Somerset Apps Library

Apps are a great way to get health and mental wellbeing support, helping us to improve our health and live healthier lives. There are so many apps on the market, it can be hard to know which ones you can trust.

That’s why we, at NHS Somerset, have teamed up with ORCHA (the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications) to create a website which shows health and care related apps which have been rigorously reviewed against data privacy, professional clinical assurance and how usable and accessible they are. You can visit The Somerset Apps Library at https://somerset.orcha.co.uk/.

We would love to hear about your experience of using the apps library – positive and negative feedback welcomed. We run and support a Public User Group, if you’d like to be involved, please contact us at somicb.digitalteam@nhs.net.

There are many different types of apps, which provide:

• Preventative support (e.g. inhaler technique, stress management, fitness and diet apps)
• Empowering people to help themselves (e.g. diabetes apps, symptom checkers, condition monitoring and mood diaries)
• Administrative support such as appointment management and service signposting (e.g. NHS App)
• Delivery of services (e.g. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and mole checkers)

This helps you to choose the one that works best for your needs. Please be reassured that apps are not there to replace any services you may be using but work alongside them.

Please see Sophie’s story, to the right, to see how ORCHA helped her manage her health and wellbeing.