BHUBANESWAR: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, is set to roll out an artificial intelligence (AI) driven mental health and wellness programme to tackle mental health challenges among young people and reduce student suicides.
It is among the three national institutes selected to implement the initiative with the help of ‘Never Alone’ app, the other two being AIIMS-Delhi and Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Shahdara. This will be first implemented for students of these institutes and later passed on to others.
Executive director of AIIMS-BBS Dr Ashutosh Biswas said Never Alone will train faculty and student volunteers as ‘well-being partners’ to provide a strong on-campus support network. “Students will have both online and offline access to consultations through the app, which will promote emotional literacy, resilience and mental health awareness among students. We are building a system where students feel safe, supported and empowered to seek help,” he said.
The app combines human insights (HI), human affection (HA) and AI to provide timely support for students facing stress, anxiety and emotional crisis. On inquiry, it will first counsel and then generate a diagnostic summary followed by a treatment link power by AI with a copy of the link to a psychiatrist or the council for well of students.
This web-based highly secure platform will use WhatsApp to deliver confidential, accessible mental health consultations round the clock. Students will undergo AI-guided screenings that offer instant recommendations, expert consultations and resources tailored to their needs.
Head of psychiatry department Dr Biswa Ranjan Mishra said whenever students feel emotionally suffocated, mentally disturbed or socially left out, they can connect to the platform for their holistic wellness. The initiative will be launched after an MoU with AIIMS-Delhi, he said.
“The students who require deeper care will be connected with psychologists and wellness experts for one-on-one sessions or for professional psychiatric care, including medication and follow-up support. With the help of technology, it will ensure that no student feels left behind or unheard,” he said.
Although no suicide cases have been reported among the AIIMS students in recent years, Odisha has registered 481 student suicides, including 218 boys and 263 girls between 2021 and 2023. The number of cases went up by around 59 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2021.
