Improving mental health through digital 

Improving mental health through digital 
Improving mental health through digital 
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With approximately 1 million people waiting for mental health services by April 2024, the pressure on these services continues to escalate. Addressing the rising severity and complexity of service users’ needs has become increasingly challenging, particularly for vulnerable populations who may face additional barriers to accessing care.

Digital products and services provide opportunities to improve service access, as well as clinically monitor service users to proactively detect and predict crisis risk. The use of digitally-enabled therapy models across areas like IAPT, first episode psychosis, eating disorders, and CYP can also help to engage patients in their recovery and improve outcomes.

This award will go to a team or system that is developing or leveraging digital services to deliver better care, put service users at the centre of care services, engage the community and reduce stigma. Judges will be particularly interested in digital initiatives genuinely co-produced with staff and the communities they serve.

Eligibility

  • All NHS organisations (including providers, partnerships and systems), General Practice and primary care organisations, as well as relevant social care partners
  • Evidence must relate to a project, ongoing or completed within the 2 years up until the award entry deadline

Ambition

  • Provide a clear rationale for the digital project, product or service and the context in which this was required – what were the project aims, and what strategic thinking was done before bringing technology to the table?
  • Define the intended measures of success and the steps put in place to achieve them
  • Discuss how the risks of exclusion or exacerbating inequalities were considered in the design and development of the project, product or service, and mitigations were put in place

Outcome

  • Describe how the project, product or service was seamlessly developed and deployed whilst retaining any existing services to minimise disruption to patients and staff
  • Provide qualitative and quantitative evidence of improved service user access, experience and/or outcome as a result of the digital project, product or service
  • Share any financial impacts of implementation, including evidence relating to value for money and/or efficiencies realised by the project, product or service

Value

  • Discuss how this digital project has provided a boost to the wider mission to optimise mental health outcomes across the system, and how it will achieve lasting impact
  • Evidence how the patient and staff experience has improved as a result of the new digital project, product or service
  • Share any other value generated, including unintended benefits, of the digital project

Involvement

  • Describe and provide testimonial evidence of the working relationship between the technology partner (if relevant) and the NHS organisation that enabled a genuinely co-produced service or product
  • Share how all relevant staff were engaged in the design and implementation of the project, product or service
  • Explain how service users and the community were involved in the design, planning and implementation of this project, product or service

Spread

  • Describe, and, if possible, evidence how the learnings from the project or product/service development have been shared across and beyond your organisation or system
  • Discuss the scope for further replication or scaling up of this project, product or service in other settings

Improving mental health through digital 

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To find out more

Entries, attendance and sponsorship enquiries, contact Faysal Chaudhry   020 3510 7110
Media and marketing enquiries, contact Rebecca Bright 0207 608 9056
Judging and event management, contact Awards Support 0207 608 9086