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The research project that laid the foundation for the Youwell platform

Logo of the INTROMAT research project
OrganisationHelse Bergen - INTROMAT
Organisation typeResearch project (ICT lighthouse)
Diagnosis typeMental health

INTROMAT (INtroducing personalized TReatment Of Mental health problems using Adaptive Technology) was an ICT lighthouse project led by Helse Bergen and funded by the Research Council of Norway with NOK 70 million over six years (2016-2022). This project built the foundation of the Youwell platform, in close collaboration with researchers, clinicians, patients, and their families.

The challenge

20-25% of adults will experience depression at some point in their lives, and up to 8% of young people have anxiety or depression. At the same time, the barriers to technology-supported treatment in mental healthcare were clear: a lack of recognition of ICT as a treatment approach, a lack of knowledge about its effect, poor integration with existing systems, and no user-friendly, engaging solutions to build on.

How Youwell addressed the challenge

Together, Youwell and INTROMAT developed a robust, scalable infrastructure for guided internet-based treatment and self-help - the same platform Youwell continues to build on today. Six digital treatment programmes were developed in the project: Gynea (psychosocial support after gynaecological cancer), Stressmestring, Co-Mestring (anxiety and worry related to COVID-19), UngSpotlight (presentation anxiety in young people), RestDep (residual symptoms after depression), and MinADHD. Youwell was responsible for service design, user studies, development and operation of the platform, as well as the design and development of six patient web apps.

Results customers experience

  • The foundation of the Youwell platform was developed and tested through six real clinical cases
  • Up to 3x increased treatment capacity when combining consultations with digital interventions
  • 60 scientific articles published in international peer-reviewed journals
  • 6 PhDs and 6 postdoc positions completed during the project period
  • Several of the programmes, such as UngSpotlight, have been taken further into national use through the Directorate of Health