Pluto Telehealth

Creators of Pluto - a telehealth platform built for mental health professionals who work with children and young people.

Team Size:
2
Location:
Australia
Founders:
Asher , Jamin Day
Program(s):

The Problem

Online therapy (telehealth) in the allied health space is a critical resource for expanding primary care access to those who are unable to engage in person. Nonetheless, the therapeutic process can be challenging, particularly when working with children and young people who have neurodevelopmental conditions (e.g., ADHD, ASD) or other mood and behavioural disorders (e.g., anxiety or depression). Currently, psychologists and other allied health professionals rely on communication platforms that have either a corporate focus, such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, or were designed primarily for conversation-based therapy (usually with older clients), such as Coviu or Pexip. However, for those of us working with children and young people, these platforms are not well-suited for many of our clients. Often, our clients struggle to maintain engagement during a 'typical' telehealth session, and the video-first nature of sessions can feel confronting or unpleasant for some young people (for example, those with ASD or anxiety). The end result is that telehealth therapy sessions tend to be less effective for our clients, and frustrating and exhausting for clinicians.

The Solution

Our solution (currently in early development) is a web-based SaaS telehealth platform designed for allied health practitioners who work with children and young people; specifically, those with clients who would usually struggle to engage in telehealth because of their age or other neurodevelopmental/behavioural conditions. We are currently working on a prototype in consultation with a team of psychologists and clinical psychologists who have experience working in the child and family context. In a sense, we aim to emulate the way clinicians often work with children 'in the room' - using drawings, games, pictures, worksheets, and other activities during a session. This often requires quick thinking and rapid back and forth as we alternate between following the client's lead and guiding the session when needed. In many cases, clinicians feel the video feed should become a secondary communication tool, rather than the primary focus. As such, we are also exploring ways to supplement the video feed with AI-driven facial recognition, so that users can drive digital characters during their session as an alternative communication strategy. We initially anticipate a monthly subscription model for use of the platform, paid by clinicians (there would be no cost to the client). In time, there may also be the possibility of expanding to a marketplace model, by introducing a low- or no-code solution where users (i.e., clinicians) can design custom therapeutic activities that can then be shared with (or purchased by) other users.