Janet Whiteman (New Horizons Mental Health) and Kim Bevan (Tend VR)
New Horizons Mental Health, Tend VR and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
New Horizons and Tend VR MBCT offers:
- Minimal waiting times
- The ability for people to take control of their own recovery
- Community based interventions, with VR-MBCT being delivered at home or local community setting, allowing them to decide when and where to access the support
- Fast interventions that are easy to deploy at scale
- A cheaper approach than many other treatment options
- Interventions that go beyond symptom reduction, enabling people to find their own way to satisfying, more meaningful lives
- Tend VR MBCT can be delivered without input from clinicians
- Highly adaptable can be integrated into the new mental health pathways in Wales
New Horizons and Tend VR, with advice and guidance from service users, have developed a unique package of mental health support for communities in Wales. We are offering a combination of an evidence-based mental health intervention delivered via a virtual reality headset alongside Recovery College courses delivered by mental health professionals and peers with lived expertise in an educational context. We’re offering the opportunity for people to take control of their own recovery.
Tend VR is a revolutionary way to help people with depression and anxiety. A virtual reality (VR) delivered version of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). To date with three feasibility studies overseen by University College London, with 95 participants, outcomes have been extremely positive: large reductions in depression and anxiety scores, with mean PHQ-9 scores dropping from 13.97 to 6.32, and GAD-7 from 11.71 to 5.1. We’re confident we’re creating what will become the best digital treatment for depression, at a price point that is radically cheaper than talking therapies.
New Horizons Mental Health, a registered charity which started in 1990, has been offering a range of support for adults experiencing mental health issues across Cwm Taf Morgannwg including Recovery College courses e.g., Mental Health & Well Being, Managing Stress, Managing Anxiety and many others.
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scores to show that the vast majority of course students are feeling more relaxed, more confident and feeling better about themselves.
