The Welsh Government has made £7.7 million available to support its online mental health support tool for a further three years.
Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Lynne Neagle announced the funding for SilverCloud Wales, developed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, as a free online therapy service designed to help people who experience mild to moderate anxiety, depression or stress to manage their mental health and wellbeing.
The work on the service will be overseen by Powys Teaching Health Board.
This follows an all-Wales pilot, launched during the Covid-19 pandemic, during which over 23,000 people have used the service and 65% report positive outcomes.
Range of resources
Neagle, said: “Mental Health affects people in different ways and we want to offer a range of resources to help people, those with low level mental health needs can hugely benefit from using SilverCloud. The service is available 24/7 and no referral is needed.
“Feedback we have received has shown that people felt SilverCloud really helped them through a time where they needed a bit of support and I am pleased we are now expanding the services offered.”
Users can choose from one of 17 online mental health and wellbeing programmes to complete at their own pace over 12 weeks. All programmes feature activities and interactive tools to help users develop skills to manage their psychological wellbeing with more confidence.
The service is backed up and supported by a team of psychologists and online cognitive behavioural therapy co-ordinators.
