Prudential Vietnam has announced the launch of its new mental wellness tools aimed at helping users manage their mental and physical health with personalised information and recommendations.

The AI-powered tools can now be accessed on Pulse by Prudential (Pulse), adding to the extensive features on this all-in-one holistic health and wealth management mobile app.

According to a scientific brief released by the World Health Organization in March this year, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25 per cent in the first year of the pandemic.

In pre-pandemic Viet Nam, according to statistics published by the Ha Noi-based Bach Mai Hospital’s Institute of Mental Health, 30 per cent of the population had various mental health issues, 25 per cent related to depression and 15 per cent caused by stress disorders.

Despite close to one in three people being aware of their condition, only some sought medical attention.

Tran Thanh Phong, chief marketing officer of Prudential Vietnam, said: “We cannot talk about holistic wellness without considering mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly taken a toll on people’s mental health over the past two years, with uncertainties and anxiety affecting our daily lives, particularly in fulfilling our family, social and personal duties. We hope to support people through this challenging time with our new service features.”

WHO defines mental health as a state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

A mentally healthy person is generally positive in their thinking, able to take charge of their behaviours and emotions while remaining resilient against life’s challenges.

With the new mental wellness tools now available on Pulse, users can gain more information about their mental health status through self-awareness quizzes and mood tracker.

Self-awareness quizzes consist of six tests designed to help users recognise their mental health condition, relationship qualities and comfort levels in everyday planning and self-nurturing, all important factors for enjoying a happier, more stable and well-balanced life.

Mood tracker is a feature designed to document and track one’s moods and emotions to better acknowledge their thoughts and behaviours, moderate negative reactions and increase compassion as well as relationship qualities.

Besides, Pulse users can access bite-sized, curated audiovisual content on mental health topics and self-care methods if they wish to expand their knowledge.

Since its launch in May 2020 nearly 3 million users in Viet Nam have benefited from the insights and solutions recommended by Pulse.

The more popular and frequently used tools in supporting users throughout their health journeys include healthcheck (a digital questionnaire designed to provide users with a 3D anatomical view of the body and health insights on potential health conditions. It provides suggestions for users to improve their long-term health), symptom checker (an AI-powered chatbot analyses a user’s health condition and provides relevant advice) and telemedicine that enables users to easily access medical consultation via video calls from anywhere in the country.

Phong added: “The launch of mental wellness tools on Pulse further underscores Prudential’s commitment to raising public awareness in Viet Nam of the importance of maintaining a balanced life, both physically and mentally. We hope our innovative solutions will offer a pathway for everyone to achieve that and get the most out of life.”

Pulse by Prudential can be downloaded at https://onepulse.onelink.me/yZES/m5vcvrih