SMH hand with phone

Case Study

Screening for Mental Health

Empowering communities and individuals to promote, assess, and support mental health

01

The Challenge

To improve an organization’s technology stack to meet increasing demands from growth and expansion.

02

The Approach

Technical consulting, improving business systems, and building a more powerful application to support the organization.

03

The Outcome

A new reliable application to deliver and manage a variety of customizable mental health screenings for a broad audience.

Client Introduction

Offering Secure, Online Screenings

Screening for Mental Health (SMH) offers secure, online screenings for common behavioral and mental health disorders. These online screenings provide a safe outlet to assess people's mental health, offer information on whether their results are consistent with a mental health disorder, and connect them to local, quality resources for more information or help.

Project at a Glance

What Our Team Provided

Solutions

  • Custom Software

How it started

Growing the app to meet growing demand

When SMH approached us, the development challenges they faced were, at their core, business challenges as well. SMH offers a variety of online mental health screenings that are available to the general public or created specifically for organizations such as colleges, workplaces, or community organizations. Over time, SMH’s scale of operations and reach expanded, and they needed a more powerful application and improved system to manage it all.

Technical Consulting

A strategy to scale

What started with a technical question turned into a thoughtful plan to redevelop SMH’s entire screening system. We determined this was the most sustainable and responsible strategy that would meet both immediate and future needs. Our goal was to deliver a superior technology solution that would be powerful, reliable, and capable of handling the complexity of the screenings for years to come.

Development

Streamlined and efficient

We built the new system on Laravel and utilized a series of APIs for integration with other systems, such as ExpressionEngine, which is the CMS that SMH administrators used to develop new screening microsites. The application we built helped streamline SMH’s in-house development, allowing them to easily and quickly create, customize, and deliver screening applications in the form of uniquely branded microsites for their client’s organizations. The new system also allowed microsite administrators to safely manage their screenings and generate reports to measure impression and impact.

Testing

Taking the time

Considering the sensitive nature of the screenings and collected data, we needed to ensure that the application was reliable and user-friendly. We went through multiple rounds of testing to ensure stable functionality for all parties involved. This included SMH employees who manage everything from a high level, microsite administrators who manage unique screening sites for their organization, and end users who take the screenings.

The End Result

Better performance, greater impact

SMH had a record number of screenings immediately after we launched the new application. Not only is the screening app we built more powerful, it’s also extremely efficient and provides a lower total cost of ownership for SMH as they add new organizations to the system. The app also features an improved user experience with admin and client dashboards that make customization and reporting easier. The best part? Our work has helped SMH continue to empower communities and reach more individuals through quality mental health assessments and education.

Client Testimonials

"Working with the Foster Made team has helped us bring our organization’s mental health screening platform to the next level. The screenings are our organization’s main focus, and it was invaluable having FM not only as our developers, but also as thought partners who brought impressive knowledge and provided important guidance throughout the process. We are grateful for their expertise and continuing stellar support."

Stephanie Mangiacotti Weggeman, Technology Project Manager

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