Adapt to scale

Abstract

One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives (WHO, 2001). Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill- health and disability worldwide, in particular in low-income countries, where many barriers to receiving support exist (WHO, 2001). Inuka is a social enterprise spun out from Philips that aims at tackling Mental Health by making psychological support more accessible, affordable, anonymous and qualified. Inuka offers life coaching via confidential chats on smartphones. On one side, Inuka trains and supervises lay health workers in delivering a Behavioral- Cognitive-Therapy method. On the other side, Inuka connects them with distressed clients that want to be supported in facing life challenges, through an online platform. To achieve further social impact, Inuka aims to scale out to new geographic, social and cultural contexts, starting from the Church context. As a matter of fact, distressed individuals, in particular in Africa, seek psychological support in religious leaders as one of the first touchpoints. Starting by translating Inuka to the Church context in Kenya (Inuka Faith), where part of Inuka team is based, this thesis aims to provide the company with a framework to support their future scaling-out processes. Drawing from literature research on scaling social enterprises and adapting Evidence-based interventions to new locations, a framework to adapt Inuka current service to the characteristics of a new context was designed. The framework was tested and iterated on by applying it to the Church context in Kenya. Three main iterations were carried on, one of which entails field research in Nairobi, where the author stayed for 4 weeks. The objectives of the field trip were to better understand the context, its stakeholders and target users and to set the ground for an actual implementation. The adaptation process proposed in the final framework entails three phases (“Assess the new context“, “Validate Inuka Value Hypothesis“ and “Adapt variable components“), is preceded by a phase that unlocks those three (“Assess Inuka’s resources“) and followed by the implementation and evaluation of a pilot. For each phase, Inuka team should assess whether it is reasonable to think that the phase is completed (and therefore go to the next phase), if it is better to pivot on that phase, or if advisable to stop the scaling out process to the new chosen context. The final framework does not aim to be a strict guide to be literally followed, but to provide the company with relevant elements that should be kept in mind and methods the company could use. The application of the designed framework to Inuka Faith case allowed to unveil barriers to its adoption by potential customers and new opportunities. For this reason, the framework is expected to achieve the same outcome when applied to other contexts. This is due to the twofold nature of the framework. On one side, the systematic nature of the framework allows Inuka team to easily appropriate it and to follow its steps, keeping in mind the aspects that turned out to be the most relevant when conducting Inuka Faith case. On the other side, its user-centered nature allows to carry on an adaptation to a new context that is deeply rooted in the users’ and in the stakeholders’ needs, wants and characteristics. With an adaptation based on the characteristics of the new context, Inuka is likely to succeed in the new context.