Singapore 'Mindline at Work for MOE' mental health support

Mindline at Work is a digital system devised and run by Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) that aims to support and improve the mental health and wellbeing of Singaporeans in the workplace. 

The system comprises a series of personalised mental health tools, exercises, and support resources, including access to the Wysa chatbot, which guides users in self-care and self-management exercises.

Risks and harms 🛑

Criticism of Singapore's system primarily focused on the perceived limitations of the Wysa chatbot.

• Users complained Wysa is unhelpful, lacks empathy, and can be aggravating. 

• Others felt it is little more than a 'one-size-fits-all programme' that struggles to meet teachers’ specific needs.

• A number of MOE employees suggested the ministry should be focusing on the underlying problem of overwork, a demanding performance appraisal system, large classroom sizes, and uncapped working hours. 

• Mental health, some teachers claim, is little more than a mere 'afterthought'.

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Inkster B., Sarda S., Subramanian V. (2018). An Empathy-Driven, Conversational Artificial Intelligence Agent (Wysa) for Digital Mental Well-Being: Real-World Data Evaluation Mixed-Methods Study

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://restofworld.org/2022/free-therapy-chatbots-singapore/

• https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/teachers-and-other-moe-staff-can-get-emotional-support-on-new-online-portal

• https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/moe-chatbot-negative-reviews-1984976

• https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/x3r9ya/the_previous_post_doesnt_fully_illustrate_how/

• https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/y3pa63/chan_chun_sings_moe_is_critically_out_of_touch/

• https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/top-mental-health-and-prayer-apps-fail-spectacularly-at-privacy-security/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc7XH5xsCjc

• https://kuanyewism.com/2022/09/moes-new-emotional-support-portal-gaslights-teachers/