Ask yourself this to avoid expensive mistakes with Health and Mental Health apps (2/3)

Thanks to Covid (and our lack of face-to-face interaction this year) understandably, tech is an area of Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing which is currently thriving, with many organisations falling over themselves to ‘buy their people an app’. 

The problem is, often apps are purchased for entire workforces with little thought or knowledge how it fits into the bigger picture . With the number of apps available now in the thousands, there is a real danger that organisations will spend a lot of money on something that isn’t good, outdates quickly or is barely used. As industry we’ve been surprisingly slow to adopt technology, and now we find ourselves in the digital health and wellbeing wild west. 

With this in mind I’m going to share my thoughts about what you should ask yourself before investing in an app to stop you from falling into the same holes that I have seen others plunge into. Spoiler alert, I think it’s much better if employees buy their own apps (with your support) as it solves a lot of the headaches below:

1.     Why do you need an app? – Think carefully about why you are buying and app and what you need it for. They can be a great part of an integrated end to end Health and Mental Health strategy- if you put the correct HR systems, policies and processes around them. Too often they are stand alone and bought in lieu of a structured approach or more targeted intervention. An app alone won’t solve your problem(s). 

2.     Can employees buy them themselves?  - Organisations like to buy their people apps as a way of showing that they are looking after their Wellbeing. I’m not convinced that this is a good use of money though. Most apps are literally a few pounds per head and I really feel that if a person wants to use one, they will be prepared to pay that themselves. Instead, I advise organisations to use their size to negotiate good rates with the app providers and offer employees a range of discounted options. Organisational spend can then be focused on commissioning health providers or buying better health insurance and so on. 

3.     How do you stay on top of the market? – The app world changes fast. I’ve seen many organisations spend a lot of money on one app and then a new, better one comes along. Negotiating good discounts with a number of apps gives employees choice, enables them to buy more than one app at once and enables you to quickly add (or take away) options when the market changes.

4.     Implementation – The old adage of ‘it’s not what you have got, it is what you do with it’ counts. Buying an app doesn’t mean that people will use it. They have to know about it, trust it and then use it. This requires a thought through and structured implementation. I have seen a lot of organisations pay big money to app providers for things that then aren’t used. Think through this before you buy. Implementation takes a lot of time, energy and expertise. 

5.     Data - The business model of most app companies is to own or get access to your organisations Health and Mental Health data. Their game plan is to build value and subsequentially float and make their millions. As long as you know that and buy in, fine. However, this opens a pandora’s box with your employees about what you are doing with their health data, whether it is confidential and who gets to see it. Decisions need to be made about data with wide open eyes which they often aren’t. These can often easily be navigated by employees paying a few pounds for their own apps… 

To summarize, I’m not trying to say that apps aren’t useful, or that they shouldn’t be part of your strategy. I’m just saying that use of them needs more thought. It isn’t just as simple as ‘let’s get everybody an app to show we care about them.’ I’m of the view that an employee paying a few pounds for something that they have chosen and really want means they are more likely to carve out 10 mins of their day to use it. They will value it more than something that is free.

What do you think? Have you seen a positive or negative response to integrating apps into the workplace? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences, so drop me a comment below.