iCounsel

iCounsel helps users seek affordable help by connecting them to cheaper rates of therapy services overseas.

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Inspiration

Between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of American households with someone suffering from anxiety has alarmingly grown from 11% to 41%. However, while the pandemic has rendered millions of people into joblessness and poverty, healthcare costs remain to be a uniquely American problem (alongside student debt). Therapists from major US states charge at least $250 in hourly rates for their services, and insurance coverages could only relieve much financial burden, even for those who can afford insurance. Meanwhile, some countries around the world offer far cheaper therapy services; in the Philippines, hourly rates vary from $20 to $40, primarily influenced by lower living costs. Our platform aims to democratize therapy by connecting to cheaper services from therapists overseas, which can support patients who want to seek affordable help. It can also generate added sources of income for therapists residing overseas.

What it does

iCounsel is an outsourcing therapy platform that introduces users to therapists offering affordable online services. By creating an account, users can directly contact therapists and conduct meetings through our in-built video call feature.

How we built it

We implemented the platform's front-end using React.js and the back-end using Node.js and Express.js. The video call feature was implemented purely through resources from Microsoft Azure. We used MongoDB for our database.

Challenges we ran into

Implementing the video call feature was the biggest challenge, since it is the major feature of our platform. We had to connect it to the front-end and ensure that it works smoothly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of the overall result of our platform which we created from scratch. We're also proud of implementing this successfully despite working from different time zones.

What we learned

We definitely improved our coding skills and enriched our experiences. Implementing the features of our platform encouraged us to try out tools and technologies that we have not used before.

What's next for iCounsel

We plan to scale our platform to include more helpful features, such as scheduling meetings and employing payment methods. We also have to explore the legal repercussions of operating the platform, since outsourcing services from therapists abroad may coincide with regulations on employment licenses. Finally, we will implement search engine optimization to help users reach out to therapists who can best attend to their needs, and also address potential bias and discrimination against therapists and patients from certain races and nationalities.

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