Google Hires Headspace Exec Megan Jones Bell for Mental Health Focus

Google has hired Megan Jones Bell, former Headspace chief strategy and science officer, to lead its push into the mental health space as clinical director of consumer and mental health, according to a Fierce Healthcare report on Tuesday (Oct. 26).

When she starts next week, Bell will oversee Google’s approach to mental and behavioral health and will lead Google’s team of clinicians and health experts who back several of Google’s consumer products. She worked at Google as a mental health advisor earlier in her career.

Meditation and mindfulness app Headspace recently merged with behavioral health company Ginger.

Google offers several programs and product features related to mental health, including a platform that connects people to information and resources on YouTube as well as its maps and search features. The tech behemoth also has clinically validated screeners for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and post-partum depression.

In May of 2020, Google partnered with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) on an anxiety screener that featured medically validated information about anxiety, including symptoms and treatments.

Bell will join the team of Chief Health Officer Karen DeSalvo, M.D. to support Google Health, which includes company-wide health-focused efforts that span Google Search, Maps, YouTube, Fitbit, Cloud and its health AI research, the report stated.

Related news: hum by Colgate Collaborates With Meditation App Headspace

Late last year, hum by Colgate and Headspace got together to help individuals “stress less and smile more” by implementing healthier everyday routines, such as looking at brushing their teeth or going for a stroll as an opportunity to “observe and reflect on their thoughts,” according to the joint announcement.

Headspace offers Mindful Moments content inside the hum by Colgate program to support these new habits, and hum members will get free trials of Headspace Plus.