Taking care of our mental health is just as important as taking care of our physical health. In today's technological age, health apps can be a valuable resource, especially for children and young people who face challenges related to mental health and want an easily accessible tool on their terms. For us, it is important to share this message in many ways, and below you can read a little more about two of the projects we participate in: UngMeistring and Modi.
Youth Mastery
UngMeistring is a research and innovation project (2022-2026) funded by the Research Council of Norway under the Pilot Health programme.
The project was granted NOK 25 million with the aim of reducing illness and increasing the quality of life for young people with mental disorders and disorders.
The project is led by Helse Bergen, and includes business and health service partners as well as researchers. The consortium includes i.a. Health Fonna, Health Stavanger, UNN, UiB, the Directorate of Health etc.
The main aim of the project is to develop and evaluate eight digital online and game-based therapist-led and self-guided psychological interventions for young people aged 13-18.
These are aimed at the general population, and the primary and specialist healthcare services.
In UngMeistring we develop tools for young people with anxiety, ADHD, depression and eating disorders
eBalance: With the eBalance app, young people (16-18 years) with eating disorders can access tools and resources to deal with their challenges, both alone and in collaboration with therapists. The eBalance app is now fully developed and ready for use. Having an eating disorder means that thoughts and feelings about food, body and exercise take up SO much space that it controls life in a negative way. There will be too little time and energy for school, friends, family and leisure activities. The aim of eBalance is for you to become a little more confident in yourself and learn to manage your emotions in a better way.
Sidekick: A tool for coping with anxiety in young people.
Sidekick will act as a valuable helper for young people working with exposure exercises to cope with anxiety.
This app, which is fully developed and plans to launch in early March, will offer support and guidance throughout the process.
ADHD : For young people living with ADHD, we are currently in the process of developing a tailor-made app. The aim is to create a tool that is adapted to the needs of children and young people aged 13-16, and that can provide support and help in everyday life.
Fashion
In collaboration with Helse Bergen and Bergen municipality under the auspices of SFI's Research Center for digital mental health services (Forhelse), we have developed the Modi solution.
Based on increasing challenges where the municipalities see that there is a large demand for low-threshold services, waiting lists are increasing, anxiety is the most common cause and the current services are too resource-intensive and do not suit everyone.
With Modi, municipalities should be able to offer low-threshold services to young people with anxiety and reach everyone, while making smarter use of resources. The target group is young people aged 13-16 with mild to moderate difficulties and fits as many as possible in or outside assisted living facilities. The tool has now been fully developed, a feasibility study at Helse Bergen is underway, and now an RCT is to be carried out at Bergen municipality.
The study wants to investigate the effectiveness of a digital intervention in a randomized controlled trial. The study will recruit N = 128 young people aged 13-16 who will be randomized to either a therapist-guided, rule-based chatbot intervention or ordinary follow-up in the Child and Family Help Center in Bergen municipality.
The study will examine the clinical effects of the new intervention compared to ordinary follow-up.
The mastering course has been developed in the form of a native app in collaboration between Bergen municipality, Youwell and Helse Bergen, and Helse Bergen is already in the process of carrying out a small feasibility study. Data for the RCT study will be collected via a questionnaire and through behavioral patterns in the treatment app. The service will be fully rolled out just before the summer of 2024.
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