This year’s World Mental Health Day theme is mental health as a universal human right, and Dr Oliver Harrison, former NHS psychiatrist and Chief Executive Officer at Koa Health, shares insights about the importance of this date worldwide. His expertise and research are widely published, with published research in Nature Medicine, and thought leadership and comments in Forbes, and Inc, as well as Tech and HR publications such as REBA and TechCrunch:

“This World Mental Health Day, I want to see organisations and business leaders across the UK taking action to prioritise and support mental health in the workplace. We live in challenging times, with pandemic recovery, war in Europe, and the cost of living crisis – all against the backdrop of the climate crisis. Business leaders have a huge impact on the mental health of their teams. Not only is there a strong moral case for acting, but data consistently show there is a strong business case. The benefits are measured in greater team engagement and ultimately, better business outcomes.

With waits of 12 weeks or more to see a mental health specialist through the NHS and nearly half of people globally living somewhere with only one psychiatrist per 200,000 people or more, it’s clear that the current approach to getting people dealing with mental health challenges to the services they need has to change. To deliver mental health support at scale worldwide, a hybrid approach to care will be required, combining carefully vetted technology and talented human clinicians.

Mental health is universal—we all have it, and it varies over time. For mental health care to be effective, it must become more inclusive and more accessible. At Koa Health, our vision is mental health for all. Realising this goal requires making it simple for people to understand where they are in their mental health journey, and making it equally simple to access the right services to meet their needs. The right care, at the right time, delivered in the right way will enable individuals and businesses to thrive in our challenging world.”

You can read more about Koa Health’s work in the field of mental health in their blog post for World Mental Health Day.

Koa Health is a leading digital mental health care provider. Available to more than 3 million users worldwide, Koa Health’s solutions address the full continuum of mental health needs – from prevention to treatment.

Discover more about Koa Health

Designed to help your employees find the right mental healthcare at the right time, Koa Health’s comprehensive care model, Koa Care 360 offers employees simple navigation, and personalized, evidence-based care built with the world’s leading clinician-academics.

Koa Health provides an integrated approach to care that delivers mental health for everyone, whether they prefer digital-first care or would benefit from clinical services delivered by a human. Available to more than 3 million users worldwide, Koa Health addresses the full continuum of mental health needs – from prevention to treatment.

Backed by leading investors such as Morningside, Ancora Finance Group, Wellington Partners Life Sciences, and MTIP, Koa Health leverages deep clinical expertise, research, and technology to deliver effective and accessible care that adapts to users’ unique circumstances, leading to lasting behavior change and positive health outcomes across the full continuum of mental health.