Shattering stigmas: Five young Jordanian women win US award for mental health mobile app

AMMAN — Five Jordanian women entrepreneurs recently won an award for the Best Technology Project at the US-held TechWomen programme for their mobile application Sanad, designed to support young people suffering from mental health issues in Jordan. 

The five entrepreneurs Mais Khader, Mais Al Muhtaseb, Hanan Khalil, Esraa Alsanie and Reema Diab, received the seed-grant prize funded by Google, VMware and Okta, Inc after they were selected from among 3,260 women in technology from around the world, they told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

Participants chosen from 21 countries joined in the Silicon Valley in San Francisco at the end of September for the programme. 

"Sanad is going to change the stereotypical way people view mental health treatment, giving better focus to addressing mental health issues in the upcoming few months," the entrepreneurs said over WhatsApp from Washington, DC, where they received the award. 

In the Sanad application, chats are encrypted and private, which gives young people the opportunity to speak freely with psychiatrists and therapists, fully protecting the patients' information and secrecy, according to Alsanie, founder of EnvaTechs, who was also chosen by the programme as one of the most influential women in the field of technology. 

Sanad is also the first app programmed in Arabic to have content raising awareness on mental health issues, Alsanie added.

"The app allows the patients to use it anonymously, protecting the secrecy of their identities and issues, receiving the help they need without having to physically go to a clinic and face any stigma from society," said Diab, who won an award for one of the best women in the technology sector from the Miracle Foundation in the US.

Diab is founder and CEO of Galaxy Organisation, an NGO that seeks to empower women and youth through technology.

She was also listed as a top entrepreneur in Berlin, Germany, with an MA in business management from the US and a BSc in accounting from the University of Jordan, and she is currently pursuing her PhD in the UK, in the field of managing global organisations. 

Khalil is an associate professor of neurological physical therapy in the faculty of applied medical sciences at the Jordan University of Science and Technology.

She said that Sanad will integrate artificial intelligence, through which “the experience will become more personal and familiar for users”. 

For her part, Khader, who obtained her BA in industrial engineering from the University of Jordan and works as a data analyst, said the app will include a hotline for mental health-related emergencies.

Al Muhtaseb, who obtained her BSc in Computer Engineering from Yarmouk University, said the application also offers remote learning services, which, with the help of organisations that work in the field of mental health and education, could provide workshops for students and societies. 

"We aim to reach the largest possible number of schools to spread awareness about the app and how it can be used step by step, while also deconstructing the stigma associated with mental illness," Al Muhtaseb, who works as a software engineer, said. 

In 2018, suicide rates in Jordan increased by about 10 per cent; Jordan has been identified as a country in massive need of a “stronger mental health system”, according to the TechWomen website.

The Sanad mobile application will focus on education, support and interaction with the aid of its features, including educational videos, interactive learning games, articles from influencers and success stories and testimonials from previous patients. 

The app also features audio-video conferencing to facilitate chatting with professional counsellors and sending push notifications for tips and advice, the website adds.

In 2017 as well, the Jordanian team participating in the TechWomen 17 programme won the same prize for a project called “Orphans in Jordan”, which focuses on the low percentage of orphans going to university due to psychological and financial problems.

TechWomen is an initiative of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

It is held annually to empower, connect and support the next generation of female leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by providing them with access and opportunity to advance their careers, pursue their dreams and become role models for other women and girls in their communities, according to the organisation’s website.