Rebecca Howard is a psychotherapist and Founder and CEO of ShinyMind, an award-winning digital wellbeing prescription and prescribing platform. ShinyMind offers large-scale mental health virtual group consultations, designed to reduce workload and widen access in primary care, helping over 100 patients simultaneously think better, feel better and live better.
Tell us about the innovation. What does it do, how does it help, who does it help and why is it important?
This innovation goes beyond the traditional group consultation model that focus on supporting a physical health condition of between 8 – 15 patients. Developed along with colleagues Dr. Tayo Kufeji, GP Partner at Newport Pagnell Medical Centre, and Janet Thornley, Strategic Primary Care Nurse Lead at NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) ICB, we created Shine Bright Mental Health Virtual Group Consultations which widen access by delivering educational mental health support to 100+ patients at a time, in the comfort of their own home and in the presence of their GP and primary care team. Patients attend between 3-4 online sessions, each of which are two hours on an evening, and explore topics that help them understand their thoughts, feelings and behaviours; reduce stress, improve anxiety and take back control; develop self-awareness, choice and responsibility in relationships with self and others.
The entire online group consultation programme is powered by ShinyMind, the award-winning digital wellbeing prescription and prescribing platform. Through this app-based wellbeing prescription they can explore over 150+ evidence-based tools and masterclasses, including two condition-specific LifePacks for anxiety and depression, and receive personalised in-app psychological behavioural nudges signposting to pre- and post-empowerment exercises to further embed their learning, throughout the group consultation programme and beyond.
This innovation supports and benefits all patients who are experiencing anxiety and depression, even those who have not yet been identified by their practice as anxious or depressed, thus acting as an effective preventative intervention as patients are introduced to coping strategies that will help them better self-manage their mental health and wellbeing.
Shine Bright Mental Health Virtual Group Consultations support GPs and primary care teams to reduce their workload, freeing up time to deal with more complex cases, reduce demand by widening access for patients, boost their team’s wellbeing and productivity and deliver more with existing Access, Inequalities and QOF budgets.
Our impacts so far include:
- 94% of patients thought the programme and what they learned helped them feel significantly better (with 100% feeling better)
- 75% of patients were highly motivated to work on improving their mental health themselves (with 100% motivated)
- 81% of patients felt the support received from the programme meant they were less likely to need mental health support from their GP
- 94% were likely to share what they learned with somebody else (with 75% extremely likely)
- 3 relationships per patient were formed or strengthened as a result of the programme
- Over 90% of patients who came to the programme were eligible for NHS Talking Therapies support and achieved statistically significant 6.5 point decrease in GAD and a 3.9 point decrease in PHQ
Which health innovation networks have you been supported by?
We have been supported by Health Innovation West of England, who have given us practical advice, support and kindly invited us to join the Health Innovation Network’s Innovation Learning Zone at NHS Confed Expo 2024 to showcase our innovation on their stand. We were thrilled to have this opportunity to speak to key NHS decision makers and change makers. We are eager to connect with other Health Innovation networks to spread awareness of our innovation.
What are the plans/next steps for this innovation?
We hope to work with even more practices, PCNs and systems to spread the support of Shine Bright Mental Health Virtual Group consultations and continue measuring the impact in primary care. Slots for the next phase of our large-scale group consultations are filling up quickly so we are urging anyone interested in this for their practice/PCN/System to get in touch with us.
What’s your biggest piece of learning from innovating in the NHS?
Our biggest learning from innovating in the NHS has been the profound importance of co-design. At ShinyMind, co-design is not just a method—it’s a core principle that guides everything we do. If we want to create solutions that truly support patients and NHS staff, involving them directly in the design process is essential.
Through co-design, we’ve been able to develop a range of effective and transformational digital solutions, such as our NHS co-designed app, the Nursing Version, condition-specific LifePacks such as the Menopause LifePack, our award-winning digital wellbeing prescription and prescribing platform, as well as our large-scale Shine Bright Mental Health Virtual Group Consultations. Each of these innovations demonstrates how giving space and time for collaborative design can result in scalable, impactful solutions.
Ultimately, our journey has shown that placing co-design at the heart of our approach ensures the development of tools and services that genuinely meet the needs of those they are intended to serve.
What are your hopes for the future?
We were fortunate to have so many inspiring conversations at NHS Confed Expo 2024 with so many incredible and pioneering individuals who are passionate about supporting their patients. Through these conversations we explored the potential of extending the impact of our large-scale group consultations into co-creating a Neurodiversity LifePack to support adult patients waiting for assessment, a dedicated LifePack for families and caregivers supporting those on waiting lists, a Pilot programme for Young People aged 16-18 and the co-creation of a post-NHS Talking Therapies LifePack to support onward recovery and reduce return visits.
What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is collaborating with passionate people dedicated to enhancing patient care and wellbeing within the NHS. I get to work alongside digital transformation pioneers who are committed to improving lives and recovery through innovative solutions. Meeting these trailblazers who drive meaningful change in healthcare is truly inspiring.
What are your three pieces of advice for budding health innovators?
- There is always a way: Never give up. There’s always a way to overcome challenges. Persistence is key to driving meaningful change in healthcare.
- The answer is always in the room: Embrace co-design. The best solutions come from collaboration. Engage both healthcare providers and patients in the design process to ensure your innovations truly meet their needs.
- Always be brave, kind and curious: Courageously explore new ideas, stay curious, and approach every interaction with kindness. These qualities will help you navigate the complexities of health innovation and make a positive impact.
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