1 Features
Buddy is a digital tool to support therapy services. Clients use text messaging to keep a daily diary of what they are doing and how they are feeling, helping to spot and reinforce positive behaviours.
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Daily diary
Allow your clients to use SMS or web to record moods and activities
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Analysis tools
Enable users to reflect on and understand their own condition
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Behaviour change tools
Clients can set and receive timely goal reminders by SMS
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Session planning
Remind users of appointments and enable them to set the agenda
2 Vision
The future is bridging formal and informal care
Buddy believes the best outcomes are realised when we bring together formal professional-led services, and informal people-powered care.
We want to see the NHS benefit from the emergence of cheaper, accessible, consumer technologies, and we want to see technology benefit from the experience and human support that professionals can best provide.
Services should wrap around life, not life around therapy
We believe the rise of mobile phones is giving us an opportunity for therapy to be more than something you go to. Or even something that you sit in front of a computer and do, somehow apart from the rest of your life.
Buddy uses SMS to make keeping a record of how you are feeling and how you are doing, a simple task that can be accomplished whenever, wherever you are, quickly and discretely. This is care with the person and their life at the centre.
Give people control of their sessions and they will come
In this time of constraint, it has never been more important to improve service efficiencies, and the high number of missed appointments is a key problem. Our insight is that the problem isn’t people forgetting, but that they don't feel in control of the sessions.
Buddy is built on the principle that appointment reminders are good (which is why we have them), but that people are more likely to turn up if we can enable them to set the agenda for their session and they are driving their own care.
Just enough technology. Never enough design.
Health software has too often been built from a systems-centric view, and rarely considers a user's point of view. This is the road to expensive IT projects that people never wanted to or can't use.
Buddy believes in starting with users and giving them a delightful experience. We'll never succumb to building lots of features, or assuming everyone has a smartphone, which is why we've focused Buddy on really simple text messaging.
3 Benefits
It provides a lot more objective information in real time and does not rely on memory, which can easily be affected by mood.
~ Jerome Carson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, South London and the Maudsley NHSFT
Buddy is a simple, user friendly tool that has really helped to improve service user compliance by offering text message reminders.
~ Jo Lawrence, Clinical Services Lead, Early Intervention in Psychosis, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Buddy is a user friendly, interactive life planning tool which empowers individuals in their recovery journey.
~ Michael Duignan-Murphy, Service Development Manager, MCCH
You have to be responsible for making a change. Buddy points you in the direction and you do it yourself.
~ Service user, Female, 50
It was useful in sessions as I was able to recall the week, whereas normally I would forget.
~ Service user, Female, 26
Buddy became built into my daily life, it became part of my routine and that is good to have.
~ Service user, Male, 46
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Offers rich insight into your client’s life in-between sessions
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Creates more time in therapy to focus on goals and behaviour change
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Reminds users of appointments and encourages them to set their own agendas
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Provides behavioural activation tools to promote more effective recovery
4 Get Buddy
We see Buddy being adapted for long-term conditions where there is a link between lifestyle behaviour, physical health and mental well-being. For now, we’re rolling out Buddy to support psychological therapy services for people with depression and anxiety, and in Early Intervention in Psychosis (EiP) services.
Who is it for?
Because we believe in care at the intersection, Buddy was designed to be used by and with therapists, and is not intended to be available directly to individuals.
How is it priced?
We believe in simple, transparent pricing plans. The more users you make Buddy available for, the cheaper it is.
Prices
| License type | Cost per user |
|---|---|
| 2000 people | £20 |
| 1000 people | £30 |
| 500 people | £40 |
Can I try it?
Absolutely. We offer a 3-month trial for all customers who take out a 1-year contract. If Buddy isn’t for you, we will cancel the contract. No fuss.
How do I arrange a trial?
You can phone our Managing Director, James Seward. Or if you’re shy, you can email. Either way, we’ll get back to you straight away.
5
Who is
behind this?
Buddy was created by Sidekick Studios. We are a social innovation company, passionate about using design and technology to tackle social problems. We believe in bringing together simple technologies and great design to create startups that matter. Buddy was our first venture and is born from our passion for creating 21st Century Therapy.
Buddy was created working with South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust (SLaM), the largest provider of mental health services in Britain. SLaM has been a key clinical partner in the evolution of Buddy. Buddy has been subject to an independent evaluation.
Buddy is currently being rolled out nationally, working with SLaM, Rethink, North West Military Veterans IAPT, MCCH and a number of other statutory and non-statutory providers.
Recognition, Awards & Press
- Winner of NHS London Regional Innovation Fund phase 1 and phase 2 (diffusion)
- Published in the British Journal of Well-being
- Published in the Social Work and Social Sciences Review Journal
- Selected by National Endowment Society, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) as a radical digital public service
- Real Business magazine 50 most exciting businesses in the UK 2011
- Featured on BBC Radio 4 programme You and Yours