Digital mental health platform SilverCloud Health, with headquarters in Boston, Dublin and London is making its services available to users nationwide through Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE).

In 2018, the company partnered with the HSE on a pilot programme to offer online psychological tools for depression and anxiety to primary care psychological services and now plans to expand these services in Ireland. 

WHY IT MATTERS

The platform provides evidence-based clinical content, programmes and support for users struggling with their mental health and chronic illness.

A study by the NHS into SilverCloud showed a 50% reduction in symptoms following eight weeks of sessions and improvement in 27% of cases.

The service will also open up referrals from a larger pool of sources, including GPs and Jigsaw, the national centre for youth mental health. SilverCloud's mental health services are used by 650,000 people globally, acquiring 30,000 new users every month and providing more than 40% of all NHS mental health services.

This surge is in part due to an increase of people seeking support with their mental health during the COVID-19 crisis.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

SilverCloud has raised more than €25.5 million from investors to date. In April 2020, the company raised $16 million (€13.6m) in Series B funding to expand into all 50 US states.

Meanwhile, London-based AI digital therapy service HelloSelf raised £5.5 million in Series A funding to expand mental health provisions for post-pandemic Britain. 

ON THE RECORD

Ken Cahill, founder and chief executive at SilverCloud Health, said: “As a result of Covid, and the restrictions on movement as well, our lives feel very different and many of us are feeling discombobulated and are reaching out for support.

“SilverCloud is enormously proud to be expanding our digital mental health and wellbeing offering to Ireland with the HSE. We have seen the benefits to health systems all over the world when GPs have a way to offer on-time and on-demand mental health and wellbeing interventions to help people rather than referring people to long waiting lists for overburdened services.

“In a time when GPs and other health and mental health services are under pressure in their communities due to Covid, we need to support them and their patients in any way we can.”