California Baptist University now offers telehealth and tele-mental health care for undergraduate and graduate students through the app TimelyCare. The app allows for 24/7 on-demand care 365 days a year through any device that has internet access. CBU will now be offering three services through the app: 24/7 on-demand medical treatment, 24/7 on-demand mental health treatment and scheduled medical appointments.
All three services will be free of charge for all students, unlike in-person medical appointments at the Wellness Center. Talk-Now, the mental health portion of the app, also provides unlimited appointments as an alternative to the Counseling Center, which has in-person limits.
Griffin Sharp, TimelyCare’s Client Success Manager for CBU, shared that the app can be beneficial no matter what a student needs or where they may be located.
“Students have access to this whenever they might need it,” Sharp said. “If they are feeling sick physically or if they’re stressed, anxious, depressed or dealing with something, these services are always available. [The app] is available in all 50 states, so even if students are traveling out of state, they have access to these services.”
Students can benefit from this free access to health care. Emily Waters, senior musical education major, said it is important for students to have access to this care.
“With the state of the world the way that it is, we as students are not immune to the stresses and anxieties of the pandemic, racial tensions and political tensions,” Waters said. “For students that have existing mental health issues, these stresses can escalate their anxieties. Even among students without existing mental health issues, there has been a dramatic increase in depression and anxiety. With easy and free access to mental health care, it will give students the access that they need, and the tools that they need to be able to cope with their anxiety, depression or anything under the mental health umbrella.”
Kaylee-Grace Porter, junior psychology student, shared the comfort that the app can bring her and the rest of the students.
“It will benefit us because it’s a good feeling to know that I’m taken care of,” Porter said. “If something goes wrong, I know I always have a place to go. It’s easy to use and it’s on your phone, and we are on our phones all the time.”
Sharp also shared this idea of the convenience and comfort of the app. In a generation that has their phone in their hand, mental health through an app makes it easy.
“What I always say is it’s a great thing to have in your back pocket,” Sharp said. “If and when you might feel sick or if you need to talk to a mental health professional, it’s there.”
Students who download the app and make an account with their LancerMail before Sept. 30 will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a pair of Apple AirPods. Students can go to timelycare.com/calbaptist to register now.
