EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES | BDO LLP
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27 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES | BDO LLP
global investment in mental health start- ups has made huge strides in recent years, jumping from £120m in 2014 to £580m in 2019, according to Sifted . Wellness and mindfulness apps have hit the mainstream, and it’s not just for adults either. Serial entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith, co-founder of Calm, a sleep, meditation and relaxation app, and founder of Mind Candy (which produced the hit Moshi Monsters game) has raised £12 million to fund the development of a new mindfulness app for children. Another trend to look out for is smarter and more far-reaching digitisation of healthcare records. Allowing predictive tools to access patient data will also open the door for more focused clinical trials and research, as well as providing better patient-carer services, all with the aim of delivering more tailored healthcare.
These experts recommend moment-to- moment monitoring – the kind of tracking that Apple Watch or FitBit fans already benefit from – to help measure and deliver the individual support that people may need. They also suggest AI trials. ‘Because of the innovation that’s happening around these different tools and services to look after yourself, it will mean that in the future people will hopefully be more able to detect if something doesn’t feel right – especially if they’ve got mental health and wellbeing trackers monitoring how they’re feeling,’ says mental health campaigner Jon Salmon. ‘I’m really optimistic that technology will find a way – more so than ever now – to help people get help earlier, before hitting crisis.’ There are already around 318,000 health-related apps available , and
concerned about mental health said that it had worsened during the outbreak. And in a review of 24 papers looking at the psychological effects of quarantine, The Lancet identified a range of prevalent issues including ‘post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger’, as well as potential ‘long-lasting effects’. Already there’s an unprecedented demand for mental healthcare services and support. Mental health database Hub of Hope, which signposts people to local services and support, reports a 300% increase in people looking for help. Data is of course key. ‘Given the unique circumstances of coronavirus,’ wrote a group of 24 mental health experts wrote in The Lancet Psychiatry , ‘Data will be vital to determine causal mechanisms associated with poor mental health.’
who stay at home with COVID-19 have different symptoms to those who need medical help or are admitted to hospital, and will help researchers understand the profile of the pandemic within households and within communities. ‘As experts in data and analytics, we saw a lack of breadth in the data being collected focussing on a narrow set of symptoms of those within medical environment,’ says Blue Hat founder Tim Palmer. ‘We developed a crowd sourced data tracker in March to catch data from families who may only have minor symptoms and are delighted St Andrews will be using the data to aid the research.’ Dinenage also cites the examples of HealX, which uses machine learning techniques to look for cures to rare diseases, and Benevolent AI, which develops new insights from existing
scientific research. ‘The rapid switch to digital communication and tools across the sector, in the face of the crisis, is likely to have a positive impact on how quickly digital healthcare becomes part of the healthcare system in the next few years,’ she says. ‘Our universities are developing research that is among the best in the world and, by aligning our expertise in life science with our capability in deep tech and artificial intelligence, we can profoundly alter the way we care for people and make significant advances in medicine.’ Mental health is another area where we can expect to see increased investment. The huge toll that the pandemic has played on mental health is still only beginning to be understood. According to GlobalWebIndex , 79% of 18-64 year- olds in the US and UK who were already
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