Digital wellbeing tools funded by MoH

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The Ministry of Health will fund one or more digital mental wellbeing tools to develop, grow and increase their reach to New Zealanders.

The Registration of Interest says it will provide $900,000 a year for two years towards existing or soon to be launched ‘Digital Wellbeing Tools’.

The ROI says that part of the Government’s response to He Ara Oranga (Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction) is to support the achievement of mental health and wellbeing for all New Zealanders. 

“A key component in the programme … is digital solutions, including whole of population Digital Wellbeing Tools that support people to manage their mental health and wellbeing on a day to day basis and at times of increased stress or distress,” it says. 

“The Digital Wellbeing Tools need to be trusted, ethical, safe, effective and sustainable.”

This ROI is for wellbeing tools for adults, but one for tools that support young people will be released soon.

The digital tools that attract funding should provide information to friends and whānau of people who are struggling with their wellbeing and include a “comprehensive suite of evidence-informed wellbeing features and services”. 

They should also include a programme of ongoing content-refresh updates, which will be informed by user feedback, and need to complement and integrate with the New Zealand health sector’s wider mental health and addiction services. 

The total funding available for the adult tools is $900,000 per year, for up to two years, and this may go towards one or more tools. 

The ROI also says that all new digital services and the data they hold must be conformant, and in some cases compliant, with Ministry of Health published HISO standards, roadmaps and architecture guidelines and integrate with Ministry of Health mandated national digital services, such as the National Health Index. 

Cloud delivery should also be considered for all digital services in preference to locally hosted and configured technology.