Telehealth apps see post-Covid focus on mental wellbeing

Demand for online mental health care will be a priority in the post-COVID world, bosses of telehealth apps say, after lockdowns took a toll on people’s wellbeing and requests for virtual appointments skyrocketed.

“There’s a mental health crisis in Europe... there’s a big problem that needs to be solved,” Johannes Schildt, the CEO of Sweden-based health startup Kry, one of Europe’s leading digital healthcare providers, told Reuters at the Web Summit in Lisbon.

Kry, one of many companies participating in this year’s tech gathering, provides users with video-based consultations with nurses and doctors and operates through public-private partnerships and agreements with private insurance providers.

The need for online mental health services existed before the pandemic, increased during, and will keep growing, Schildt said. Demand for such services on his app, which serves 25% of Swedish households, more than tripled in 2020.