Here are our entries for the category of Best Use of Digital for Mental Health.
XR Therapeutics
Overview: XR Therapeutics’s mission is to get the best possible treatment to everyone who needs it regardless of their circumstance.
Why? Waiting lists and back-logs are a well-documented challenge facing the healthcare industry. While the NHS has made some progress on the treatment available for those suffering, recent data has revealed that the nearly a quarter of mental health patients wait more than 12 weeks to start treatment.
What happened? Where standard methods may take 12-20 weeks for positive outcomes, XRT achieves the same outcomes in two to three weeks. That’s a saving of 3,000 hours across 1,000 patients. Whilst working with NHS trusts and charities across the country the team realised that is not just patients who are bound. Therapists are bound by the physical distance between them and those who need help. Organisations like the NHS are bound by a lack of resources, a lack of time or a lack of technology. This is why Boundless was created. Boundless now allows therapists and patients to connect virtually across a variety of devices, expanding accessibility and inclusivity. Utilising custom-built immersive scenes, XR Therapeutics empowers therapists to engage directly with patients within certain scenarios that trigger patients’ anxiety, creating targeted intervention in a safe environment and a level of personalised care never seen before. The treatment has been proven to be 94 percent effective in showing improved patient outcomes that lead to lasting positive changes. In fact, 71 percent of patients who have gone through the intervention achieve reliable recovery.
Looking ahead. XRT remains committed to prioritising the outcomes of patients, and to responsible innovation that aligns with goals of being environmentally sustainable and net zero by 2026.
Hackathon Raptors
Overview: Hackathon Raptors, founded by NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Meta engineers, aims to revolutionise education and research via hackathons. Since 2022, they’ve hosted over five events, developed 100+ projects, and engaged 1000+ participants globally, fostering innovation and real-world application through a hands-on, problem-solving approach.
Why? Hackathon Raptors is a community interest company that has been revolutionising the landscape of education and research through the dynamic world of hackathons.
What happened? Since the dawn of 2022, Hackathon Raptors has orchestrated over five major hackathons, each addressing critical societal challenges through technology and innovation. These events have not only served as platforms for education and research but have also facilitated the development of over 100+ projects, directly impacting the lives of communities worldwide. With over 1,000+ participants from more than 20 countries, initiatives have fostered a global community of innovators, researchers, and educators, all working collaboratively towards a common goal of societal betterment. The scale and diversity of the hackathons, which draw participants from around the world, underscore commitment to fostering a universal culture of innovation and learning. Unlike traditional educational or research institutions, the approach is hands-on, problem-solving-focused, and deeply rooted in real-world applications. This distinctive model not only accelerates the learning curve for participants but also ensures that the research and solutions developed have immediate applicability and impact.
Looking ahead. Through these hackathons, the team has established a unique ecosystem that nurtures the development of cutting-edge solutions while offering an unmatched educational experience.
Holmusk UK
Overview: Holmusk’s Management and Supervision Tool is helping Trusts use data to work smarter, using predictive analytics to help clinical teams improve the decisions they make about resource allocation and patient flow.
Why? MaST’s simple dashboard displays clinically relevant information that is already captured but often buried deep within the electronic health record.
What happened? MaST is an intelligent analytics platform that analyses multiple data sources that go into a trust’s data warehouse to predict people’s likelihood of requiring crisis care, enabling clinicians to effectively manage their caseloads. Staff in community mental health teams can use MaST after completing simple and short eLearning. Allowing access to a tool that uses analysis and provides fingertip search and filter functions supports teams to identify resourcing priorities objectively using the data that they have already collected. MaST is implemented in twelve mental Health Trusts in England and has demonstrated a substantial return on investment for a mental health trust. A report conducted in a large mental health trust in the North West of England and authored by Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Health Economic unit identified positive findings, including an estimated efficiency saving of £1.7 million in the six-month period after MaST, and a reduction in the duration of mental health crises and length of stay in an inpatient setting following a mental health crisis.
Looking ahead. MaST hopes to continue empowering clinicians and teams in effective data-driven caseload management to reduce caseload numbers, to support patient flow, and to support completion of key care standards.
Next up: browse entries for the category of Best Use of Digital for Social Care here.
