVest's key resources are the website www.rest-vest.com , our social media, our research network, and our manufacturer relationship. I (Sam Young) am the current majority stake holder of the company. In the future we look to VC funding or other investor funding in exchange for equity as we scale. Our key activity and sales come solely from the vest. Sales of the RestVest is the only activity and current model we run off of. Our biggest expenditures are on shipping and manufacturing the vests overseas which will decrease as we ship more vests in bulk. Another expenditure is our marketing budget which will increase as we scale. We reach our customer base through social media and word of mouth with occupational therapists. We plan to reinvest our profits in increasing our order size to our manufacturer to cut down costs. We also plan on spending more on advertising to help grow our outreach.The beneficiary from our product is any user of it. Currently our target market is adolescents or any individual aged 13-24 who experience mental health challenges. We measure the impact of our product by looking at reoccurring customers or customer reviews. Our goal is to have users spread their enjoyment of the product by word of mouth along with sharing and posting in online mental heath communities. Our customers are the most valuable thing to our business because we rely on them to purchase the vests and benefit from its effects. Our revenue is currently 100% from vest sales. As RestVest scales its business model will change as we adapt to the growing market and shifts in the economy.

RestVest currently brings in revenue purely from vest sales. Our margin from the vest sales sustains the business and our expenditures. However, as we scale our costs like marketing and platform sustainability among others will increase. Our main expenditure currently is our manufacturing and shipping costs which will decrease as we order in larger quantities. We use money from grants and donations to help fund our study into deep pressure therapy and the technology behind the vest. Our goal is to also raise investment capital to increase our production as we explore a wider market for the product. Our revenue stream is solely from vest sales and it sustains our costs. In the future we will become more sustainable as our orders increase and our product grows. The mental health space is a growing market and there is a need for a product like RestVest.