"When kids talk about mental health and how it affects kids, it's so much more powerful," says the principal of Leamington District Secondary School about a new smartphone app that will eventually allow students to track their mental health.
Students from the school have teamed up with Zain Ismail, the manager of Innovation and Partnership at Leamington District Memorial Hospital, to develop the app that works like a journal.
Principal Kyle Berard says it acts like a digital journal and will improve communication about mental health. "A parent could look at it, and say, 'hey, it looks like work is giving you a lot of stress. Can we talk about that?'"
Four students, two teachers and Ismail attended the Windsor-Detroit Hacking Health Conference in Detroit. The conference brought together healthcare, IT and design professionals working on new mobile solutions to challenges facing the health industry.
The team is looking for capital now to develop the app after Berard says it attracted attention from investors. "People from Toronto were looking at it and thinking, 'geez, is this something we could develop and actually use?'"