Emoneeds, New Venture Fund and NAADAM partner to provide free mental health treatment

Emoneeds, a digital mental health platform, has announced a strategic partnership with the New Venture Fund for Global Policy and Advocacy (NVF for GPA), Washington and NAADAM, a Hyderabad-based NGO, to provide free mental health treatment to over 2,500 patients in tier 2, 3 cities and rural areas of India over the next year. This initiative aims to bridge the significant gap in mental health services in underserved regions of India. 

NVF for GPA aims to advance global health and development by providing targeted and timely awards for innovative, high-impact policy, advocacy, and communications projects that promote more and better resources, effective policies, and greater visibility for issues critical to global health and development.

NVF has engaged NAADAM to implement project Manas. NAADAM has partnered with Emoneeds (RNR Emotional Well-Being Technologies) as their technical partner to provide clinical services. Emoneeds has also subsidised their services as part of their social commitment under the project.

As part of this project, Emoneeds will provide a comprehensive range of offline and online mental health support including OPD services, clinical assessments, and extensive mental health psychiatric and psychological support free of cost to patients from tier 2, 3 and rural areas.

Emoneeds will aim to leverage a network of over 40 psychiatrists, psychologists, and counsellors, each specialising in chronic mental illnesses to implement Project Manas. The project also aims to provide free treatment to 1,000 serious mental health patients for periods ranging from 3 to 9 months. Under the project, the patients will receive services tailored to their specific mental illness and its severity. Each patient will be assigned a dedicated team consisting of a psychiatrist, psychologist, and counsellor, who will provide treatment according to standard clinical protocols.

Emoneeds provides mental health support through its tech-based platform which includes tele-psychiatrist consultations, tele-psychotherapy sessions, tele-monitoring calls, family sessions, group family psycho-education webinars, cognitive remediation therapy (CRT), and social skills training (SST) online. Emoneeds provides mental health support to the spectrum of mental health services across mild, moderate, and severe cases. From depression to chronic cases of schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, OCD, and drug addiction.

Emoneeds will also utilise cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), behavioural therapy (BT), supportive therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as needed. A clinical decision support system will aid psychiatrists and psychologists in diagnosis and treatment, while standard diagnostic tests will be used to track patient progress. AI tools will be employed to support clinical decision-making and treatment protocols.

The implementation of this digitally enabled mental health initiative can ensure a data-driven evidence-based approach to mental health, bringing accountability and transparency to outcome monitoring. It aims to establish protocols for technology-enabled mental health service delivery, and potentially inform national and global policy.