The pandemic has pushed mental health demand ever higher while simultaneously making interventions more challenging. Enter the digital mental health pioneers racing to fill the gap.
Mental health needs increased exponentially during the pandemic. In fact, by the middle of 2020, a fifth of people in Britain were reportedly suffering from depression, twice the number than in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The problem is more acute in the younger generation: the number of children and young people needing emergency care because they were in a mental health crisis rose by 20 per cent to 18,269.
However, too many people find that the support is not there; while mental health accounts for 28 per cent of the burden of disease in the UK, spending on mental health services is just 13 per cent of the care budget.
Digital apps aim to bridge this gap, allowing people to take control of their own mental health. Here are some of this year’s innovations.
Support for students
In September, digital mental health platform Kooth added a service provider availability checker to its portfolio.
The business has created an online tool for UK university students seeking mental health support, allowing them to find out whether Kooth or other online NHS-commissioned mental health services are available and accessible.
The resource forms part of a new awareness campaign called “What’s on Your Mind?”, which aims to ensure that all students have the mental health support they need.
Kooth is a free, anonymous digital mental health platform commissioned across 90 per cent of NHS England, large parts of Wales and in three areas of Scotland. It provides students with immediate access to its mental health services and support – 24/7, 365 days a year – via a computer, smartphone or tablet, without referrals or waiting lists.
Mental health messages
In October, The World Health Organisation (WHO) teamed up with a number of popular digital platforms to bring mental health messages to gamers.
One example of the work was the new Self-Care Tournament on Angry Birds Friends, featuring 24 new game levels related to relaxation and healthy living, as well as WHO recommendations and tips.
The tournament encouraged players of all ages to take care of their mental health, with the aim of fostering lasting healthier lifestyles at home.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on people’s mental health and overall well-being,” said Andy Pattison, team lead of digital channels at the WHO.
“Now, it’s more important than ever to leverage popular digital platforms, such as Angry Birds to empower people to look after themselves both physically and mentally.”
Improving wait times
In June, Limbic launched an AI-enabled app to support overstretched NHS mental health services as they prepare for an influx of patients suffering from mental health issues triggered by the pandemic.
In partnership with private provider Vita Health Group, Limbic launched the app across four NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services, with plans to roll out the technology across the country over the next year.
The app, which includes three products – Limbic Self-Care, Limbic Care and Limbic Prevent – will help bridge the gap between the increase in patients and the number of available clinicians.
Using conversational AI and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) methods, Limbic says the app supports patients throughout the entire care pathway, from waiting list all the way through to discharge.
Heart monitoring
Digital technology has also helped track the physical health of mental health patients over the course of the pandemic.
In what was believed to be a world-first approach, a portable monitoring device that detects heart irregularities in just minutes was used to monitor patients in their own homes to ensure essential ECGs continued.
Patients using certain antipsychotic medications require regular ECGs due to the possible risk of arrhythmias, which can cause convulsions, dizziness and fainting and, in rare cases, sudden cardiac death.
The programme, rolled out by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, involved using a KardiaMobile 6L portable ECG device within its community teams to monitor patients, while also reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission by ensuring social distancing during the process.
Traditionally, patients undergo ECGs in a clinical setting and are required to partially undress, have their skin prepared and ten separate leads attached to their chest, legs and arms.
By contrast, the KardiaMobile 6L is a small, wireless device that is quicker and less intrusive providing a reading in 30 seconds.
Measuring post-Covid depression
In April, data from users of a digital health platform found that the mental wellbeing of patients recovering from Covid-19 was low enough on average to require assessment for depression.
Measured against the WHO-5 wellbeing scale created by the World Health Organisation (WHO), patients with Covid-19 reported on average significantly lower feelings of wellbeing in the study.
The data was collected via a questionnaire sent to patients using the my mhealth Covid Virtual Ward – which enables the safe management patients with the virus at home or in a care home. It was collated as part of a partnership with SilverCloud Health.
The average score fell into the WHO’s “poor” wellbeing category – low enough to suggest that Covid has had a significant impact on wellbeing and that the respondents may benefit from further support and assessment.
The average score amongst the 65 respondents was 50.45 – compared to the good wellbeing baseline of 70 on the WHO-5 scale.
The data also shows that 60 per cent of patients would welcome free access to digital tools supporting wellbeing.
