# How should clinics choose mental health apps to recommend to patients?

URL: https://tymirahealth.com/resources/faqs/what-should-clinics-know-about-mental-health-apps-before-recommending-them
For: Clinicians | Digital health and technology | Last reviewed 23 July 2026

**Answer:** Treat apps as optional support between sessions, never a replacement for care. Before recommending one, check its claims and evidence, what data it collects and shares, whether its crisis resources point to accurate local help, and whether it suits the patient's age. For African patients, also check local languages, low-data and offline use, and privacy on shared phones. Keep an approved list and review it at least yearly, or whenever an app changes owner, pricing or privacy policy.

### In more detail

Patients assume your clinic has checked any app a clinician suggests, so a poor app reflects on your service.

- Red flag: claims to diagnose conditions or replace therapy.
- Red flag: a privacy policy that allows selling or sharing data for advertising, or no clear way to delete an account and its data.
- Red flag: crisis numbers for another country, or referral details nobody has checked locally.
- Check that the app saves progress and recovers cleanly when the connection drops, and that local speakers have reviewed its wording.
- Decide in advance whether app data will enter the clinical record, and collect only what you need.

> **Important:** This Knowledge Hub article is operational education. It does not diagnose, treat, replace professional care, or provide legal advice. Local clinical, privacy, and compliance review should guide live clinic use.

> **Important:** If there is immediate danger or a medical emergency, contact emergency services now. In Kenya, call 999, 112 or 911. Outside Kenya, use the emergency number for your location.

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**About Tymira Health:** Tymira Health is a healthcare technology company based in Nairobi, Kenya. It builds Tymira360, a practice management and EHR platform for mental health, physiotherapy and dental providers, clinics, hospitals, NGOs and insurers across Africa.

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