Mental health app for young people to launch in Oxfordshire

A mental health app that delivers digital pre-moderated peer support, will be launched across Oxfordshire with the aim of providing additional support to young people.

The Tellmi app has been commissioned by Oxfordshire County Council to provide 365-day access to a space where people aged 11-19-years-old can discuss their feelings anonymously, with in-house counsellors intervening to support high-risk users when needed.

Users also have access to over 700 crisis specialists, and local support services through the Tellmi directory.

Councillor Nathan Ley, cabinet member for public health, inequalities and community safety at Oxfordshire County Council, said: “This app will be freely available to support all young people in secondary schools in Oxfordshire and local organisations that would like more support to help them deal with young people’s concerns about mental health and wellbeing.”

Since 2015, Oxfordshire has experienced a consistent increase in the number of school pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs.

According to the 2023 OxWell Student Survey, an average of 33% of students in year groups seven to 13 reported serious thoughts about self-harm, and 19% of secondary school students stated they often felt lonely.

Kerstyn Comley, co-chief executive at Tellmi, said: “We look forward to working closely with schools and organisations to build trust in our new service and improve outcomes for young people.

“In addition to our digital service, we will be delivering outreach activities, which include outreach campaigns, school resources, workshops, and training for anyone working directly with young people.”

In 2022, a nine-month study of 876 young people, conducted by University College London, found statistically significant evidence that using the Tellmi app improved their mental health in young people, leading to increased confidence and decreased feelings of loneliness.

At the end of the study, which was published by JMIR Publications in October 2022, 72% of users said that they feel better when they use Tellmi, 79% said they feel less alone when they use the app and 71% found new ways to help themselves.

In March 2024, Tellmi was one of five successful digital health innovators selected to participate in the 2024 East Midlands Digital Health Accelerator programme. As a result, the startup is receiving bespoke support from Health Innovation East Midlands to develop its solution and work collaboratively with local NHS and care organisations.

Tellmi was also named in March 2023 as one of 17 new fellows to join the 2023 NHS Innovation Accelerator, after being selected through a multi-stage application and assessment process involving an expert panel of clinical, patient and commercial assessors.

Meanwhile, research by NICE, published in September 2024, which compared digital technologies to face-to-face therapy, concluded that the use of recommended digital therapies for mental health conditions could free up thousands of NHS therapists’ hours.