AIA Singapore (“AIA), the leading life insurer in employee benefits, and WhiteCoat Holdings Pte. Ltd. (“WhiteCoat”), Southeast Asia’s leading digital health company, have partnered to provide end-to-end digital mental healthcare solutions covering mental wellbeing through to mental health therapy, an initiative that aims to raise awareness about mental health issues and increase accessibility to mental wellness support.

A regional first, the Think Well programme (“Think Well”) will be embedded within all of AIA’s corporate outpatient plans, and leverage WhiteCoat’s omnichannel platform and network of mental health professionals to provide complimentary, synchronous text-based mental health coaching services to the insurer’s entire corporate outpatient base. Users can complete a mental health self-assessment and make a same-day appointment to speak via text with dedicated and qualified mental health professionals comprising psychologists and counsellors in real-time. Thereafter, follow-up care ranging from text, video or in-person consultations can be recommended to users on a personalised case-by-case basis.

In addition to providing text-based, video, and in-person consultations, WhiteCoat will provide guided support through a dynamic and personalised content library of curated mental wellness articles as well as videos, offering comprehensive resources to motivate members to stay mentally fit.

The AIA-WhiteCoat initiative comes amid rising awareness of mental wellness issues and the need to provide a supportive corporate environment for mental well-being through increased mental health insurance coverage.

In the National Population Health Survey published by the Ministry of Health (MOH) last year, 13.4 per cent of those surveyed had poor mental health, an increase from 12.5 per cent in 2017. Younger adults aged between 18 and 29 had the highest proportion of poor mental health at 21.5 per cent.

Said Alvin Fu, Chief Corporate Solutions Officer of AIA Singapore, “Mental health is a continuum. Our mental health may oscillate between healthy, to anxious, to hopelessness at various times in our lives. By providing Think Well, we aim to support our Singapore workforce through their mental well-being journey to help them to live Healthier, Longer, Better lives.”

Said Bryan Koh, Founder & CEO of WhiteCoat, “Employers have started acknowledging the importance of providing mental health support to create a sustainable and healthy workplace. By developing the first insurer-backed, synchronous text-based mental wellness service through our platform, we want to positively impact workplace mental health through enhanced accessibility, convenience and privacy. Think Well is a key component of the WhiteCoat regional health passport, where we build on our vision to serve as the first and single touchpoint for all our users’ health and wellness needs across the region.”

Think Well is the latest initiative launched under the AIA-WhiteCoat partnership that started in 2019 to co-create the market’s first primary care telehealth service with straight-through insurance claims processing. Since then, the partnership has expanded to provide users with omnichannel access to specialist care, mental healthcare and home-based care through text, video and in-person consultations.

How Think Well Works: Users can book an appointment, complete a mental health self-assessment, and speak via text to a qualified mental health professional in real time.