Hofstra alum , Michael Lai, reflects on how his developments have brought people closer together by a click of an app. // Photo courtesy of Philip Hinds.
When Hofstra graduate Michael Lai first came up with the idea to develop an app to help people with mental health in his sophomore year at the University, he never would have imagined the impact his development would have in a world where social interaction is limited.
Lai designed his first app, “Cress,” to offer confidential peer support to users by placing them in group chats with others who are similar to them. Now amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Lai has made changes to his app and even developed a second one.
“With the advent of COVID-19, health care workers were really thrown into the middle of an unforeseen crisis in which hospitals were inundated with patients,” Lai said. “It caused a tremendous amount of burnout and psychological trauma, which would have had a significant long-term ramification on not only our health care workforce, but also the health care system as a whole, so what we did is that we recognized this need and really wanted to make as great of an impact as possible on this problem.”
Cress now offers confidential peer support to health care workers who are struggling with mental health problems, especially those caused by the pandemic. Through the Cress application, health care workers are personally matched and put into group chats with others who are facing similar circumstances. The app also features daily journaling, as well as personal insights and analytics based on users’ responses.
The Cress application is currently being used by health care workers who work for AMITA Health, one of the largest health care systems in the Midwest.
In the near future, Cress will be used by other health care systems around the country, such as Lifespan Health and the Rhode Island Medical Society.
Although Lai changed the design of his original application, he did not give up on his dream of providing mental health resources to all people. To accomplish this goal, Lai designed a second app, called Callie, which will be available for purchase in the Apple and Google app stores starting in mid-October.
Lai said his inspiration for Callie was fueled by the pandemic.
“It was just heartbreaking to see all around the nation, really all around the world, people, especially people our age – generation Z, millennials [suffering],” Lai said. “There were a lot of incidents of loneliness as a result of isolation, and obviously loneliness is a tremendous precursor to mental health problems. That’s really what motivated us to also create the Callie application – just seeing people suffering.
Dr. John Guthman, director of the Student Health and Counseling Center at Hofstra University, said he has seen trends in students’ mental health as a result of the pandemic.
“In terms of how the pandemic has affected students, they’ve had to find new and diverse ways to connect with peers,” Guthman said. “Students have had to find new ways of engaging in recreational and leisure activities, students have had to adjust to new learning styles as we’ve adjusted to video-remote platforms for courses, and students have had to manage the anxiety and uncertainty of different environments and the potential exposure to this COVID-19 virus.”
Hofstra students said adjusting to online classes, having limited social interactions and adhering to new health and safety protocols have had a negative impact on their mental health
“During the pandemic, I had a hard time concentrating on my classes and I had other family issues that I was dealing with, which really led me to being sad and [feeling] extra stress,” said Annie Wong, a sophomore pre-med psychology major. “It was not a good time while I was in quarantine and I’m pretty sure it impacted my social skills, since I haven’t been in contact with other people besides my family.”
Another student shared similar sentiments about mental well-being during the pandemic.
“Maintaining positive mental health in the midst of a pandemic can be challenging,” said Angela Greco, a sophomore philosophy major. “It’s important to remember that practicing mindfulness is a good tactic to persevere through this tough time.
While Cress offers peer groups where users can interact and discuss problems they are facing anonymously, Callie takes a more personal look at one’s lifestyle. A virtual companion driven by artificial intelligence crafts personalized wellness regiments based on a user’s unique lifestyle and interests. To do this, the app asks the user to journal daily and answer personalized questions about their lifestyle. Based on the responses, the app will give users suggestions on what to do to better their mental health.
Guthman supports Lai’s approach of having users share their feelings through a journal.
“We know that journaling or writing down of one’s thoughts and feelings can have a positive impact on how individuals cope with situational and emotional challenges,” Guthman said. “It certainly helps the individual to identify thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it would allow us to note patterns over time. At times, it gives us an opportunity to look back on what we’ve written and reflect on how we cope. In other words, it can create a perspective.”
Students say they would be open to using an app where they can share their feelings about mental health.
“Having an app to communicate with, in a time when interpersonal communication is so limited, would have been such a great way to still ensure emotions were recognized and managed,” said Heather Sanders, a sophomore secondary education and Spanish double major. “I look forward to exploring an idea like this more in the future.”
This year Lai and his business partner, Justin Kim, received a COVID-19 grant from the Clinton Foundation’s Student Action fund. They have used this grant to fund their Cress Cares initiative, which focuses on providing mental health support to people around the globe.
Lai said he and his team work with multiple global partners, including the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Jesuit Refugee Service and Step Up for Kakuma, to deliver the Cress app and mental wellness educational resources to the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwest Kenya.
“We’re also … able to work with community partners in Liberia as well as in Nairobi to deliver mental health educational resources to women affected by sexual and gender-based violence and to adolescents,” Lai said.
In August 2020, after the explosion in Beirut, Lai teamed up with a non-profit organization called Uplift Beirut to deliver the Cress app to local physicians and health care
workers in the Red Cross.
Most recently, Lai and Kim were named to Rhode Island Inno’s “Under 25” list. Lai now offers internship opportunities to college students interested in mental health advocacy so he can help students who are passionate about mental health like him.
Since he first developed the idea for Cress, Lai’s motto has been: “We believe that everyone deserves support.” Now more than ever, during the pandemic, he wants people to know that there are resources for them if they are struggling.