Introducing Tandem™ - Crowdsourcing Human Benevolence Through Technology
MHI Founding Partner, Stéphane Grenier, along with Jon O’Connor, Partner and Technology Lead, share the story behind the launch of the Tandem™ app.
Ever since the time Stéphane Grenier sat down at his kitchen table to launch Mental Health Innovations (MHI), his vision has been that one day, every human being could easily access someone who understands them on a level deeper than they ever thought possible.
“Every day, millions of humans cross paths with someone who could change their lives. They just have no way of knowing it.”
- Stéphane Grenier
Stéphane shares the analogy of sitting in a busy restaurant or café …
Somewhere to your right, there is someone who is struggling with something, it could be anything really (loss of a parent, depression, divorce, abuse, …).
Looking to your left, chances are, there is someone there who has been through something similar, who could engage in a positive conversation and provide a bit of hope and reduce the feeling of isolation of the person to your right.
The irony is that the two shall never meet.
Now imagine if there was something that could allow them to connect...
“We always knew that there would be a need and an opportunity to leverage technology for the benefit of improving human connection. We see peer support as a movement, the great bridge between friendship and clinical care.”
- Jon O’Connor
So here we are, about to launch a technology, called Tandem™ that will revolutionize how we currently manage peer support programs in organizations, and maybe one day, how the whole world does peer support.
Tan-dem
“A group of two or more working or occurring in conjunction with each other”
Tandem™ was developed to eradicate the very irony noted above, “the two shall never meet” part of the story. Tandem™ provides a bridge for human connection at the touch of a finger.
For the time being, Tandem™ will be available in closed settings, such as workplaces, associations, educational institutions, regional health care authorities, etc. to help bring their peer support programs to the next level.
One day, we hope to be able to leverage public funding and community lived experience to bring Tandem™ to all, without compromising our careful selection, training, and qualification processes for peer supporters.
“Bottom line, we believe human benevolence can be crowdsourced. Better yet, it can be curated, loaded into an app and made available to those who need it, when they need it.”
It’s been a long time coming for us, and we did not want to launch our technology until we were absolutely certain it was ready and safe. We are finally ready to bring Tandem™ to market, and we hope you will join us on this exciting adventure.
For more information on Tandem, visit supportyourpeople.com/tandem
or get in touch with us today.