Oncology-focused digital therapeutics company Mika Health and global nonprofit Cancer Support Community (CSC) announced the pair will provide an AI-enabled oncology-focused digital therapeutic for U.S.-based cancer patients and their caregivers to access mental health and other support services free of charge.
Mika Health provides cancer patients with an app where they can access psychological support to reduce disease-related anxiety, depression and stress. Patients can also track side effects from medications, receive medication reminders, obtain education and nutrition advice, and coordinate appointments.
The digital therapeutic, which is already certified as a medical device and released in the EU, can be personalized to an individual’s specific type of cancer and will be made available to patients in North America.
“Through our patient experience research and work supporting hundreds of thousands of people impacted with cancer every year, we know that many people struggle to access the mental health support that they need and want,” Cancer Support Community CEO Sally Werner said in a statement.
“Our prior experience piloting app-based mental health interventions showed reductions in anxiety and depression, so we are excited to partner with Mika in bringing their AI-enabled evidence-based digital therapeutic to people coping with the challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis. We are thrilled to work alongside an innovative leader in digital therapeutics whose commitment to improving cancer patients’ access to care aligns so strongly with ours.”
THE LARGER TREND
The partners are also collaborating to expand access to Mika’s app through Cancer Support Community’s healthcare partnerships and across its nearly 200 network locations.
The pair will also codevelop multicultural and multilingual components to improve health equity and utilize CSC’s screener and digital assessment tools and perform research on psychosocial patient behaviors and treatments to improve patient and caregiver outcomes.