Ginger, a California based provider of smartphone based on-demand mental healthcare supported by AI textual analytics and Headspace, an online mindfulness provider, are merging to provide a global platform for digital mental healthcare and wellbeing. The new entity, Headspace Health, aims to democratise mental healthcare to provide a fuller spectrum of affordable and comprehensive mental health support.

“We are witnessing a mental health crisis unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetimes, yet the majority of mental healthcare today is neither broadly accessible nor affordable,” said CeCe Morken, CEO of Headspace. “Together, as Headspace Health, we will address the systemic challenges of access and affordability in a fundamentally different way by creating the world’s most holistic, scalable, and effective mental health and wellbeing company.”

Founded in 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by Karan Singh, co-founder and chief operating officer, Ginger aims to offer its members convenient, high-quality mental healthcare – including behavioural health coaching, therapy, and psychiatry – from a smartphone.

Powered by AI and data science, Ginger’s care team utilises a system that analyses chat transcripts, clinical assessments, member satisfaction, engagement data, and more to help them provide personalised and effective care for each member – and ensure that no one falls through the cracks.

Ginger has built one of the world’s largest mental health data sets through its Mood Matters study, having conducted research with eight of the top 10 academic medical centres in the US and over 40 medical institutions nationwide. This data, combined with Ginger’s internal studies and data-driven quality assurance programme, help Ginger to continually improve the high standard of care they deliver, at scale.

Ginger is reimbursed as a virtual in-network benefit through fully-insured, self-insured, and government-funded programmes, such as Cigna and AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, a Medicaid programme. The company’s on-demand, team-based care model, which includes behavioural health coaching, therapy, and psychiatry, has been shown to produce an average of 59% improvement in anxiety and 70% improvement in depression.

Headspace, founded in 2010 by Andy Puddicombe and Richard Pierson, is known for being one of the first meditation apps in the world and remains a leader in mindfulness and mental training. The Headspace app consistently ranks in the top five health & fitness apps in the Apple App Store.

Headspace has forged innovative partnerships with household entertainment and technology brands such as Netflix, Apple, Spotify, and BBC Studios, including a recent integration with Microsoft, which enables millions of people to bring meditation and mindfulness into their workday through the Microsoft Viva Insights app in Teams. The company also partners with companies across the healthcare ecosystem including Bright HealthCare and Solera Health, which distributes Headspace to leading regional health plans through their Mental Health and Stress solution. Through these partnerships, the cost of Headspace is fully covered.

In 25+ studies published in leading mindfulness peer-reviewed journals, Headspace has been shown to produce favourable outcomes of interventions, including reduced stress, improved focus, increased resilience, and reduced burnout. A randomised controlled trial showed that people who engaged in mindfulness meditation through Headspace daily for 30 days reported reducing their stress levels by a third.

A published study conducted at Google and Roche showed that eight weeks of Headspace resulted in a 31% decrease in anxiety symptoms and a 46% decrease in depressive symptoms among healthy adults.

Together as Headspace Health, the two companies will serve consumers, employers, and health plans. Their combined expertise in consumer brand, evidence-based interventions, and technology will help improve resilience, reduce stress, and provide treatment to the millions of people experiencing mental health symptoms, from anxiety to depression to more complex diagnoses.