NHS leaders say thank you to staff with the ShinyMind app this Mental Health Awareness Week

The ShinyMind app is a uniquely interactive mindset resource that improves wellbeing, resilience and teamwork. It’s proven to help reduce the stress and anxiety of everyday life, leaving people feeling happier and more productive.

The app now helps thousands of NHS workers in the Hull, East Yorkshire and Whitby areas, as we adopted the app in the first wave of the pandemic as part of our Health and Wellbeing resources for staff.

To showcase our continued commitment to this initiative, our teams have since co-designed a new feature named the ‘Gold Button’, a tool which allows NHS leaders to send thank you messages to hardworking NHS staff.

The purpose of the app is to build a positive community which provides connection and support to staff, using a unique messaging tool, which sends in-App personalised postcards, or ‘Positivity Posts’, and audio shout outs, which aim to build morale and improve teamwork.

Features can be extended to social media using the ‘Social Share’ feature, which can enhance a member of staff’s personal network and help them to feel supported.

ShinyMind was co-designed with working NHS staff from all levels and has come into its own during the pandemic, as a useful resource which is available 24/7 to staff who need reassurance and support.

Coined a ‘coach in my pocket’ or ‘a hug in an app’ by many of its users, the ShinyMind team are encouraging other organisations to get involved - to use the Gold Button as a way of sending messages of gratitude.

The aim of this campaign is to echo the kind of support shown for key workers during the Thursday Clapping and other such initiatives, many of which have since faded out. While pressures remain in our NHS, it is still as important to find new ways to show appreciation and take five minutes to make someone’s day.

Rebecca Howard, Psychotherapist and Founder/CEO of ShinyMind, said:

“Sharing a simple thank you message is good for our health and happiness. Not only does it feel good to create and receive messages, but it also helps us build closer bonds with the people around us.

Each of these micro message interactions help us to reduce work strain and aid job recovery. We are proud of our collaborative work with the Trust, as it means our support is now available to a wider group of NHS staff.

The mental health impact of Covid-19 on NHS staff will not be an easy challenge to beat. Putting a proven mental health and wellbeing resource, and a 24/7 support system, into their pockets is a great first step.”

ShinyMind was recognised by CQC as ‘Outstanding Practice’ at the Walton Centre NHSFT, and was a finalist and ‘Highly Commended’ in the International Engage Awards in both the Innovation and Digital Technology categories.