Showcasing digital tools to treat and diagnose mental health conditions at Government event

Posted October 18th 2023

NCMH researchers were invited to Lancaster House by the Welsh Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies, and the Wales Innovation Network (WIN) to demonstrate the digital tools being developed at the NCMH to treat and diagnose specific mental health conditions.

The event celebrated the strength and scope of the innovative research undertaken across Welsh universities, from mental health research to a video-game scriptwriting programme.

The UK Government has made a commitment to invest nearly £40 billion in research and development between 2022 and 2025, and Welsh universities are at the forefront for a push to increase funding to areas of the UK outside the southeast of England of at least 40% by 2030.

Welsh Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies, reflected on the day:

“I was delighted to welcome Welsh universities to this very special event and demonstrate the UK Government’s commitment to the higher education sector.”

“It was a great opportunity for the UKRI to get a flavour of some of the incredible research and innovation that’s already taking place in Wales across all of our universities,” he continued.

Guided self-help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Demonstrating Spring, an online guided self-help programme aimed to treat both PTSD and complex PTSD was Dr Catrin Lewis.

“Spring is an innovative digital guided self-help programme for PTSD developed by the Cardiff University Traumatic Stress Research Group.

It was a real pleasure to exhibit the programme at this event and showcase the important research we’re doing within this area and how we aim to keep on developing Spring.”

Spring has already proven as effective as face-to-face cognitive behavioural therapy with a trauma focus (CBT-TF) in their most recent trial, RAPID.

Digital memory assessment and psychosis

Dr Amy Lynham was also invited to demonstrate CONCA, an online platform designed to test memory and cognitive function and is used in clinics to assess patients for psychosis.

“I was delighted to give a demonstration of the Cardiff ONline Cognitive Assessment, our tool for assessing cognitive function in patients with mental illness to attendees from across Government and the public sector, including our very own Vice-Chancellor Professor Wendy Larner.”

It was an honour to be selected for this unique opportunity to discuss mental health with key policy makers and highlight the important role of memory and other cognitive functions in patient outcomes,” she said.

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