Bupa Global & UK partners with mental health social media platform JAAQ

The collaboration between Bupa and JAAQ (Just Ask A Question) is designed to increase online access to personalised, expert-led health advice.

Bupa’s Dr Arun Thiyagarajan and Dr Samantha Wild will provide expertise on mental health, as well as men’s and women's health topics via the JAAQ platform over the next six months.

Dr Thiyagarajan, Managing Director for Bupa Health Clinics, said: “At Bupa we are constantly looking for ways to innovate and harness new technologies, in order to address needs of our customers. Our latest research shows us that many people – young people especially – prefer to get their information online.

“It’s really important that people are able to access credible, personalised advice for a health issue that’s worrying them, so we’re really pleased that our health experts are providing that advice through JAAQ.”

It comes after the latest Bupa Wellbeing Index revealed there is still a reluctance to seek support for mental health issues.

The reasons why include fear of wasting a doctor’s time, embarrassment about talking to a ‘stranger’ and a lack of time.

Additionally, 21 per cent of 25-44-year-olds believe that topics like men’s mental health are taboo, meaning this age group is more likely to seek information online, with 40 per cent saying they had digitally searched symptoms in the last three months.

Danny Gray, Founder of JAAQ, said: “We’re so pleased to have Bupa as a partner, helping people to access free, credible advice from trained health experts. It’s really important to us that people are able to get answers to the questions that they have and receive the help they need.”

Young people are not the only ones turning to the internet with mental health concerns –  expats are self-diagnosing conditions after using the internet.