Papyrus, the national charity supporting young people at risk of suicide, has worked with the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA) to develop an app library containing “trusted apps” for young people to use to access a range of information, support, and advice on mental health.
According to Papyrus’s website, all of the apps included within the library have been reviewed, helping to support young people in feeling safe to use them, and in locating those that best suit their needs.
The library can be browsed by keyword or condition, covering topics including self-harm, anxiety, suicide prevention, depression, and supporting others. Some of the “top rated” free apps include Tellmi: Better Mental Health, an app to help users manage their mental health and access support; distrACT, an app to help users manage feelings relating to self-harm or suicide; and Stay Alive, a “pocket suicide prevention resource” offering information and tools for those in crisis.
The team at Papyrus’s telephone support service, HOPELINE247, have also been given training on the new app library, to help them feel confident in providing support and recommendations on its use, and in suggesting apps to young people they may come into contact with.
Sophie Addison, manager of HOPELINE247, comments: “Young people use their phones a lot, so why not use their phones to save their lives, and with ORCHA that enables our service users to find a service that they can privately have on their phones, that they have access to pretty much all the time.”
To learn more, or to search the library, please click here.
Elsewhere in health apps, Leeds Teaching Hospitals has launched a pilot project involving the use of a smartphone application designed to monitor and manage Parkinson’s disease symptoms, with 90 patients currently utilising the app and plans for future expansion.
In mental health, recently published research commissioned by the MHRA and NICE has explored attitudes and experiences of current and potential users of digital mental health technology (DMHT), aiming to “inform the design of future regulatory and evaluation frameworks for DMHT”.
