On Oct. 13, San Joaquin Delta College’s digital mental health service, TBH, was replaced with Massachusetts based online therapy platform, Uwill, following Uwill’s acquisition of TBH in August.
An email regarding the change was sent out to all students on Oct. 2 with a follow up shortly after for students that had previously used the TBH platform with instructions on how to transition their accounts.
“Our concern has been to make sure that students already using TBH were able to transition into Uwill,” said Alex Breitler, Director of Marketing and Communications for Delta College. “You have students who, maybe, have a relationship with people through the TBH platform and… you want the disruption to be as minimal as possible.”
Thousands of students at Delta have used the TBH platform, Breitler said, but the amount who have transitioned to Uwill successfully is currently unclear.
Another looming question was one of continuity: even if students can transfer their data, would the professionals and therapists they met through the TBH Platform follow them?
“Uwill invited all tbh coaches and providers to continue their work on the Uwill platform in similar roles. I’m not sure how many are doing so.” said Breitler in an email.
While the platforms are largely similar, they do differ in key ways.
“The same day access to a therapist to a therapist will actually be an improvement over what students currently have with TBH,” said Breitler.
This improved access does come at a price, however. Uwill does include a credit system which was not present in the TBH system.
“There’s no change in the amount of support Delta students will receive under UWill. Students will continue to receive up to 12 sessions per year.” said Breitler
“There was nothing like that with TBH, it was wide open,” said Breitler.
However the TBH tile lingered on student’s dashboards until at least Oct. 16 — three days after the switch — to facilitate the use of TBH’s unique basic needs resources. Students who clicked on the tile were redirected to Uwill’s home page.
“The issue there is that we’re using TBH for some basic needs,” said Breitler. “The basic needs transition has not yet taken place.”
While the Uwill home page does have a basic needs button, it is currently not functioning, and with the TBH tile redirecting to Uwill there appears to be no way to access basic needs functionality.
These basic needs features were a primary reason that Uwill took an interest in the TBH platform.
“Today’s students are balancing academic demands, jobs, and family responsibilities – sometimes without reliable access to essentials like food, housing, or transportation,” said Michael London, founder and CEO of Uwill in a press release announcing the acquisition “Supporting student mental health means addressing these fundamental needs.”
