Client
Be Resilient
Services
Discovery / Alpha / Beta / Live
Challenge #
A new initiative for 2017, the need for Be-Resilient was first identified in a comprehensive UK-wide research project which found 66 per cent of people living with HIV frequently felt excluded from traditional mental health and wellbeing services.
The report built on well-known findings that improvements to wellbeing and mental health can lead to reductions in stress and dramatic improvements to overall physical health.
Backed by global makeup brand MAC and produced by charity Yorkshire MESMAC, the Be-Resilient project team needed to find a digital partner with significant experience developing digital solutions for hard to reach groups in healthcare settings.
It also needed a partner which could understand the complex needs of people living with HIV and could translate those needs sensitively into an online resource.
Project scope #
In 2016, Ayup Digital was chosen by the Be-Resilient project team to provide a digital solution to meet their challenging brief.
From the discovery workshops carried out with people living with HIV, the Ayup team realised that any online resource must take a very different approach to traditional services – in terms of look, feel and functionality.
The site needed to be an engaging, calming online sanctuary for people living with HIV to seek out support – but also a practical source of wellbeing and mental health information and advice.
They also needed a solution that would provide the right type and level of information for site users and do so in an automated way – enabling site visitors to be seamlessly directed towards the solution right for their needs.
Solution #
Taking an evidence-based approach, an initial discovery phase saw the Ayup team working closely with people living with HIV to understand what it was about existing wellbeing and mental health services that left them feeling excluded.
The team looked at every aspect of the design – from visual style, colours through to the imagery used on the site – with a view to making the sure that digital user experience was accessible and approachable as possible.
Ayup Digital worked therapists at Yorkshire MESMAC to design and engineer a self-triaging system which enables a site visitor to quickly and easily access the services and resources they need.
The new service gives patients fast access to information and advice on a range of issues such as breathing, relaxation or mindfulness techniques and practical information on where to find therapy services.
Each visitor is then able to download a pack of information tailored to their specific requirements.
The Ayup-engineered solution involves: #
- A highly accessible website with a peaceful and ‘toned down’ visual style using muted imagery and calming animations to ensure maximum engagement.
- A digital self-triaging system which enables the user to quickly, easily and discretely find the information and services that meets their needs.
- An algorithm which enables users to download a personalised pack of information.
- An anonymous data capture element which enables the site producers to understand and monitor the ongoing success of the project.