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Estonian health-tech startup redefining mental health support for children

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May is the International mental health awareness month to decrease stigma around the topic and educate people. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current war in Ukraine, psychological well-being is something that everyone has struggled with.

It is important to start taking care of our mental health already in childhood, the earlier - the better. Children's psyche is very susceptible, and the most crucial period in children’s development lasts approximately to age 14. Unfortunately, there are not enough mental health professionals to help everyone who already needs help, and in the long run, it is more efficient to focus on prevention.

This is why an Estonian-based tech start-up - Triumf Health, has developed a fun and engaging mobile game Triumf Hero, that helps children learn to recognize and regulate their emotions, cope with everyday stressors and traumatic events, and understand themselves and others around them better.

When playing Triumf Hero children go into a magical world, Triumfland, where they

have to help its’ inhabitants. “This narrative is interesting and empowering for children because they are encouraged to find their superpowers and realize their full potential. At the same time, they are getting evidence-based mental health support, which is the biggest victory for us,” - says the CEO of Triumf Health and Doctor of Psychology Kadri Haljas. “Nowadays children do not use anything boring, and they just want to be normal. They don’t want to fill in any boring diaries that a psychologist gives them. Self-discovery and learning can be interesting and this is what our game provides.” - says Dr. Haljas.

As a response to the war in Ukraine Triumf Health translated their solution to Ukrainian in addition to previously existing languages: Estonian, Russian, English, Swedish, and Finnish, because the effect is much stronger if delivered in the native language. The game is available for free in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark and can be downloaded here: https://www.triumf.health/download-hero.

"Our actions have been guided by a moral sense, i.e. a desire to help in the best possible way. We are convinced that technology can be applied to benefit people and we have been able to create evidence-based solutions that really work," - said the CEO of Triumf Health.

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In addition, the Triumf Health team has launched TikTok channels in different languages where they post fun and educational content about mental health for children daily.

“It’s not only providing the Triumf Hero game for children, we need to talk more about children’s mental health in general. TikTok is a direct way to reach children in various locations. Our aim is to get to as many children as possible with our solution, as it is beneficial to everyone, regardless of the current situation”, - said Dr. Haljas.

When the mental health of children is taken care of, they can develop necessary skills, build positive habits for the future and grow up into healthy individuals because there is no health without mental health, and caring for one’s psychological well-being should be as usual as brushing teeth.

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