A patient who recovered from depression helped build a mental health app, and argues lived experience should shape digital therapeutics

A decade ago, Graham Wright, now 49 and a former IT professional, went through a bout of depression and signed up for an online course meant to ease his symptoms. He was doubtful that a digital tool could do much. But he had nothing to lose, so he tried it, and in the end it made a difference. The tasks he was asked to do, he says, were often obvious. Recovery came from actually doing them.

That experience eventually changed his career. Last year Wright left a 20-year corporate job and applied to join a mental health steering group. There he worked with a software developer on a new digital therapeutic, an app meant to help other people with depression. His main concern was that the app should explain to the user why it might help and why it was worth sticking with.

Digital therapeutics are web and app-based health technologies that can deliver a range of treatments. Since Wright's own illness they have advanced considerably, and the source describes them as a viable way to tackle mental illness. Many are now offered by the NHS after rigorous testing and approval. Scepticism remains common, and Wright says it often comes down to people not understanding how these tools work or what they offer compared with traditional treatments and medication.

His part in the development was concrete. As part of a lengthy testing process, he reviewed the launch website, the app and the marketing materials, and suggested improvements from a user's point of view. The developer worked with him throughout, setting a series of tests to draw out his feedback and taking his recommendations on board. Along the way he met several confusing technical terms and urged the company to be clearer about what the app does, how it works and how it can help. He wanted to understand why the therapy would help him, he says, so that he could keep up the energy to see the process through. He also found that his analysis and communication skills from IT remained useful. This collaborative work fed into the research, testing and regulatory approval that digital therapeutics must pass, and which set them apart from the many general wellness apps.

Organisations such as the Health Innovation Network support that work. It consists of 15 health innovation networks across England and collaborates with the NHS, academia and industry to find, create and spread technologies that could improve patients' lives, health services and society more broadly.

Matt Williams, senior programme manager for mental health at Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley, says involving end users like Wright is vital if innovations are to meet patient needs and expectations, including therapeutic benefit, ease of use, accessibility and convenience. His argument is blunt: an app might deliver the most effective treatment, but if patients are not comfortable engaging with it, the effort is wasted. Bringing patients in early, he says, can save technology companies time, money and heartache, provided the process is planned around local regulations and handled carefully and sensitively.

Williams and his team work with end users and other stakeholders to assess digital therapeutics against a broad set of factors. These include the language used to describe them, how they would work alongside or instead of medication, how they fit into the wider health system, and what obstacles stand in the way. They also partner with clinicians, who can interrogate the evidence and spot clinical or logistical challenges, including how a conversation about a digital therapeutic might go in the consulting room.

Williams sees benefits on both sides. Patients get more control, since the tools run on smartphones, tablets and laptops at any time without an in-person visit. Clinicians get more treatment options, rather than always reaching for the prescription pad, as he puts it.

He is clear that the road is long. Innovators, he says, need vast reserves of patience, and he cannot name a product that enjoyed instant success. He calls the NHS regulatory framework quite rightly stringent. The article is part of a series sponsored by Otsuka, which the piece notes is not responsible for the content of external links.