Project Details
- Healthcard
- Mental Health
- Suicide Prevention
Project Summary
“The application was very outside the box for them, as they’d never done anything in the field of mental health, but they were very passionate. Their team truly wanted us to be successful. In fact, three of their team members have downloaded the app and started sharing it with their families as well. My project is their project, and I've probably made some life-long friendships working with Oracast.”
The Customer
Embracing Life is a collaborative table of agencies and stakeholders in northern Saskatchewan that focuses on community wellness and suicide prevention in the region.
The Challenge
To modernize Embracing Life’s existing website and to build an engaging suicide prevention app that would give people a safe place to find hope and encouragement.
The Approach
After thorough discovery, brainstorming, and planning with the customer, the project consisted of a mobile app built for iOS and Android devices, and the ability to access it from a brand-new website built on WordPress.
“The website provides information about mental health and suicide prevention to our users; it acts as a resource in your pocket to help when you’re struggling, as well as help you connect with people if you know that they’re struggling. Young people find these conversations difficult, so we created a script and a chat people could work through, as well as resources for people to get more information. I engaged young people and elders throughout the process to ensure we were on the right track to meeting their needs.”
Customer testimonial
The Outcome
Embracing Life has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from users. The app boasts ten-times the average time-on-app, with users spending up to 80 minutes in the environment. Oracast is highly responsive, as well as committed to their customer's success. They are a team full of personable resources.
Customer Q&A: What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement with Oracast?
The app is beautiful and amazing. We haven’t spent a great deal on marketing, as we’re low on funding at the moment, but we currently have over 1,000 downloads. We’re happy with where we’re at right now; the app is available in every province in Canada, the US, Brazil, and the UK.
One of the cool pieces of the app is that, according to Google, the most time people spend on an app is around 7–9 minutes, and people are spending 80 minutes on our app. Additionally, 81% of our users are engaging on multiple platforms.
Some of the features include a journal and a gratitude box, where users can put things to remind them of why they need to be here. There’s also a safety plan feature that you can send to others that will allow them to help you.
Customer Q&A: Do you have any advice for potential Oracast customers?
Tell them exactly what you need. Even if you’re not sure, speak out loud and ask a lot of questions. I had no idea what they were capable of doing until we started talking. Their creative and design team is top-notch.
