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Pioneering mental health app up for national award

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Pioneering mental health app wins national award

A ground-breaking new app to transform mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people in Worcestershire was awarded ‘MidTech Best NHS developed innovation' at national awards.

BESTIE - an interactive online platform built by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and designed by local young people, clinicians and IT experts - has been nominated in the Meridian Celebration of Innovation Awards. It has also been cited nationally as the first of its kind, and aims to revolutionise the way children, young people and parents get access to online help to support emotional resilience and wellbeing.

BESTIE encourages users to engage in social, physical and health-related activities. One version of BESTIE will support children/young people who are accessing mental health services, providing online resources and tools to support their specific care plans, as well as resources which help them to track their mood, goals and progress. This will give them access to tailored help and guidance whenever they need it.

A wider public version will also be available to download which will provide more generic advice and support for young people and parents.

BESTIE public version has completed pilot phase and is currently being rolled out as a webapp, with the app store availability coming very soon.

Dr Ben Rogers, Trust Lead for Psychological Interventions said, “Children and young people who use our services have been telling us for years that we need to make better use of technology in healthcare. As digital natives, they have an incredible expertise in the use of online technology which can help to guide the NHS. By taking a leading role in developing BESTIE, alongside clinicians and IT experts, young people in Worcestershire have helped to create a resource that will support others to reach their potential.”

Alongside BESTIE, the Meridian Celebration of Innovation Awards feature entries from healthcare, industry, academia and the not-for-profit sector, covering a range of categories from patient safety to adoption.

The event was organised by West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN) and BESTIE was awarded ‘MidTech Best NHS developed innovation’ on Thursday 18th July at the Park Regis Birmingham.

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