Calm launches new offering aimed at clinical mental health

Calm Health is designed to bridge the gap between mental and physical health care

Of the many mental health companies to have raised funding over the last few years, one thing that separated Calm from the pack was its focus on mindfulness and meditation, rather than providing its users with clinical care. 

However, the company has been trending in that direction since it acquired care coordination and condition management company Ripple Health Group in February of this year; in that announced it also unveiled a new offering, Calm Health, "to support mental health across the care spectrum," as it said at the time. 

On Tuesday, Calm Health finally launched: the solution, which is aimed at payers, providers and self-insured employers, will offer clinical condition-specific mental health programs as well as tools to support provider and caregiver communication and medication tracking. 

As the company put it, it is designed, "to bridge the gap between mental and physical health care."

Users will be able to access Calm Health through their health insurance plan, care provider, or employer; once they have access, users will be prompted to complete an in-app survey to identify the care plan that meets their specific needs. Calm Health’s clinical programs will support users experiencing mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, offering them guided plans to prepare for therapy or utilize in-between therapy sessions.

Calm's mental health programs are written by licensed clinicians and narrated by the voices of Calm. The programs adhere to the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.

The company plans to add additional programs in the future to provide mental health support for physical conditions such as hypertension, obesity, heart disease, and cancer.

“Calm Health will play a defining role in the future of how we care for our health, providing the first-ever solution for payers and providers to treat mental and physical health simultaneously,” David Ko, CEO of Calm and former CEO of Ripple Health Group, said in a statement.

“Through work with partners, we will give millions of people access to the care they need, resulting in decreased comorbidities and overall cost of care.”

Calm Health is replacing Calm’s existing employer offering, Calm for Business, which had more than 2,000 partners, and covered more than 20 million lives. 

Founded in 2012, Calm is a meditation, sleep and relaxation app that creates unique audio content to help its users with their mental fitness and helps them tackles mental health challenges such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression.

The company has been downloaded over 100 million times, with 4 million paying members; it has also raised $218 million in venture funding, including a $75 million in late 2020. The company recently ran into trouble, however, laying off 20% of its staff in August.