Divya Bhatia: A Pivotal Leader Ensuring The Efficacy Of First Responder Program & Developing Novel Procedures

Leaders

Divya Bhatia: A Pivotal Leader Ensuring The Efficacy Of First Responder Program & Developing Novel Procedures

Divya Bhatia: A Pivotal Leader Ensuring The Efficacy Of First Responder Program & Developing Novel Procedures

Divya Bhatia
Head- Communications & Operations, Heart It Out

Increased prevalence and severity of mental health issues are becoming a major public health problem. The growing number of people who report having mental health issues makes it impossible to downplay the toll that this pandemic has on individuals, families, communities, and the economy. Though 60 percent of Indians struggle with health issues like anxiety & stress, only 12 percent actively seek treatment. By breaking down barriers of embarrassment and ignorance, we can create a culture where everyone can seek the help they need with mental health issues. To do this, society requires visionaries and psychologists with Divya Bhatia's capacity to inspire lasting change in the lives of those she interacts with.

Divya Bhatia oversees communications and operations at Heart It Out, an initiative founded in 2018 to help those struggling with mental health issues including anxiety and depression get access to psychotherapy. Divya has a Bachelor's in Psychology, Economics,m and English Literature as well as a Master's in Clinical Psychology. Engaging in an exclusive interaction with Women Entrepreneur magazine, Divya Bhatia speaks about her professional journey so far, and the challenges she overcame in establishing an effective communication model.

What motivated you to venture into the field of psychology?

Everyone I've asked claims to have landed their ideal jobs by chance. I, too, turned to psychology when I was unable to pursue pediatrics. Since then, there has been no turning back. As a psychologist, I get inspiration and insight from both my efforts to grow as a person and seeing the positive effects of selfawareness in the lives of my clients. It's wonderful to know that every client I help motivates their friends and family to establish better connections and care more about themselves.Not many people can say that their work can touch thousands of lives. The ripple effect is very beneficial. My greatest inspiration has been capitalizing on the realization that my job as a psychologist entails more than simply talking to people. It's the synthesis of information and expertise from several fields.

What are some important features of your expertise as a business leader?

There are several facets to mastering the art of business leadership through communications. An outcome-focused, compassionate mentality is essential for visualizing results and maintaining a focus on the impact of our activities. The key to an effective communication strategy is striking a balance between adapting to ever-changing technological trends and catering to people's individual needs and preferences. Having rudimentary communication skills is not sufficient for a career in healthcare, especially in mental health. Knowledgeable professionals in the area of psychology are required. My diverse range of skills owing to my academic training in psychology and my work experience with children in NGOs has contributed to my success. During my first year as Head of Communications, I learned that progress and ease are incompatible goals. We adjusted our approach to focus on raising consciousness after finding out that potential clients were as interested in learning more about psychology as they were in treating their issues. We delved into what voids our communication would cover to deliver better treatment after learning that half the people don’t return to therapy after their first session. To be effective, a Communication Head must be able to switch gears swiftly and competently between different hats. I needed to fluently converse with experts in product management, process development, content editing, UX design, public relations, and technology. To rapidly adjust our approach for how Heart It Out is seen and the impact we make, we kept tabs on our learnings on a daily, rather than quarterly, basis.

Give us a brief introduction to Heart It Out. Tell us about the underlying idea behind the Social Initiative and some of its most unique features.

Heart It Out envisions accessible mental healthcare to 1.5 billion people by 2030. A social venture led by Nithya J. Rao, an award winning Rehabilitation Psychologist, and TahaZaidi, an expert data scientist, their stated goal is to improve the state of mental health care in India by increasing its availability and affordability. For those in need of immediate emotional support and digital diagnostics for over 200 mental health disorders, we provide the first of its kind in India under our ground-breaking First Responder Program. We collaborate with companies to provide Employee Assistance Programs and with schools to provide Career Guidance Programs in addition to providing treatment for individuals, couples, families, and children. Our method is tailormade for the Indian psyche, and our philosophy is rooted in South Asian culture. In 2018, this initiative began as a room on the roof in Bangalore, and over the last four years, expanded to serve more than five lakh individuals throughout the country.

What are some of the most pressing challenges that you encounter in your current role? How do you successfully mitigate these challenges?

To my knowledge, this is the first position of its sort for a mental health initiative to hire a Communications Head. Since nobody had ever done this before, I had to create and refine my Job Description, myself. Every little victory was achieved after a great deal of stumbling about in the dark and makingblunders. The demands of individuals of varying ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds must be translated and matched with the capabilities of existing technology, which presents a further significant challenge. There were several miscommunication barriers to overcome before the various teams reached a level of mutual understanding; this was especially true given that the stakeholders had no prior experience with technology or the communication industry.

Thirdly, it is difficult to find reliable resources for training First Responders since so much of the necessary information requires the kind of in-depth medical expertise that takes psychologists years to acquire through experience and intuition. Keeping up-to-date details on available non-medical resources such as legal aid, social welfare programs, and NGOs relevant to the country has been a roller coaster hurdle. With the help of tailored technology solutions, we haveconstructed an ever-evolving, virtually live database of information that is fully integrated with our therapeutic systems, offers data security, and facilitates effective internal communication.

In your opinion, what are some of the most significant milestones that you have achieved throughout your professional journey? What has been the driving force behind your success as a professional?

At the outset of a worldwide pandemic, I received my Master's degree. It was impossible to advance in my career as a psychologist since no doors were open. One year after my internship ended, I was hired fulltime by Heart It Out. I was only one of two graduates from my college to land a job that year. I intended to make the most of the situation. The path in Heart It Out towards innovative work we're doing now has been relatively long and marked by vital landmarks. I managed a team that created paper-based products like ‘Conversation Starters’ designed to spark deep connections. Itresulted in some experimentation with chatbots, intended to create a question-and-answer conversation to help individuals work through their inner monologues. Although not effective in its primary goal, the experiments provided groundwork for a novel one-of-a-kind digital communication system that could evaluate an individual's mental health requirements and integrate professional care.

I headed Brief Relief after, a suicide prevention and emotional support hotline, that we set up due to the pandemic's prompt alignment and adaptation of the digital communication infrastructure. In its threemonth experimental period, the hotline helped over 2,000 people and averted over 200 suicide attempts. I learnt that adapting procedures and models that worked for corporate enterprises and applying them to social impact areas is essential for developing an efficient Communications platform in Mental Health that aims to reach thousands of individuals every month.

There have been some recent successes for the Brief Relief Pilot initiative. To our knowledge, this is the first such program in India to educate and train Mental Health First Responders in communication, mental health, emergency response, technology, and law. We have had 15 successful grads and provide round-theclock support through live chat, WhatsApp, and phone in 16+ regional languages.

In your opinion what is the current state of awareness regarding mental health issues across India? What impediments does the industry face currently?

The concept of mental health as fundamental to overall wellness is gradually gaining traction in popular culture. People are becoming more aware that their mental health is being profoundly damaged, either informed via recent celebrity suicides or the toll of recessions and pandemics. Additionally, the healthcare industry as a whole is increasingly becoming reliant on technological advancements and innovation to better serve its patients. While progress has been made, there is still a long way to go until rural regions have the same access, laws catch up to the requirements of the times, and medical institutions prepare themselves to service such a huge population.

We only have 5,000 experts to care for a nation of billions, but the World Health Organization estimates that one in three individuals in India will have a mental health problem that requires professional treatment by 2030. It will need vigorous de-stigmatization and awareness-building initiatives to make conversations about mental health normal since the Western perspective on mental health is still dominant.

How do you ensure that the organization stays aligned with the various industry and technology trends?

In Heart It Out we believe the youngest person in the room has the most to offer in terms of insight. Constantly improving our offering alongside cuttingedge experts who apply fresh perspectives and methods to traditional disciplines like psychology, we learn and grow together. To adapt rapidly to the demands of the market, we focus on learning from the individuals we serve rather than following rigidly established practices.

We embrace change and try new things to be on the leading edge of developments in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the metaverse, but we never lose sight of the need to remain firmly rooted in service of ourclients at all times. When the people we serve come first, remaining connected with industry trends and technology becomes easier.

"All dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them"

What is your vision for Heart It Out’s growth in the near future?

I joined the firm in 2020 as an energetic yet naive intern. A personal vision for myself was not even on my radar. I have learned more from my failures than from my successes at Heart It Out, and I have relished every single one of them. A big part of my lifelong goal is to create a welcoming environment where individuals can share their stories and feel comfortable being themselves.

As the current Chief of Operations, I've learned that accessibility involves making oneself widely available to a broad population with a wide range of cultural practices, religious convictions, and personal histories. I am in charge of the 24x7 Helpline and the training of First Responders to deal with psychological emergencies everywhere in India. I now dream of who I would become when 1.5 billion individuals worldwide have access to Heart It Out's mental health services by the year 2030.

Divya Bhatia, Head- Communications & Operations, Heart It Out

Divya has a Bachelor's in Psychology, Economics, and English Literature as well as a Master's in Clinical Psychology. Divya has taught lessons for children with autism and learning difficulties as part of her work at Dr. S. R. Chandrasekhar's Speech Hearing Centre. She has spent over five years as a volunteer teacher and chapter leader at the wellknown NGO U&I, where she has worked deeply with children from underprivileged backgrounds. Divyahas always had a special fondness for animals and is a certified pet sitter and hobbyist pet walker for domestic animals.

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