‘Create & Bloom’ Creative App R&D, South West Partnership Foundation Trust
West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire was under some of the more severe restrictions during the pandemic, with Social Prescribing Link workers under huge pressure to become untrained counsellors and life coaches overnight whilst struggling to find digital services that clients could be referred to. 

This led to the idea to develop an easy to access creative app, the benefits of which could be simple to understand in the same way that people commonly understand that sport and exercise is good for physical and mental health.  The concept for a ‘Create and Bloom’ app modelled on ‘Couch to 5K’ was developed, where users can choose a creative activity (such as drawing or creative writing, for example) to do for 5 – 30 minutes per day. 

The app could commission content from key national art and cultural organisations, or be very local and place based in response to the cultural make-up of a particular area. 

To comply with the NHS Foundation Trust’s information governance, personal data will not leave the user’s device. 

The app could commission content from key national art and cultural organisations, or be very local and place based in response to the cultural make-up of a particular area.