Developed for and with young adults, Jesey is a self-care A.I assistant, designed to help boost mood and morale with acts of kindness by planting trees when users check-in. Evidence shows that acts of kindness, deeds or helping others is beneficial for people’s mental health as altruistic behaviours activate the brain鈥檚 mesolimbic reward system, giving a helper鈥檚 high which improves morale, self-esteem, happiness and purpose. The app aims to positively affect mental health and climate change in one app for the first time.
Jesey has partnered with Tree planting聽Charity Trees for Future to plant trees and improve the livelihoods of impoverished farmers by revitalising degraded lands. A new mood-boosting app,聽Jesey, launches today, aiming to plant a million trees through action of self-care and kindness.
The power of kindness is Mental Health Week 2020鈥檚 theme this year, and聽Jesey鈥檚 creators hope its launch, to mark the beginning of the week will support young adults facing increased anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. Research from Young Minds shows 83% of under-25s have seen their mental health worsen during the pandemic and a quarter are no longer able to access mental health support.
Jesey, the AI 鈥榝riend鈥� and wellbeing coach, will help young adults manage moods and motivation while helping them save the planet through a tree-planting charity partnership.
The app encourages young adults to discuss any issues they feel are limiting their potential, tracking their mood every day to develop a history of and insight into their mental health.聽 For every new download of the app, a new tree is planted and a new tree planted for three** check-ins a week.聽Jesey聽is the first app in the world to create such a circular experience connecting mental health and sustainability.
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Users 补谤别听sents daily reminders, invites for coffee-style catch-ups, shares mindfulness exercises and encourages the user to get out, get off-screen and work-out. These activities have been scientifically proven to boost your mood, and聽Jesey聽promotes each under one roof, underpinned by one of the most impactful things we can do to feel better about ourselves – sharing an act of kindness.
The app, created by tech and wellbeing entrepreneurs Lee McPherson and Chris Sweeney, honed in on this insight during its development. Lee McPherson, a tech and eco startup adviser said:
鈥淲e knew that kindness and making an impact has a huge effect on how we feel and how we see ourselves, and we understood it could be used as a really motivating tool to practice more self-care. We wanted to explore this in relation to eco-anxiety, an issue which is prevalent in young adults and something they felt pretty powerless to influence. This is where聽Jesey聽came in- a way to be kind to yourself, and the planet.鈥�
奥丑颈濒别听Jesey聽isn鈥檛 a replacement for a counsellor, it works as a wellness buddy and has been programmed to use techniques similar to cognitive behavioural therapy, building a daily rapport with practical exercises and mood visualisations. What鈥檚 different about聽Jesey聽is its approach.聽Areti Petoussis, 20 years old Sheffield student said:
鈥淚t鈥檚 been great that mental health is a big thing now, but it feels like it鈥檚 a conversation my friends and I have been left out of. I like Jesey, the GIFs and emojis. It鈥檚 so non-invasive that I feel like I鈥檓 chatting to a friend, not being 鈥榣abelled鈥� for doing something that鈥檚 good for me.鈥�
The initial app, developed with leading mental health professionals, has been tested with students in 16 UK cities over the past year ahead of finalising the tree planting initiative with Trees For The Future (Trees.org). Trees.org is a charity that has planted 187m trees to date, each one native or naturalised in the environment planted, working with farmers to understand their needs and match them to species that will benefit them and the planet. Despite the obvious hurdles in launching an app with a planting programme during a pandemic, Jesey鈥檚 creators are passionate that now is the time.聽Chris Sweeney, co-Founder and a trustee of the world鈥檚 oldest youth club said:
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen how much cleaner and clearer the air is during lockdown, our planet has been healing, but the opposite is probably true about our mental health. We鈥檙e feeling powerless and stuck in a rut right now, but Jesey聽can help us do our bit for the planet and for ourselves from wherever we are, even if that鈥檚 the sofa.鈥�
