Mental Health App Development - A Descriptive Guide
Mental Health App Development - A Descriptive Guide. The demand for mental apps has grown rapidly post Covid 19 and continues to grow at an alarming rate. With mental health being an important part of our healthcare routine, it becomes equally important to take care of our mental wellness. And to cater to all the mental health problems the mental health app development has come into play.
According to the reports from Statista, worldwide consumer spending for mental wellness apps in 2020 was around $270 million and was expected to reach $491 million by 2022, with a speeding rise of 82.5% in 2 years, which calls for businesses and healthcare institutions to invest in mental health app development.
In this blog, we will be filling you up with the pros and cons of mental health apps, alongside some important features to integrate and the cost of development. But before that, it is important to know about mental health apps.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started!
What is Mental Health App Development?
It is an app that ensures the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of the users alongside provisioning constant support in handling stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues by continuously tracking the mood symptoms and providing therapy or mental care as per the requirements.
Read: Top 10 Healthcare Business Ideas for Startups
Some of the well-known mental health apps that are widely in use are Headspace, MindShift CBT, Happify, Calm, MoodKit, The Mindfulness App, BetterHelp, MindDoc, and many more.
Read: Healthcare Consulting Services and Solutions
Furthermore, there are different types of mental health apps according to different requirements, and they are -
-
Mental Disorder Apps
-
Self-Management Apps
-
Apps for Improving Cognitive Skills
-
Symptom Tracker
-
Insomnia Management
-
Stress Management and Mood Control
-
Relaxation and Meditation Apps, and many more.
Now that you know what a mental health app is along with its type, let us now move forward and fill you up with the pros and cons of the same, to ensure you develop a future-proof and full-fledged solution.
Read: Top 10 Healthcare Digitalization Trends
Pros and Cons of Developing A Mental Health App
The pros of mental health app development are, as follows -
-
Additional Value
-
Affordable Option
-
Brand Identity
-
Data Management
-
Ensures Anonymity
-
Improved Communication
Additional Value - One primary benefit of mental health app development is that it helps in providing additional value to your clients and patients as it enables you to make your services more accessible anytime and anywhere as per the needs of the users.
Affordable Option - It aids users with an affordable option for mental health treatment, within the comfort of their home.
Brand Identity - It also helps in creating a unique brand identity in the market thus helping you build trust and credibility with the clients alongside increasing your visibility in the marketplace with your USP and services.
Data Management - Developing a mental health app also helps in managing the huge volume of the patient's data with ease alongside provisioning security and accessibility to the important files anytime and anywhere and also eliminating the paperwork, thus resulting in less or no mistakes at all.
Ensures Anonymity - Mental health app also ensures a high level of anonymity which implies that all the treatments and sessions are legally secured.
Improved Communication - It also helps in building a better channel of communication with your patients as it enables easy access to various information alongside ensuring privacy and anonymity.
Read: Digital Transformation in the Healthcare Industry
Now that you know about the benefits of developing a mental health app, let us also fill you up on the pitfalls/drawbacks of the same.
Read: On-demand Medicine Delivery App
Although there are not many cons to developing a mental health app, some of the most important drawbacks that you need to take care of include-
-
Lack of personalized touch
-
Technology Reliability, and
-
The Complexity of Mental Health
All these cons are very important to go through if you want to stand out in the market because when patients or users switch to apps rather than visiting a mental healthcare professional in person, you should ensure that it should not make any difference to them by providing personalized approach and support alongside catering to individual needs of every patient according to their health requirements.
Read: Virtual Hospital Software Development
Features to Integrate in Mental Health App Development
Some of the essential features that you can consider integrating during the mental health app development are -
-
Affirmations
-
Communities and Group Chat
-
Dashboard and Analytics
-
Emergency Support
-
Gamification
-
Journals and Diary
-
Meditation Courses
-
Mood Tracking
-
Notifications and Medication Reminders
-
Self-monitoring Tools
-
Sleep Tracking
-
Study Material
-
Voice/Video Calls, and many more.
Determining the Cost of Mental Health App Development
The cost of developing a mental health app can range from $20,000 to $3,00,000 and sometimes even more or less depending on the factors and as per the project requirements, market trends, and consumer demands.
The cost of mental health app development varies according to different factors - like the type of app you want to develop, the platform for which the app is being developed, the domain and hosting, the design, the tech stack, the experience and expertise of the development team along with their location and hourly charges, the total number of features and the complexity of integration, add-ons, and advanced features, different levels of testing, content and marketing charges, and post-launch support and maintenance.
Read: Future of Payment Gateways
Summing It Up
With mental health being an important part of a healthy lifestyle, businesses, and medical institutions have been considering mental health app development as an essential part of lives enabling users to keep track of their mental health with ease and live a healthy and stress-free life.
So, if you are in the healthcare business or someone from the mental health industry, then now is the time when you should stop thinking and start working on it.
Connect with us now, or hire a developer and get the best solutions tailored to your business and reach new heights.
FAQs: Mental Health App Development
How to develop a mental health app?
The basic steps to develop a mental health app are as follows -
-
Gather your requirements
-
Find and Hire the suitable development company
-
Design, Develop, and Test the product
-
Launch the final version on the predetermined platforms.
How much time does it take to develop a full-fledged mental health app?
Developing a full-fledged mental health app might take up to 4 - 6 months depending on the project size and sometimes even more or less based on several aspects like the total number of features and its complexity, resources, budget, consumer demands, market trends, and so on.
What are some of the important things that you need to take care of while developing a mental health app?
Some of the important things that you should take care of while developing a mental health application are -
-
Privacy and Security of the sensitive patient data
-
Regulatory compliance to maintain ethical standards
-
Seamless Design and User Experience, and many more.
