Stawi Global- Thrive Through Wellness

We are solving for the ongoing decrease in quality of healthcare in Africa which is directly correlated to the mental health of the frontline healthcare providers. 95% of healthcare providers experience burnout,while 85% have career fatigue which is caused by excessive workload, lengthy hours at work, inadequate resources, and a lack of social support from coworkers and management. 

This is causing their mental health to decline, reduction in job satisfaction, and the quality of their patient care to diminish. The mental health of healthcare providers is a contributing component to the rising crisis of lower quality in healthcare, which can no longer be ignored.

We're all affected by the present burnout among healthcare providers. It will be more difficult for patients to receive the care they need and for healthcare providers to lead satisfying lives if this is left unattended. All parties involved in healthcare, including hospitals, clinics, the government, and the patients they serve, stand to benefit from demystifying the misconception of mental health amongst healthcare providers in Africa.

We have created a WebApp where the healthcare providers go to our website, choose a therapy session by booking it with a specific therapist who caters for their specific mental health need and are from any location within the country that they prefer. They make payment for the therapy session and a link to the session is sent to them and the therapist for a virtual session. For physical sessions, once they make payment, a calendar invite with a google map link to the therapy venue is sent to them.

To join a whatsapp community,from the WebApp they are redirected to join a whatsapp community where the healthcare providers are able to interact with others facing similar challenges and this provides them with a safe space. They also get to meet mentors that help them in their career and financial journey.

We also have  mental health wellness resources on the WebApp that will help the healthcare providers through their wellness journey.

We have integrated an AI chatbot to our website where the customers are able to enquire on any mental health question 24/7 and also a WhatsApp chatbot integrated with AI where the customers are able to chat with Stawi Global 24/7 and make enquiries on the services we provide.

We cater to Healthcare Providers comprising of; nurses, physicians, clinicians, patient attendants and caregivers, as well as health interns and students. We identified that they are facing challenges in their workplace including long hours, high patient volumes, staff shortages, resource constraints, ethical dilemmas and patient expectations amongst other challenges thus affecting their mental health. Our solution will provide them with access to convenient, cost effective and personalized therapy sessions to help improve their mental wellbeing which in turn will lead to increased job satisfaction and improved patient care, thus, improving the quality and standard of health care delivery in Kenya and Africa.

Our team has connections and partnerships within the healthcare industry, including healthcare organizations, professional associations, and academic institutions. These networks provide valuable opportunities for collaboration, partnership, and access to resources and expertise.

Our team has individuals who have a background in healthcare and mental health. The credibility and trust established by the team facilitates acceptance and adoption of our solutions within the healthcare community.

Our team has personally experienced and witnessed the impact of mental health issues in the healthcare setting and are deeply passionate and committed to addressing this problem. Their personal investment in the mission of our company drives innovation, perseverance, and resilience in the face of challenges.

Our team has taken a holistic approach to mental health, recognizing the interconnectedness of individual well-being, organizational culture, and systemic factors. This comprehensive perspective allows them to design interventions that address the multifaceted nature of mental health in the healthcare context.We also conducted in depth market research as a team which informed our design that is customer centric. 

We are constantly getting and gathering feedback from our customers and users on areas of improvement as we better our designs and solution. 

We started operations in October 2023, released a prototype in November 2023, and launched our first MVP after receiving user feedback around the end of the first quarter, which we are currently refining.

By the end of the second quarter, we plan to launch MVP 2, which will include both an AI chatbot and a Whatsapp chatbot that will allow users to schedule therapy sessions and connect with others in the community for support of their health and wellness.

We currently have seven full-time workers since January 2024. Through skill development and coaching, we have empowered the team and developed creative ways to offer mental health services to healthcare providers.This has enabled us to promote our vision at Stawi Global; to promote the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare providers globally.

We visited five hospitals where talks began to take place about potential future collaborations. In order to understand their problems and gain insight into their mental health, we have also had one-on-one interactions with the healthcare professionals.

Over 200 healthcare providers attended the two webinars we have held on mental health in collaboration with the Wellness Initiative, Everyday Warriors, Founders For Founders, and Ingrid Consulting. Following the webinars, we got suggestions from participants requesting additional webinars on topics related to mental health.

We have established a Whatsapp community with more than 200 healthcare providers where discussions about mental health are held.

In celebration of International Women's Day, we collaborated with Women Who Build Africa (WWBA) to host an event where we empowered, celebrated and provided women in tech, business, and entrepreneurship tailored mental health insights and support.

Mary was also featured on the biggest Tech podcast in Kenya in March 2024 to discuss matters mental health and women in tech which led to several leads and conversions. 

We did a moderated group therapy session with the Founders Factory Africa Academy team of about 50 founders in April 2024 where we got  30 leads and converted majority of those.

Access to Markets and Networks: Women may not have access to the same marketing and networking opportunities as men, which can make it challenging to establish business connections and partnerships. Poor access to markets and marketing information has been a major constraint to SMEs in Kenya, and more so for women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs’ access to markets should be enhanced through a number of promotional approaches and tools, such as exhibitions, trade fairs, catalogues of products produced by women, effective use of media and websites, as well as through the promotion of sub-contracting linkages. 

Access to Funding: Women entrepreneurs in Africa often struggle to access funding to start or grow their businesses. This is due to a variety of factors, including lack of collateral, limited financial literacy, and discrimination. Women are less likely to receive loans than men, and when they do, they receive smaller amounts and pay higher interest rates. 

We consider our solution innovative as we leverage technology with the traditional methods of providing mental health services to cater for a neglected group of individuals that are more often overlooked by the general public i.e the healthcare providers. We have created a community in whatsapp where they are able to interact with others facing similar challenges as them. We are also using an AI chatbot where they are able to enquire on any mental health question on the services we provide 24/7. We also conduct both physical and virtual therapy services. 

These solutions will improve their mental well being leading to increased productivity and thus transforming the quality of healthcare delivery in Kenya and Africa.

We have recognized the significant mental health challenges faced by healthcare providers, including high levels of stress, burnout, and psychological distress. This understanding forms the basis for our mission to improve the mental well-being of healthcare professionals.

We have defined our target population as healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, therapists, and other medical professionals, who are experiencing mental health issues and are at risk of burnout due to the demands of their work.

We have developed a range of intervention strategies aimed at addressing the mental health needs of healthcare providers including;

   - Providing access to mental health resources and support services, such as counseling, therapy, and peer support groups.

   - Offering training programs and workshops on stress management, resilience building, and self-care practices.

   - Implementing organizational interventions to improve workplace culture, reduce workload, and promote work-life balance.

   - Leveraging technology, such as AI chatbots or telemedicine platforms, to increase access to mental health support and resources.

We have outlined the expected outcomes of the interventions, including improvements in healthcare providers' mental well-being, increased job satisfaction, and enhanced quality of patient care. These outcomes contribute to the overall goal of creating healthier and more resilient healthcare systems.

The long-term impact on the healthcare system, including reduced turnover rates among healthcare providers, improved patient outcomes, and a more sustainable and compassionate healthcare workforce. By addressing mental health issues among healthcare providers, we aim to create a positive ripple effect throughout the healthcare ecosystem.

We commit to ongoing evaluation and iteration of the intervention strategies to ensure effectiveness and relevance. This involves collecting data on outcomes, soliciting feedback from healthcare providers, and making adjustments based on lessons learned.

Goal 3- good health and wellbeing.

We have championed the mental health of medical professionals by providing them with the mental health resources they need to deal with mental health issues.https://stawiglobal.com/, 

This has enabled us to create a community and address their issues through therapy sessions. We have received positive feedback from them for the importance of the community and our services. The healthcare professionals can now have a safe space for having the vulnerable conversations with each other. 

Goal 8- decent work and economic growth- 

We have enlightened the employees of healthcare providers through hospital visits and having dialogue with them on the importance of a safe working environment and the impact it has on their employees’ mental wellbeing. We have seen progress towards this goal through the introduction of mental health wellness programs in the hospitals.

The technology we have leveraged on are; AI and WebApp development.

We have integrated an AI chatbot where;

•  The AI chatbot is integrated  to our website and the customers will be able to enquire on any mental health question 24/7

• There is also a WhatsApp chatbot integrated where the customers will be able to chat with Stawi Global 24/7 and make enquiries on the services we provide.

• We have implemented basic conversational flows to understand user queries and provide predefined responses on the chatbot

• We have trained the chatbot with a limited dataset of mental health-related conversations for initial functionality for user testing

Through our WebApp, we have a therapy booking session where;

• We developed a booking interface allowing users to book therapy sessions with available therapists.

• We used an off-the-shelf booking solution that had minimal custom development for therapist availability management and session booking.

• This system enabled users to select preferred dates and times, view therapist profiles, and submit booking requests.

7 full time staff

We have been in operation for 5 months. We launched business in October of 2023, launched a prototype in November of 2023 , created MVP in December of 2023. We also onboarded a team of both male and female of varied age range in January of 2024, we visited 5 hospitals where we discussed future partnerships. We also interacted with the healthcare professionals one on one to get an insight of their mental state in relation to their work

By promoting an open discussion about diversity and inclusion and swiftly and effectively addressing any instances of bias or discrimination, we have created a warm, welcoming, and inclusive work atmosphere where all team members feel appreciated and respected. Our employees come from different parts of the country.

We have developed employee resource groups for our team members to interact, exchange experiences, and offer assistance to one another. These groups introduce diversity problems to the team as a whole.

We have put in place inclusive recruiting procedures that look for applicants with a variety of backgrounds. This is  inclusive of age, gender orientation, religion and leveraging diverse recruitment channels like linkedin and our career page in our website. We have a team of 4 female and 3 male employees who range between ages 25-30 years with a mix of Christians and atheists.