Youth mental health app trialled

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is testing a mobile app this week that it hopes will help young people with mental illness.

The Early Intervention in Psychosis Team, which gives treatment and support to young people with psychosis, have created a ‘my journey’ app to help service users monitor their mood and get advice on symptoms.

The app also gives medication and appointment reminders as well as a list of useful contacts in case of emergencies.

Team manager at the Early Intervention in Psychosis Team, Sarah Amani, said the aim is to integrate the app with clinical systems.

“Details are still being worked out, but ultimately the goal is to have clinicians and patients work together and them both having access to progress and records,” she said.

“We want it to be integrated with clinician’s systems so that it can be used as a tool in the treatment process.”

The idea for ‘my journey” - named by one of the young people involved in the project - came up during a regular session run by the trust.

“It all came about during a meeting when one of the girls got out her phone to create an appointment reminder on her phone,” said Amani.

“It was sort of an ‘aha’ moment and since then we’ve worked with the youngsters all along to make sure it works for them.”

The ‘my journey’ app, was at first directed at people with psychosis, but the final product is an all-round mental health app. The feedback from this week’s trial will be taken into account before the official launch.

Amani said the app could aid people to seek help earlier, a key factor as studies show that the earlier a young person seeks help, the greater the chance of recovery.

The app idea was voted number seven out of 500 mobile app ideas submitted to the Department of Health’s showcase for the most popular health apps, the ‘maps and apps’ crowd sourcing competition, earlier this year.

Building of the app was funded mostly through the DH’s Mary Seacole Award, which was given to the project last year.

The Early Intervention in Psychosis team will be presenting their app at the Mental Health Network’s annual conference and exhibition on 8 November.