COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 14, 2014

QUESTION NO.17

QUESTION: Councillor P. Gogarty

To ask the Manager/CEO to report on the progress of the MindMindr mental health app since its launch by Mayor Cathal King; to outline how many times the app was downloaded; how and when it was promoted; what improvements can be made to promote the app going forward; to outline what other strategies are in place to promote positive mental health and to reduce suicide and self harm through Council initiatives and in conjunction with agencies dealing with these areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY:

Councillor Cathal King, during his tenure as Mayor from June 2012 to June 2013 spearheaded this initiative in consultation with Comharile na nOg, South Dublin County's Youth Council.  MindMindR, the first Mental Health Services Directory for South Dublin County, was launched in June 2013 for iOS and Android platforms.  The mobile phone app was developed to provide a comprehensive directory of mental health services and resources, enabling users to quickly gain access to information on a full range of services and supports available in their local area, concentrating mainly on Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan and Rathfarnham. 

Data for the app was contributed by South Dublin County Council, Comhairle na nOg, Jigsaw and the Health Services Executive.  Design and branding was selected by SDCC, in consultation with Comhairle na nOg.

Information on a range of services including bereavement services, crisis pregnancy, suicide prevention and addiction services is available in a format that people of all ages can locate easily. Emergency contacts are also incorporated and details for national services are listed where relevant. Local services within the South Dublin County boundaries are mapped to enable the user to navigate to the address of the service they require. Each database record has Lat/Long coordinates associated with it so that it can be displayed on Apple and Google Maps with pin-drop based on a choice of Age Profile, Service Type, Area, and A-Z(Service name).  Accessibility information was also incorporated. 

The App was developed to integrate with PARSE, a free, scalable and powerful backend tool managing push notifications, social integration and secure data storage in the cloud.

MindMindR has been available for download since the 10th June 2013 and to date, in excess of 1500 downloads have been recorded.  The app has received positive local and national media coverage.

Ownership of MindMindR will be passed from South Dublin County Council to Headstrong and a meeting is scheduled to take place on the 3rd July 2014 to finalise handover arrangements and the ongoing maintenance and updating of the app data by Jigsaw staff.