MyMind - Mental Health Matters
Ultimately we aim to change how mental health services are provided in Ireland by demonstrating a more effective model of support (in terms of social impact and cost-effectiveness), thus influencing how mental health services are delivered in Ireland. Research has shown how early intervention provides faster positive outcomes for clients and at a significantly lower cost. This self-referral model of mental health empowers the client and equips them with valuable tools going forward.
About You
About You
First Name
Krystian
Last Name
Fikert
http://twitter.com/#!/MyMindCentre
Facebook Profile
About Your Organization
Organization Name
MyMind
Organization Website
Organization Phone
+353857071066
Organization Address
1 Chelmsford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6
Organization Country
Ireland, DB
Country where this project is creating social impact
Ireland, DB
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
1‐5 years
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
Entry Form title
MyMind - Mental Health Matters
What change do you want to bring to the world?
Ultimately we aim to change how mental health services are provided in Ireland by demonstrating a more effective model of support (in terms of social impact and cost-effectiveness), thus influencing how mental health services are delivered in Ireland. Research has shown how early intervention provides faster positive outcomes for clients and at a significantly lower cost. This self-referral model of mental health empowers the client and equips them with valuable tools going forward.
What are the primary activities of your project?
MyMind provides psychological and psychotherapy services to people who are seeking mental health support.
We are the first point of contact for people at a time when they may be feeling very vulnerable and when they know they have to make the toughest call they might ever have to make. Our non-medical approach and early intervention focus offers an alternative to existing mental health services.
Our activities in our two Dublin sites, open 7 days a week, include:
• One to one client sessions
• Group and family sessions
• One- or two-day Mental health awareness trainings open to everyone
• Professional training workshops for ‘industry’ practitioners
MyMind also provides online services that complement the more traditional face-to-face services, through our online support system comprising of the “ePsychologist” support and counselling tool and a range of self-support Cognitive Behavioural Therapy modules and exercises.
Our online system is highly scalable and allows us to support clients from communities all across Ireland far beyond our two physical sites.
What is innovative about your initiative? How is it a new contribution to the field?
In MyMind we believe that earlier intervention when a mental health issue starts presenting itself leads to better mental health outcomes. Early intervention on mental health issues including depression, anxiety symptoms, and stress can prevent issues leading to worse situations such as suicide.
We have 40 staff helping clients. Our model of approach is accessible, affordable and non-medical. We are a social enterprise – we offer greatly discounted charges and subvent our work to clients who cannot afford even reduced fees. Access is self-referral and a client is usually seen within 4 days of contacting the organisation. Our approach is ‘non-medical’ meaning we do not prescribe drugs as a resolution in general although we have a psychiatrist where it is deemed necessary.
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
Tell us about the community that you engage? eg. economic conditions, political structures, norms and values, demographic trends, history, and experience with engagement efforts.
Over 15% of the Irish population will face a mental health difficulty at some stage in their lives. This means that potentially over 600,000 people are experiencing suicidal thoughts, hopelessness, or poor mental health at any one time.
While other “Western” countries have similar levels of mental health difficulties, Ireland has a particularly serious self-harm and suicide problem, with around 11,000 episodes of deliberate self-harm presenting at hospital A&E departments each year (according to the National Suicide Research Foundation) and up to 500 suicide deaths reported.
The Irish mental health system has not developed over time to address this growing issue. The current system of services are poor or non-existent, depending on where you live; it is extremely difficult to access these services (referral through a GP can take up to 18 months to see a consultant); alternative private services are expensive, costing more than €100 per hour; the system generally relies on a medical model of response whereby anti-depressant drugs and other pharmaceuticals are often the standard prescription to any query presented.
Combined, this means that people have limited options as to the type of support available. Coupled with the stigma of mental health in Ireland, people often don’t get the help they need, resulting in poorer mental health for those same individuals.
We believe our project addresses a huge social need providing proven positive mental health outcomes for those needing support. Our affordable and timely services mean people have the best chance of getting back to a positive frame of mind sooner and a greater chance of maintaining positive mental health, offering lasting change both individually and for communities as a whole as well as allowing people to return to work and reducing absenteeism thereby supporting the economy.
Since 2006, MyMind has supported over 2,500 people directly in face to face sessions (with an average of 5 sessions per client); over 90% of whom have had positive change to presenting issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, relationship problems. As their mental health improved, their quality of life will have improved too.
Share the story of the founder and what inspired the founder to start this project
I am originally from Leszno, Poland. I decided to move to Ireland a few months after completing my post-graduate degree as there were more employment opportunities in Ireland and I thought that it would be a challenging and stimulating environment. My initial plan was to stay in Ireland for two years and then to return to Poland. Obviously this plan changed, as this is my 7th year here, and I have already applied for Irish residency.
In 2006 I decided to start up a more flexible model of support that could treat people when and where they needed it most. I wanted to create a friendly but professional service that was the first point of contact for people, when they knew they had to make the tough call to look for help.
My role is to continue promoting MyMind’s model of mental health services and to continue to drive changes in relation to improving community well-being in Ireland. Operationally, I am supported by a team of MyMind staff including an operational manager, contracted professionals and volunteers.
MyMind is still a young and growing organization and we are learning how to be a business and how to become self sustainable. I have skills as a psychologist, however I am still learning to be a CEO, but am also trying to be the operational manager, marketing and communications manager and so on. We’re stretched and we don’t have the capacity or time to plan and think ahead. We are ambitious to grow but will not do so at the cost of damaging our social impact.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Please describe how your project has been successful and how that success is measured
Our work is having a huge impact not only for our clients themselves but also for their families, partners, work colleagues and communities.
Since 2006, MyMind has supported over 2,500 people directly (with an average of 5 sessions per client); over 90% of whom have had positive mental health outcomes.
Additionally we have supported over 3,500 clients online. We have grown our service each year since 2006 by 25-30%.
In 2010 we supported over 900 clients using face to face services, and more than 1,600 clients used our online platform.
In 2011 we expect to serve over 1,200 clients using face to face services and another 2,000 online.
MyMind uses a project management platform called “ManyMoon” attached to Google Applications. Each project has a reporting system in place to measure progress and social impact.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
1,001- 10,000
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
More than 10,000
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Improvement of "ePsychologist" - update in core system to make it more efficient and interactive with mental health professionals.
Outcome: increase number of clients by 20-30%
Task 1
Identify new core script, and test it on the server.
Task 2
Implementation of structured training for volunteer staff.
Task 3
Implementation of policies and procedures for severe mental health issues online.
Identify your 12-month impact milestone
To open MyMind in Cork. Offer accessible and affordable mental health services in Cork area. Potential number of clients suffering from mild mental health difficulties: over 200,000
Task 1
To identify location for new office in Cork.
Task 2
Link with University College Cork.
Task 3
To train project manager for local area.
How will your project evolve over the next three years?
MyMind has huge potential to expand services in Ireland and outside.
We expect that this growth will lead to:
* increased capacity for face to face services with 4000 clients served per annum by 2014.
* increased capacity for online services with 4000 clients served yearly.
* a self-sustaining organisation with scaled up services in Ireland including additional centres across the country with financial breakeven achieved by 2014
* stronger links with full profit businesses offering them mental health services in various languages.
Fundamentally we have already proven that our model works and many people have benefited and will continue to benefit from our approach but if we are going to grow and achieve more significant impact, we need to plan carefully about how this would be done.
Sustainability
What barriers might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?
Lack of investment would slow down the progress of MyMind. That is why we continue to actively seek investors and friends who support our idea.
Lack of Public Relations expertise has limited the maximisation of MyMind’s reputation and its brand. Hence we need to build up expertise in PR and marketing and be proactive and visible in the marketplace.
Tell us about your partnerships
MyMind at the moment is building very strong partnerships with other Mental Health organisations especially Advocacy ones e.g. Amnesty Ireland or Mental Health Reform.
MyMind is constantly seeking recognition from the public provider (the HSE) of the significant mental health needs in society and the gaps in service provision and how our model can help them address those needs.
MyMind has strong link with Universities to provide work experience placements for their students.
Current annual budget of project, in US dollars
$100,000‐250,000
Explain your selections
MyMind is a non-profit social enterprise, and we are primarily committed to our clients, with ambitions also to scale the enterprise in order to provide the necessary assistance our clients need. Any profits arising from our fee-paying clients are used to subsidise our clients who cannot afford full fees.
Currently we are able to generate up to 60% of the income required to cover our expenditure, with 40% dependency on external grant-support (private philanthropy, government grants etc).
We are planning to achieve a financial breakeven point by 2014, through growing our services further (including services for small and medium sized companies), so our fee-paying clients cover all costs.
How do you plan to strengthen your project in the next three years?
MyMind is one of a few Irish charities with potential to grow a social enterprise model in a sustainable manner, so as not to depend on grants and donations in the future.
1. We can look at the different options for growth, e.g. social franchise model, license model etc.
2. Increase in service users and as a result increase revenue.
3. Add new revenue generating products, for example:
o Online assessments tools and packages for clients who can’t access services directly
o Workshops available to general public
o Training available to mental health professionals
4. We can develop corporate packages for small, medium, and large businesses, offering 3 level of services for corporations and their employees:
o Structure assessment according to stress level
o Awareness workshops for teams
o Individual sessions for employees (including coaching).
This will help us to grow and achieve sustainability and help us continue to make a significant impact on how mental health services are delivered in Ireland
Challenges
Which barriers to health and well-being does your innovation address?
Please select up to three in order of relevancy to your project.
PRIMARY
Lack of affordable care
SECONDARY
Lack of physical access to care/lack of facilities
TERTIARY
Limited access to preventative tools or resources
Please describe how your innovation specifically tackles the barriers listed above.
In MyMind we believe that early intervention when a mental health issue presents itself will lead to a better mental health outcome. Our model of approach is accessible, affordable and non-medical. We are a social enterprise – we offer greatly discounted charges and subvent our work to clients who cannot afford even reduced fees. Access is self-referral; a client is usually seen within 4 days of contacting the organisation.
Our approach is ‘non-medical’ meaning we do not prescribe drugs as a resolution in general.
How are you growing the impact of your organization or initiative?
Please select up to three potential pathways in order of relevancy to you.
PRIMARY
Grown geographic reach: Within host country
SECONDARY
Leveraged technology
TERTIARY
Influenced other organizations and institutions through the spread of best practices
Please describe which of your growth activities are current or planned for the immediate future.
MyMind has huge potential to expand services in Ireland and our ambition is to open new sites in cities and towns around the country using the same model.
We have a highly motivated team with ambition over the next 3 years to develop a self-sustaining model, scale up services in Ireland by opening additional centres across the country and achieve financial breakeven.
Ultimately we aim to change how mental health services are provided in Ireland by demonstrating a more effective model of support (in terms of social impact and cost-effectiveness). Thus influencing overall the way mental health services are delivered in Ireland.
Do you collaborate with any of the following: (Check all that apply)
Government, Technology providers, NGOs/Nonprofits, For profit companies, Academia/universities.
If yes, how have these collaborations helped your innovation to succeed?
MyMind is still young and growing as an organization. We are learning to be a business through the help of these collaborations. We carefully consider how we can sell ourselves in a way that people understand and will trust our brand but also ensuring that our message is consistent so we can build our brand and drive greater demand, which will fuel our future growth. We are using the advice and support of others to help strengthen our organisation and strategy by challenging the rigour of our assumptions and structure and to learn from best practice in the sector by leveraging technology and research backed intervention strategies.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| mymind_engagement_card.jpg | 614.99 KB |
| mymind_16.png | 7.07 KB |
 | 38 weeks agoKrystian Fikert said: Hi Alyssa, Thank you very much for your comment. In MyMind we are using combination of available psychotherapy approaches: CBT, CAT, ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 38 weeks agoAlyssa Feldmann said: Hi Krystian, I think your initiative is just what Europe needs since many of the universal healthcare systems do not include mental ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 40 weeks agoKrystian Fikert updated this Competition Entry. |
| 40 weeks agoKrystian Fikert updated this Competition Entry. |
| 40 weeks agoKrystian Fikert updated this Competition Entry. |
| 42 weeks agoKrystian Fikert updated this Competition Entry. |
| 42 weeks agoKrystian Fikert updated this Competition Entry. |
| 44 weeks agoKrystian Fikert updated this Competition Entry. |
| 44 weeks agoKrystian Fikert submitted this idea. |
