Mental Health
CALM: Co-producing a Digital Intervention for Bipolar Disorder
Status: Active (co-design phase complete)
Collaborator: Dr Aditya Sharma, Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Newcastle University
Young people with bipolar disorder face a lifetime of symptom management, yet digital tools to support them remain underdeveloped. Building on Dr Sharma's earlier co-production work, we are redesigning a mobile app for mood monitoring and self-management that adapts to patients' evolving needs from adolescence into adulthood. Co-design workshops with young people, families, and clinicians have been completed, and the refined prototype is now entering development for evaluation of acceptability, usability, and real-world impact. (Video)
Milestone: Co-design phase completed with four workshops. Prototype entering development.
Relevant publications:
- Process and Outcome Evaluations of Smartphone Apps for Bipolar Disorder: Scoping Review
- Technology Matters: Collaboratively augmenting longitudinal monitoring (C.A.L.M) in bipolar disorder – co-design, co-production and evaluation of the alpha prototype app
- Mental Health Monitoring for Young People Through Mood Apps: Protocol for a Scoping Review and Systematic Search in App Stores
Real-World Evaluation of an AI Mental Health Chatbot (Wysa)
Status: Completed
Funder: NHS AI in Health and Care Award (part of a £36M government programme) and NIHR
Patients referred to NHS Talking Therapies face waits of up to six months with negligible interim support. We co-led a mixed-methods randomised controlled trial evaluating whether Wysa, an AI-based self-management chatbot, could reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression during the waiting period. The trial examined clinical outcomes, user engagement, and patient experience across NHS sites.
Relevant publications:
Evaluating a Personalised Mental Health App Recommender (Syndi)
Status: Completed
Funder: Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Award
Collaborator: Syndi Ltd.
Thousands of mental health apps exist, but few have strong evidence of effectiveness, and patients struggle to find tools suited to their individual needs. We evaluated Syndi, an integrated platform that uses personalised recommendation algorithms to match patients with evidence-informed mental health apps. The study assessed acceptability, usability, and the system's capacity to improve mental health outcomes.