Exclusive: How SafeWatch is tackling mental wellness challenges

The founder of SafeWatch, Shane Muller, harnessed the life-changing platform for a critical purpose: addressing the growing crisis in mental wellness.

During an exclusive interview with TechDay, Muller delved into the motivation behind SafeWatch, its unique approach to mental wellness, and the company's future vision.

SafeWatch, officially launched in 2021 after a year of intensive research, is a platform designed to connect individuals with a network of trusted friends, family, and professionals, creating what Muller calls a 'village.' This village is crucial for providing real-time insights into the mental state of individuals, particularly those at risk of self-harm or suicide.

Muller's motivation to create SafeWatch was deeply personal and driven by alarming statistics on self-harm and suicide, especially among young people.

"In Australia, more people die from self-harm than road accidents," Muller stressed. Additionally, more than 65,000 Australians attempt suicide each year, with 1.5 million admitting to having a plan in place.

According to Muller, these figures, sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, underscored the need for a proactive solution.

Reflecting on the global mental wellness landscape, Muller noted that the situation is even more dire in other regions.

"We have four million people struggling in Australia, but 450 million people in Asia," he said, pointing out that many individuals suffer without ever being diagnosed.

The realisation that the mental wellness crisis was rapidly escalating, with the potential to reach pandemic levels, is what spurred Muller into action.

"It's very hard to spend four hours on technology and walk away thinking, 'This is an amazing life,'" Muller explained. "Most tech is pretty bad."

SafeWatch is deliberately designed to avoid becoming another addictive platform. Instead, it encourages users to engage with their 'village' in meaningful ways, such as meeting face-to-face or having conversations that might otherwise be avoided.

One of the key features of SafeWatch is its ability to track and analyse users' emotional feeling states over time, offering valuable insights to their village. For example, a father could see if his teenage son's emotional wellbeing drops below a certain threshold, prompting a real-world interaction.

"The person is able to see how they're going, and the people in their village can track it as well," Muller explained.

This community-centric approach sets SafeWatch apart from other wellness apps, which often focus on individual users. However, SafeWatch is not designed primarily for those who are struggling.

"We haven't predominantly designed SafeWatch for the person who's struggling; it's for people who care because they are the ones who want to know."

This distinction is crucial, as Muller believes that when someone is in a deep mental wellness crisis, they often lack the motivation or ability to seek help on their own. "When someone's really struggling, giving them an app with all the things that will tell them how to get out of that has a small chance of being used," Muller said. "But the people in their world, those who care about them, they are the closest and best chance that person has."

Muller emphasised that SafeWatch is not a replacement for professional therapy but rather a tool to complement and enhance traditional support systems. 

"You need that connection and click if you're going to go down this path," he said. "You need someone who really understands what you are going through."

SafeWatch is currently focused on Australia, but there are plans to expand into Asia, having already established its Hong Kong subsidiary. 

"Our vision is to leverage technology to help foster a mindset that has a high value on human engagement," he said.

Looking to the future, Muller envisions SafeWatch becoming a lifelong platform that supports users through the ups and downs of life. "It's a lifelong platform to use with your village," he said, noting that mental wellness challenges can arise at any stage of life. 

The platform's innovative approach has already garnered recognition, with SafeWatch recently winning two prestigious awards: the iAwards finalist for startups and winnier of the Consensus Awards for MedTech.

As SafeWatch continues to develop, its commitment to prioritising human connection over technological convenience remains at the forefront.

"We should use tech to elevate more human aspects of humanity," Muller said. "By building on authentic relationships and creating a supportive community, SafeWatch aims to address the mental wellness crisis in a way that is both innovative and deeply human."

Muller's ultimate goal is to create a world where no one has to say, "I had no idea," when someone close to them is struggling.

SafeWatch, with its focus on the village concept, aims to make that a reality, one safe connection at a time.