“5 good habits”: self-help course tested on 410 Norwegian participants

To think healthily. To do meaningful activities. To set goals. To keep good routines. To build social relationships. It sounds simple, and that is partly the point.

“5 good habits” is the Norwegian version of “Big Five”, a self-help course developed by MindSpot in Australia and based on research with several thousand participants. The course has now been tested on Norwegian adults with symptoms of anxiety and depression, as part of the UngMeistring project at ForHelse, the national research centre for digital health services (SFI), at Helse Bergen.

Four weeks with daily reminders

Over four weeks, participants received a short digital course through the Youwell platform. They define for themselves what the habits mean in their own everyday lives, with tips, advice and daily SMS reminders. 410 participants have been recruited, data collection is complete, and the researchers have started their analyses.

Youwell is a partner in UngMeistring. Mental health problems are increasing, and we need services that are research-based, concrete and easy to access. That is exactly what we work for: making it easier for the health service to adopt digital tools that actually help people in their everyday lives.

The newspaper Bergens Tidende (BT) has written about the project. We look forward to seeing the results.