How a mobile app delivers digital therapeutics to empower kids: Interview by Research2Guidance
We were honoured to have been interviewed by Research2Guidance last month where we gave a thorough overview of the journey and mission of Triumf Health. Based in Berlin, R2G provides market and competitor insights and strategy advice, whilst facilitating partnerships creation. Here we share part of the interview with our CEO Dr. Kadri Haljas, follow the link in the bottom for the full article.
The market for digital therapeutics and behaviour change for kids with chronic condition is still untapped. Novel solutions designed specifically for this target group have the potential to enhance the behaviour health of pediatric patients and increase the reach of interventions more effectively outside the hospital and doctor’s office, transforming also mental health care in a very personalized way. 60% of chronically ill children are at risk of developing psychological problems in addition to their underlying condition. _Triumf Health is on a mission to support mental well-being of children with chronic illness by delivering digital therapeutics to enhance behaviour health through a personalized health game journey._
Research2Guidance: As a short introduction, could you please share Triumf Health’s story
Dr. Kadri Haljas: Triumf Health is a digital health company that is delivering digital therapeutics through an award winning mobile game to enhance the behavioural health of pediatric patients. Designed by domain experts, Triumf health game combines evidence-based clinical research and psychological techniques to assess well-being, encourage treatment adherence and to induce the creation of healthy habits through gameplay.
Triumf solution focuses on the mental wellbeing of children. Currently, one in four children battle with chronic illness and almost every third child is overweight, thus at risk of developing lifestyle associated illnesses.
Although these conditions can be very different in their symptoms and treatment, these conditions are all mentally burdening for children. Evidence suggests that up to 60% of patients with an underlying chronic illness are at risk of developing psychological problems, partly due to unmet health needs. This in turn can lead to decreased quality of life, treatment complications and increased healthcare expenditures. Triumf Health aims to prevent that by providing children with comprehensive supportive care through a medium that is familiar and safe for them – a game environment.
The need for such solution came from personal experience and the lack of solutions in the digital therapeutics sector for pediatric patients. I have both clinical and research expertise in the field of health psychology and started the company in 2017 to address pediatric patients’ unmet needs by utilizing technology.
Since the start of Triumf Health, we’ve come a long way to create an effective and impactful solution that is loved by children and valuable for the care teams. In 2019 we were named as TOP 2 digital health company in Europe by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Health) and TOP 20 startup across all industries in Europe by the Startup Lighthouse programme.
Research2Guidance: What is your value proposition and how do you differentiate it from other similar solutions on the market?
Dr. Kadri Haljas: To help children with chronic illness, we need to focus on many aspects: their mental health and treatment adherence, we need to give them health-related information, support their general health, and at the same time empower them and give a sense of success. These components – necessary to induce behavioural change – work only when these are delivered in a way that kids love. And don’t they just love playing games?
We’ve placed a strong emphasis on the narrative of the game, where children need to save the Triumfland city from a Disease Monster, who has spread an illness to the city. By helping Triumfland citizens stay healthy, children are learning more about their illness and healthy behaviours, get personalised psychological support from a virtual friend based on their profile and get rewarded for completing various health-related mini-games and activity-based learning tasks.
Competition & Key Differentiators …
Considering other solutions on the market, _we provide the only product that offers an end-to-end solution by combining research-based approach with machine learning, engaging game environment and data analytics._ By offering appropriate on-time care and supporting patients in managing their own health we can shift the focus on prevention. Our visual dashboard that can be linked with existing medical information system helps with treatment monitoring, improves medical visit effectiveness and care team communication.
Furthermore, we are launching an application for parents with the aim to give parents information about their child’s health and wellbeing and support their own self-efficacy.
Our innovation is especially valuable because once patients develop mental health disorders in addition to their underlying chronic illness, healthcare expenditures double. At the same time, there is a profound mismatch between the burden of the comorbidities of mental health conditions and chronic illnesses and the number of trained professionals to manage or prevent those conditions.
We aim to relieve the significant issue of vastly increasing expenditures in healthcare in a generally understaffed medical practice.
To learn more about Triumf's business model as well as the challenges we are facing and market trends in the behaviour and mental health space, follow the link to the full article here.
Thank you Stela Nikolova and Research2Guidance for the interview. We look forward to working together in the future.