Overview

Mind HealthCare Online Program & Education or simply MiHOPE is one of a kind NOT-FOR-PROFIT platform for tele-health services which is exclusively dedicated to mental health focusing on all the aspects related to Mind & Body. 

The portal is hosted by Mental Health Foundation India (mhfindia.org) a not-for-profit organization working in the field of mental health since year 2003. 

The portal will enable both volunteer psychiatrists and counsellors, to offer their consultation in sync with their chosen date and time of availability. The portal aims to deploy unique intelligent technology approach to maximize the availability & capacity of limited mental health professionals in India. The portal will have an integrated video and text chat option enabled on laptop, mobile and tablet modes respectively. The portal is based upon Tele-Medicine & Tele-Health guidelines by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. 

The portal will also host a wide range of wellbeing resources on Mental Health Science, e-support groups and routine wellbeing workshops, all envisioned towards enhancing mental health education among masses. 

Launch 

The portal was officially inaugurated by Padma Sri, Prof. Randeep Guleria, Hon'ble Director, AIIMS, New Delhi at MHFI Access Summit on 4th October 2020 in presence of Prof. R.K. Chaddha (Head, Department of Psychiatry and NDDTC, AIIMS, New Delhi), Prof. Nand Kumar (Professor-in-Charge ICMR CARE in neuromodulation for Mental Health,  Department of Psychiatry & NDDTC, AIIMS, New Delhi also, Founder, Vice President of MHFI) and Dr. Sujata Minhas (General Secretary, MHFI). 

History

It was 31st March 2020 when a dedicated team of volunteers associated with Mental Health Foundation India (MHFI) came forward to offer their time and effort in providing psychosocial support services for individuals in distress or experiencing issues pertaining to mental health challenges in response to the COVID-19 induced lockdown. This service was then named as MH-COP as pilot testing phase based on simple Google form link requests, till date that pilot service remained free of any charge and has serviced more than 230 unique clients with an average of 8-10 follow up sessions till termination. This pilot project spread just by the word of mouth owing to sheer quality of care provided to its clients. The same would not have been possible without honourable volunteers: 21 counsellors and 3 psychiatrists.