• Kathryn Abel, Professor of Psychological Medicine (UoM/MFT), was the recipient of an Access to Expertise (A2E) award in 2018
• The 9-month costs included workshop tools, digital consultancy and stipend for workshop participants

 “Within the domain of preventive mental health for children and young people, management of self-harm is a top priority. Self-harm among young people is increasing and is the biggest risk factor for suicide.

 “CAMHS.Digital wanted to co-produce an innovative digital solution for self-harm self-management with and for young people using Augmented Reality.

 “We had produced initial evidence that a self-harm self-management app ‘mSootheBox’ could be effective in creating distraction techniques for children and young people who self-harm, especially at times when services are scarce (i.e out of hours and late at night when children feel alone). However, we were blocked from moving the research forward by a lack of Augmented Reality expertise.

 “The Access to Expertise award enabled us to co-design the app with Augmented Reality industry experts, Sparta Digital and most importantly, young people, in interactive workshops. The award funded 4 workshops with young people and 1 roadshow event demonstrating the designs to key mental health stakeholders.

 “We are currently halfway through our funding, but success has already been evident by the enthusiasm of the young people and interest from a large mental health charity, who wish to fund further development of the app.” 

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