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  Today in Health IT, we are discussing UC San Diego launching innovative wellness app to support student well being.

My name is Sarah Richardson. I'm a former CIO for several health care systems, most notably with HCA and Optum, and now president of this week Health 229 Executive Development Community, where we host a set of channels and events dedicated to transforming health care one connection at a time. Today's episode is brought to you by Omnisa, the first AI driven platform enabling seamless, secure, personalized work experiences.

Discover more at thisweekhealth. com slash Omnisa.

And today I am joined by Kate Gamble, Managing Editor here at This Week Health. Kate, welcome to the show. Thanks, Sarah. Good to be here. And I love that we found this article. We actually, you found this and shared it with me about UC San Diego launching the Willow Wellness app to support student wellbeing.

It's been developed through student input and backed by AI, and it also personalizes mental and physical wellness services, offering real time recommendations, The app aims to address the rising mental health challenges on campus and streamline access to resources like counseling, recreation, and arts.

And here's a few key points that I thought were really fascinating. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it as well. AI powered personalized wellness app. So it's going to drive different perspectives from the way that you respond to it. Integrating mental, physical, and social resources. It's tailored specifically to a student's needs.

And accessible with real time updates and recommendations. If you're a student at UCSD, are you going to use this app, Kate?

I absolutely would use this app. I really like this whole story. the launch is so important, for, healthcare leaders because it shows how innovative technologies like AI driven mobile solutions can enhance access to mental health resources and improve overall student wellness.

This type of thing can go beyond the student environment eventually, but what really. gets me is just enhancing that access to mental health resources. We know through the interviews we've done that's so challenging, not just in rural areas, but really everywhere.

Having an app that helps people find resources and make care more accessible is that something that can really be a big win.

It can be, especially when you think about that integration of the data, it creates that personalized health recommendation that can improve your care. So as you learn the app and the app learns you, it's going to drive you to the solutions that you're most likely to not only utilize, but also stick with to help improve the overall situation.

And, the integration piece obviously has to be a big part of this, as is, always the case, making sure that this integrates smoothly with existing systems, and at the same time addressing the security and privacy issues, to help build trust among the users, because that's something that I think would be really important, specifically in this kind of subset is.

being able to, to trust that their data are safe.

And the security considerations. If I'm putting my CIO, CISO student, parent even hat on in this case, you think about the security considerations for handling sensitive data via these apps and how many apps and how data driven and digitally driven college students are today.

So they're going to be thinking about strong safeguards for personal data. Making sure that the integration to their local health care systems is a component of this, and I have to believe if they are launching this with the intent that it becomes something that is not only tailored to the student, but really thinking about the patient engagement.

components, they're going to have good user adoption. People that find it easy to use, it's intuitive in its design. And then think of the implications that it may have for broader healthcare environments or other ways that students can access the information that they need.

Yeah. And, you had mentioned a point earlier about, the physical, social aspects Really just combining all of these, which is so important, and we're hearing more and more about that, that this is all part of the patient experience, the human experience, and, to see that, reflected in apps and other, digital tools, I think is really a step in the right direction.

We take us back to our college days, which I joke that, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, it was actually a long time ago. And yet there was nothing, that was digitally available to us other than obviously our being able to print out our papers on our computers as an example.

But I say all that because times of high stress, getting back into the swing of things after summer break, even if you took summer school, super stressful, having midterms, having finals, having a job, if that's part of the equation and all the other components. And you didn't necessarily want to say to somebody, Hey, I'm stressed out.

Hey, I'm anxious about this, or Hey, I'm having concerns. And now being able to do that from the power of your phone, where it is. Private, if you want it to be private. And yet I think about the social circles that I was always a part of. If it was working, I would have shared it with everybody. I would have been like, Oh my gosh, here's a great way to eliminate stress during finals.

Or, Hey, look at this. It's a great way to reset yourself after a major event in your life. Like those types of resources were not available in our hands at that time. And so what a creative way to be able to really meet students where they are and be aware of everything that's affecting them in the world today.

I think you said it really well, like this is meeting them where they are. and I am excited to see what happens with this. I'm sure we'll be tracking it and what else, this spurs in terms of, other organizations following in their footsteps.

I am too, especially when you think about the apex of that time in your life, when you start to also take the general responsibility for your healthcare and for your decisions, whether or not you remain on your parents insurance to a certain age. All of a sudden, a lot of these decisions are yours.

You're away from home for the first time, and you need to figure things out, and it takes some of that stress and anxiety over the newness of learning how to be self sufficient.

I have those moments if I had a kid in college, I would want them to be using resources like this. I'm so glad we brought this article forward and more than anything, if you were listening, share this podcast with a friend or colleague, use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry.

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