Headspace Health goes international, launches clinical care services with U.K. employers

The company will also be expanding into other markets around the globe in the coming year

While COVID caused the already existing mental health crisis in the US to get worse, this far from being just an American problem; it's happening all around the world. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25%, according to the World Health Organization.

That's why digital mental health platform Headspace Health has announced it's expanding its services to the rest of the globe by partnering with organizations headquartered outside of the U.S. for the first time.

The company's first stop outside of the U.S. is the United Kingdom, which the company officially launched in on Tuesday.

The selection of the U.K. as its market seems to come from Headspace Health's own research: a recent study done by the company on employees in Australia, Germany, the UK, and the US show that one in three British workers feel their employer isn’t doing enough to support their mental health, and 63% said they missed at least one day of work over a 12 month period due to stress, anxiety, or other mental health challenges.

Other statistics show that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year, and 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem, such as anxiety and depression, in any given week in England. 

This is, of course, just the first part of the company's expansion plans; it is already looking to extend its services into additional markets throughout the coming year, though Headspace Health didn't specify which markets it's currently looking at. 

Headspace Health is the result of a 2021 merger between Ginger, a provider of on-demand coaching, therapy and psychiatry for people struggling with their mental health, and  meditation app Headspace, combining their technology and their team.

The company's offerings include on-demand, self-guided activities through the Headspace app to build proactive skills and enhance everyday wellbeing; unlimited 24/7 access to a team of Headspace Health behavioral health coaches, which is delivered via text; clinical care delivered by video, phone or in person by licensed therapists; and a dedicated EAP account specialist who can ensure employees have access to support.

Currently, Headspace Health has over 100 million users in 190 countries, and its enterprise brands, Headspace for Work and Ginger, are distributed through over 4,000 enterprises, including Starbucks, Adobe, Delta Air Lines, Mattel, and Paramount, as well as through health plans, including Cigna.

“We’re creating the mental health solution you’d design if you were creating the system from scratch,” Russell Glass, CEO of Headspace Health, said in a statement.

“People know and love Headspace, so it creates an approachable, engaging front door for individuals who can then access higher levels of care as needs arise. Expanding this complete capability into the U.K. today constitutes a major milestone in our journey toward transforming mental healthcare to improve the health and happiness of the world.”

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