Institutional development · Research, innovation and assessment · Japan
Kyoto University pilot of Vietnamese-language mental health app recruits 14 of 134 target
A Kyoto University researcher and colleagues trialled an app letting Vietnamese residents of Japan check their mental health in their own language and reach counsellors, but recruitment fell far short of plan.
Why it matters: Researchers on the Kobe Cứu app now face recruitment and continued-use problems, which the team says it will address with Vietnamese community and support groups.
Kyoto University said Associate Professor 山下正 (Yamashita) of its Graduate School of Medicine, who did the work while at Kobe City College of Nursing, and colleagues built and trialled Kobe Cứu, an app offering Vietnamese-language self-checks for depression and anxiety, chat counselling and health information.
According to the university, 14 people took part in the three-month trial, and all seven in the intervention group used the self-check, with a median of four uses and a range of two to 13.
The university reported that participants reached only 10.4% of the 134 targeted, so no conclusion on the app's effectiveness could be drawn, although the four intervention-group respondents rated its acceptability broadly positively.
The results appeared online on 28 October 2026 in Mental Health & Prevention, an international journal published by Elsevier.
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
For the research team and the Vietnamese residents the app targets, the trial identified recruitment and sustained use as feasibility problems rather than establishing effectiveness; the stated next step is to work with Vietnamese community and support organisations on a system that connects people to help.
What to watch
- Whether the team's planned work with Vietnamese community and support organisations produces a system that makes needed help easier to reach.
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