New app for lithium and mental health meds

[Carl Holvey]

                     

Pharmacy Services at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) have developed an innovative app that is available free to help with the safe prescribing, administering and monitoring of lithium.

In the UK, Lithium Carbonate (often referred to as lithium) is the medication most commonly used to treat bipolar disorder.  As we know, for lithium to be effective the dosage must be strictly administered, and patients need to have their lithium blood level checked every 3 months, their kidney and thyroid function checked every 6 months and attend a full annual health check with their healthcare provider. Patients can only receive a supply of lithium from a hospital or community pharmacy if they can show evidence of an up to date blood level result.

Traditionally, recording these physical health checks was done in a paper booklet. Research by the Pharmacy Services team showed that use of this booklet was sporadic with some patients reporting having never had one, or having lost it. Increasingly patients are using smart technology to manage day to day aspects of their lives, this lead to the development of the app.  The team enlisted the services of the mobile technology developer Incentivated who had valuable previous experience and knowledge of the health sector.

It is hoped that use of the app will empower patients to take control of their physical health checks and their ongoing treatment. Currently, the app is focused on lithium medicine management; future development of the framework will facilitate the monitoring of a broad range of mental health medicines.  There is a big health gap between those with severe mental illness and the general population. Those with severe mental illness are more likely to die younger from treatable causes, have more physical health problems and not receive the health interventions they need when they ask for them. The app should go some way to address these issues for those taking lithium and we hope that when extended to all mental health medicines it will benefit more people.

The app can be used to:

• Record lithium treatment & levels
• Set health check reminders using the calendar function
• Record health check results at recommended intervals
• Record mood and sleep using the diary function
• Email GP or Specialist prescriber test results via the ‘Send Report’
• Store emergency information & contacts
• Access frequently asked questions, ‘Dos and Don’ts’ and side effects.

More information available from: www.physicalhealthmonitoring.com

And free to download from the apple and android app stores. Flyers for the app are available on the Trust website www.swlstg-tr.nhs.uk

Download the Apple IPhone version of the Lithium App here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nhs-physical-health-monitor/id10409...

Download the Android version of the Lithium App here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.incentivated.nhs....