A groundbreaking text messaging system has been used to help support 1000 people with depression and/or anxiety in Lanarkshire.

The Florence Simple Telehealth text messaging system, or ‘Flo’ for short, was named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, for its human touch.

A short internet animation has recently brought Flo – and how it works – into sharp focus via the story of Fraser, who’s living with high blood pressure.

Traditionally, that means he would have had to make regular trips to his GP to have his blood pressure monitored. Now he can text his readings from home ensuring his safety and reducing the need to attend the doctor’s surgery for routine checks.

From healthy hearts, Flo has also been used to enhance an eight-week programme focusing on healthy minds, with the landmark figure now reached.

“In November 2014 we introduced Beating the Blues, a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy,” explained Diane Reilly, of NHS Lanarkshire.

“CBT is a psychological therapy that works on the relationships between thoughts, behaviours and feelings. CBT teaches individuals how to recognise and tackle problems, here and now rather than in the past.

“Face-to-face CBT has been used for many years to treat depression, but the digital therapy has enabled a much larger patient group to access this clinically proven treatment.

“Flo has been used laterally to support the programme by sending a series of texts to patients.”

Morag Hearty, programme lead for telehealth in Lanarkshire, recently appeared on BBC Radio Scotland to talk about Flo.

She explained: “Flo is supporting many people with a variety of conditions to feel safe and more confident in their everyday life as well as making sure people are independent where possible.

“This upward trend and awareness of the service is being supported by Fraser’s story and how telehealth is helping him remain independent.”

Visit http://www.nhslanarkshire.org.uk/news/news/Pages/flo.aspx for the full story.