RedKnight is delighted to announce it has supported SyncVR Medical UK Ltd (SyncVR) and South London & Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM) with their successful application to the Innovate UK Mindset Extended Reality (XR) For Digital Mental Health competition, winning the consortium a grant of £185,000.

The project, titled Auxilium, aims to create the world’s first mental health application to be used on virtual reality headsets for supporting at-risk patients waiting for mental health care. The novel application will be based on mindfulness and dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) skills’ training elements, which have previously been shown to be effective for patients in crisis and suffering from mood instabilities.

“I started out my undergraduate research career transcribing interviews from patients receiving DBT in Dr.Linehan’s lab. Marsha’s passion is infectious, and despite only being at that lab for a short while- I had absorbed and carried that enthusiasm for DBT for years. I’m so thankful to be working at SyncVR where I have the resources to be able to turn my vision into reality and to have access to incredible leaders in the space to build this project. The UK has such a massive need for mental health support that it’s absolutely imperative that we empower users to take control of their own mental health and learn actionable skills that they can start using to better their own lives”- Ari Billig

In 2021-22, over 1.2m people in the UK were on a waiting list for community mental health care (up from 1.08m the previous year). The NHS also failed to meet its goal of getting 1.6m patients into “talking therapy” services, also called IAPT, which are aimed at treating people with mild to moderate depression (1.2m started sessions last year). These waiting lists enhance the sense of loneliness and frustration felt by patients. Alarmingly, 25% of mental health waiting list patients attempt suicide.

SyncVR aims to improve healthcare with its novel XR technology approach, which includes virtual and augmented reality approaches. These are underpinned by SyncVR’s proprietary XR healthcare platform, which enables the company to deliver its own, and host third party XR applications (similar to Netflix). SyncVR has created several successful mindfulness focused applications which are currently being used in over 100 hospitals, including 10 NHS trusts, helping patients to decrease pain, anxiety, and medication. The platform is also used for medical professional staff development through XR training.

The technology to be developed through the Auxilium project will go beyond other existing solutions by enabling users to practice mood management strategies in a relaxing and immersive environment. Auxilium will teach patients useful coping and mood management skills to manage their emotions while they wait for therapy. It will also help them feel more prepared for therapy when they encounter it and improve their overall healthcare experience.

Furthermore, Auxilium will help reduce the enormous economic burden presented by mental health problems, which currently cost the UK economy ~£118bn annually (~5% GDP). The application will enable people to better self-manage their condition, in turn reducing sick days, loss of productivity due to absenteeism, and costs to the health care systems managing patients with mental health concerns.