There was one Winner of a Consensus MedTech Award in Edition I of the 2024 Consensus Awards, presented by Senator The Hon Jonathan Duniam, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries & Forestry on 22nd July.
The Awards were kindly hosted by HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS in Sydney.
WINNER
Safe Watch® Platform from Safe Watch Care Pty Ltd
Safe Watch have created a safe and secure wellness companion app that allows compassionate connection within a trusted care world. They aim to support 25 million people to live to their fullest through the highs, the lows, and authentic connections through the village approach to mental health care.
Safe Watch Founder Shane Muller (right) receives his Consensus MedTech Award from (centre) Senator The Hon Jonathan Duniam, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries & Forestry, and Consensus Founder Julian Day
Safe Watch® is a platform for the ‘whole of community’, where everybody collectively plays a part in addressing the mental wellness challenges in society. Mental Health is a global problem which negatively affects people regardless of age, gender, cultural background, or socio-economic standing.
According to research, about 1 in 4 people around the world are lonely. Some common effects of loneliness show up as, not feeling relationships are meaningful, feeling isolated from others, rarely feel there are people who understand them. The WHO has declared loneliness a ‘global public health concern’.
Safe Watch® allows people to connect with and build their own care worlds (AKA care communities, support groups, etc), which we call the ‘Village’. It focuses on early detection and early warning of poor mental health and allows individuals to track their personal progress related to feelings, medication, activities, etc.
Furthermore, being part of a personalised village, Safe Watch® allows sharing of insights around feelings and facilitates accountability buddies to do activities with and keeping track of adherence to medications. These insights are visible as part of a progress dashboard. Custom alerts also allow for personalised notifications.
Safe Watch® is successful in improving the effectiveness of face-to-face therapy sessions by providing the health professional with insights into the period outside of the clinical rooms, between sessions. They can gain up to date insights regarding the patient’s progress, including their feelings progress, the medication adherence, and the progress on treatment activities. With Safe Watch®, mental health professionals can now have visibility into the patient’s world outside of the consultation room to enhance their time during face-to-face sessions.
Safe Watch® is being readied for the launch into the workplace setting, with value and outcomes for both employees and management. Beyond that, Safe Watch® for youth is also on our roadmap.
Judges Citation:
In celebration of its innovative and impactful contributions to mental health care, Safe Watch is honoured with a prestigious Consensus MedTech Award. Safe Watch’s innovative mental health wellness app has the potential to redefine the landscape of self-care, providing individuals with a vital lifeline to navigate the complexities of mental well-being.
The proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”, highlights the importance of community and collaboration in child-rearing. “It takes a village” is as relevant to embracing and nurturing individuals living with mental health and wellness challenges. Safe Watch is to be congratulated for its novel Village approach.
Safe Watch’s pioneering technology represents a paradigm shift in mental health support, offering an intuitive and comprehensive platform backed by a team of mental health professionals, and aims to be a useful companion to and meet the diverse needs of all users.
Beyond its technological strengths including use of Blockchain technology to ensure that only users have access to their personal data, Safe Watch embodies a commitment to fostering a culture of compassion and support in mental health care.
Feedback:
Safe Watch has demonstrated outstanding innovation and dedication in the field of mental health and wellness app technology. The Safe Watch app’s user-centric design and comprehensive features reflect a deep understanding of the multifaceted nature of mental well-being and strives to set a new standard for accessible and community aided effective self-care solutions. Moving forward, continued investment in research, user feedback, and strategic partnerships will be pivotal in further enhancing the app’s impact and reach.
Care should be taken to minimise the risk of rapid geographic expansion. To fully realise the potential of the addressable Australian market, including the Youth and Elderly markets, will take significant investment and resources. Safe Watch should ensure it has the right capital partners with capacity and capabilities to adequately service the Australian market as well as capital partners for new overseas markets.
When expanding into overseas markets differences in cultural norms, beliefs, and attitudes towards mental health will require localisation that involves more than just translating text; it will require an understanding of cultural nuances, idioms, and expressions to ensure the app’s content is relevant and relatable to users in the target culture.
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Our thanks to the Judges of the Awards.
| Hugh Gyton – Chair | Ali Shariat |
| Rosemary Gillespie | Wayne Slager |
| Selena Griffith | Glenn Stafford |
| Steve Mackay | Rainer Tietz |
| Joseph Najem |