Competition 27 – Work-related digital innovations for individuals with poor mental health

Key Features

SBRI Healthcare provides a mechanism to signal the challenges that the NHS and the wider system face and invites entrepreneurs to deploy innovative solutions to deliver improved outcomes of care.

Programme:     SBRI Healthcare

Award:     Share of up to £200,000

Opens: 9th Oct 2024

Closes: 13th Nov 2024

! This scheme is opening soon

Overview

SBRI Healthcare provides a mechanism to signal the challenges that the NHS and the wider system face and invites  entrepreneurs to deploy innovative solutions to deliver improved outcomes of care. Our individual competition themes are scoped by working in close collaboration with the Health Innovation Network and frontline NHS and social care staff.

Scope

Competition 27 “Work-related digital innovations for individuals with poor mental health” invites breakthrough technologies to address challenges in Mental Health focusing on digital solutions across working-age young people, adults and older adults with mental health problems to support individuals return to or remain at work or gain employment.

SBRI Healthcare invites innovations that focus on three areas:

  1. Digital interventions targeting work-related risk factors facing working age population (aged 16-64) with mental health problems in employment, that provide rapid support to individuals to help them remain in work
  2. Digital interventions that specifically tackle barriers to work facing unemployed working age individuals (aged 16-64) with mental health problems, to support individuals to return to work or gain employment
  3. Digital interventions targeting workplace issues/barriers facing working age population (aged 16-64) from disadvantaged communities with mental health problems, to support individuals attain, remain or return to work

The competition is open to innovations at any stage of development from testing the technical and commercial feasibility to generating evidence in real world settings. Please see the Challenge Brief.

Eligibility

The competition is open to innovations at any stage of development from testing the technical and commercial feasibility to generating evidence in real world settings.

The competition is open to single organisations (contracts are executed with individual legal entities) based in the UK or EU from the private, public, and third sectors, including companies (large corporates and small and medium enterprises), charities, universities and NHS providers, as long as a strong commercial strategy is provided. Organisations based outside the UK or EU with innovations in remit for this call can apply as subcontractors of a lead UK/EU based organisation or via a UK or EU subsidiary.

Collaborations are encouraged in the form of subcontracted services as appropriate.

Exclusions

There are a number of technologies or types of solutions which are already available or will not make a significant impact on the challenges addressed in this brief. These are listed below.

• Non digital solutions
• Physical health innovations
• Wellness or wellbeing digital applications on healthy diet and/or physical exercising
• Innovations targeting comorbidities
• Innovations not specific for working-age young people, adults and older adults with mental health problems to support individuals return to or remain at work or gain employment (including general mental health innovation that are not specific to work related issues/ barriers)
• Technologies for use by those under 16 years of age
• General symptom monitoring tools
• Mood diary or self-help, organiser apps, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP), Mental Health First Aid
• General mental health improvement technologies used within NHS Talking Therapies services (e.g. Digitally Enabled Therapies which are tools which deliver a substantial portion of the intervention online and are delivered with the support of a clinician)
• Any technologies that negatively impact staff workloads and that require high upfront capital investment by clinical services
• Solutions that will not easily integrate with NHS/community setting systems.
• Technologies that will exacerbate health inequalities (including digital exclusion or data inequalities) and inequity of access to care
• Technologies that do not comply with GDPR policies.
• Innovations that are not co-designed with end users (i.e., developed without their direct input)
• Digital tools not underpinned by evidence-based behaviour change models (e.g.COM-B model)

Funding Costs

Applicants can apply for up to £200,000 (NET, excluding VAT) per innovation for up to 12 months.

A Briefing Webinar will be held on Tuesday 8 October 9.30-11.30am. Register here.

Interested in applying for this competition?

Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.