Raising Health secure funds for Flow Neuroscience Headsets

17 Dec 2024

LPT were involved in a pilot project earlier this year, offering Flow Neuroscience headsets to mental health patients to help treat symptoms of severe depression.

These headsets work by applying a gentle electrical current to stimulate and restore activity to an area of the brain called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This non-invasive treatment, known as tDCS – transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, helps to rebalance activity in this area of the brain, which is responsible for regulating mood, sleep and motivation.

The crisis mental health team, which supports patients with severe mental health issues at risk of admission to hospital were leading on this pilot and are the first NHS mental health crisis service in the UK to offer Flow Neuroscience headsets as a treatment option.

The feedback from the project was overwhelmingly positive with 80% of patients reporting a decrease in their depression symptoms and some patients experiencing a drop in suicidal ideation by up to 75%, compared to how they reported feeling at the beginning of the pilot.

Now the pilot has come to an end, the crisis mental health team no longer have funding for these headsets as the capital bid they submitted was rejected. Raising Health contacted Mark McConnochie and Sherif Abdalla who were leading on this project, to understand what is needed for the service and how to best support them. It was agreed that Raising Health would seek funding externally of £10,000 to purchase 30 headsets.

Within one month of opening the appeal, Raising Health have raised a total of £2,295 that will purchase 7 headsets and accompanying pads.

These funds came from the following donors:

·       £315 from the E H Smith Charitable Trust

·       £1,980 from the Westfield Health Trust

“Thank you so much Raising Health. This charitable funding will make such a difference and ensure patients don’t miss out on Flow treatment” – Mark McConnochie, consultant psychiatrist in a crisis resolution and home treatment