Mobile application for mental wellness training
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Transcript of Mobile application for mental wellness training
Mobile application for mental wellness training
The application, developed to run on a smartphone,
teaches skills to promote well-being and relieve stress
using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT
consists of an innovative mix of experiential tech-
niques and behavioural interventions. It has proved
effective in the treatment of a wide range of problems
including work-related stress and depression.
Work-related stress is one of Europe’s greatest prob-
lems in occupational health and safety. Almost one
in four employees suffers from stress and 50–60 per-
cent of working days that are lost are stress-related.
The annual cost of stress in the European Union is
estimated around 20 billion euros, mainly due to lost
working time and health care expenditure.
Targeting lifestyle changesThe application, called Oiva, is designed to help indi-
viduals develop skills that will improve their mental
wellness. The aim is to improve the user’s psychologi-
cal flexibility, motivation and ability to make lifestyle
changes. Oiva runs on Android mobile phones and
As part of SalWe’s Mind and Body Programme, a smartphone application has been developed to enhance quality of life and alleviate stress. The development work has been done in collaboration between VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Jyväskylä.
www.salwe.fi
SalWe - Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation in Health and Well-being
tablets. It has been developed in SalWe’s Mind and
Body Programme, as a joint project of VTT Technical
Research Centre of Finland and the Department of
Psychology of the University of Jyväskylä.
“Skills are learned through exercises that are conve-
niently brief and can easily be repeated over the day.
The exercises improve the user’s ability to be mindfully
present and to change or persist in behaviour based
on personal values,” explains Professor Raimo Lap-palainen of the University of Jyväskylä.
“Oiva consists of four intervention modules that con-
tain a total of 45 audio and text exercises, plus videos
on promoting mental and physical health. It features
guided navigation through the application, sends re-
minders and provides a diary for notes and reflec-
tions. The application’s content, display and structure
can be adapted and personalized to suit the needs of
different target groups,” says Senior Scientist Elina Mattila of VTT.
Successful pilot projectDevelopment work on Oiva began in spring 2011. By
spring 2012 it was ready for a one-month pilot study
to be carried out.
Fifteen people took part in the study. Each user used
the application for several sessions totalling, on aver-
age, 192 minutes per user. All the users reported sig-
nificant improvements in quality of life and the more
active half of them also experienced stress reduction.
The application was well-accepted by the users, who
also felt it was useful. A few examples of the benefits
reported by the users:
• Oiva helped to relax and take breaks during the day.
• Oiva made it easier to fall asleep at night.
• Oiva promoted re-examination of personal values.
• Oiva helped let go of disruptive thoughts.
The users stated they would have liked a longer usage
period, to obtain more profound changes and effects.
Follow-up studies on different target groupsIn autumn 2012, a broader intervention study was
started among working-age people suffering from
work-related stress and features of metabolic syn-
drome. Starting in spring 2013, Oiva will be evaluated
with couples expecting their first baby, with the aim
of improving their diet and preventing post-partum
depression.
More information
Elina Mattila senior scientist VTT Technical Research Centre of [email protected]+358 20 722 3384
Raimo Lappalainen professor University of Jyväskylä [email protected]+358 50 443 2349
SalWe - Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation in Health and Well-being