Telehealth apps see post-COVID focus on mental wellbeing

FILE PHOTO: Medical doctor Makoto Kitada demonstrates a telemedicine application service called 'CLINICS', developed by Japanese medical start-up Medley Inc., in Tokyo, Japan, July 8, 2020. Picture taken July 8, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

LISBON (Reuters) -Demand for online mental health care will be a priority in the post-COVID world, bosses of telehealth apps say, after lockdowns took a toll on people's wellbeing and requests for virtual appointments skyrocketed.

"There's a mental health crisis in Europe... there's a big problem that needs to be solved," Johannes Schildt, the CEO of Sweden-based health startup Kry, one of Europe's leading digital healthcare providers, told Reuters at the Web Summit in Lisbon.