Halodoc’s Mental Health Service Users Increased by 80%

Startup in the health sector, Halodoc noted an 80% increase in the use of mental illness consultation services last April compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, the majority of users who access clinical psychologist and psychiatrist consulting services are from the millennial generation aged 20 to 30 years.

Halodoc VP Marketing Felicia Kawilarang said, since last month the company has provided a special channel of psychological consultation to help with mental health during the pandemic. Within a month, access to these canals rose nearly 400%.

Therefore, the company will increase the number of clinical psychologist partners and psychiatrists on its platform. “We see this mental disorder consultation service as one of the five (consultation) services that are most accessed by users,” Felicia said in a video conference on Thursday (7/23).

The five consultation services include dermatologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, pediatricians, internists, obstetrics, and gynecologist. The amount of user interest, makes the company continue to increase the number of partners.

One way is to hook the Indonesian Clinical Psychologist Association (IPK) and add 200 clinical psychologist partners from an organization that has 2,000 members throughout the country. With the addition of these numbers, now Halodoc has a total of 700 clinical psychologists and psychiatrists on its platform.

Mental Health Consultation for Children’s Feature

Based on the results of the Ministry of Health’s Basic Health Research in 2018, the prevalence of emotional mental disorders over the age of 15 years rose to 9.8% compared to 2013 which was 6%.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also notes that 15% of adolescents in developing countries are suicidal, where suicide is the third largest cause of death in the world for groups of children aged 15-19 years.

Protection of children’s rights, including maintaining their mental health, is the key to success in creating a quality generation of the nation. Therefore, Halodoc also provides child psychologist services to help parents in Indonesia to overcome the problem of mental disorders early on.

“Of course, to use this (consultation) service, children must still be accompanied, so parents can be more educated and the child can also be more comfortable to tell stories if he has a mental disorder or problem,” Felicia said.

Chairperson of the Indonesian IPV COVID-19 Handling Task Force and Child Psychologist Annelia Sari Sani said mental disorders at the age of children to adolescents can affect various aspects of their lives. This can cause problems in children’s behavior such as emotional and social disorders, development and learning, eating behavior and health, to relationships with parents.

Unlike other health problems, signs of mental health problems especially in children tend to be difficult to see. “So, it is important for parents to be more sensitive to changes in children’s behavior and provide early treatment, in order to minimize long-term risks when children grow up,” he said.

Providing Education Regarding the Importance of Children’s Mental Health

The educational activities were carried out at the same time in order to welcome the commemoration of the National Children’s Day which fell on July 23, 2020. The education session took place virtually by discussing the current mental health trends of adolescents and also sharing practical tips.

“We believe that protecting children’s rights, including maintaining their mental health, is the key to success in creating a quality generation of the nation,” VP Marketing Halodoc Felicia Kawilarang said in a press release on Thursday.

The still high negative stigma for people with mental disorders and limited professional capacity and health facilities that provide specialized mental health services are still challenges that must be faced.

For this reason, it is hoped that the presence of telemedicine like this can be one solution to the limited access to mental health facilities in Indonesia. The use of telemedicine is also one of the easier, safer, and more affordable ways to detect and consult mental disorders in children with privacy that is maintained.