Your Digital Healthy Schools Package is an exciting new initiative commissioned by your local council in partnership with ORCHA, to empower young people to embrace and responsibly use apps to support their own health and wellbeing.

DHS gives you the information, support and guidance to help your students explore and understand digital health, and see the real difference it can make to their everyday health and wellbeing.

A reminder of what schools receive in their FREE package:

• Schools will have access to a customisable Digital Health Hub, lesson plans, assembly PowerPoints and downloadable resources
• School Staff will be able to recommend health and care apps directly to students and see activation data
• Students will have access to a powerful App Finder that has thousands of stringently reviewed health and care apps to download safely.

If you would like to access your local Digital Healthy Schools App Library and resources, please get in touch with Saira, Implementation Manager, at saira.arif@orcha.co.uk. Similarly, if you are unsure whether your school has an active DHS package, please email Saira to check before activating.

Given the challenges the world is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, app developers have been quick to create digital solutions to help people manage their health and, potentially, slow the spread of COVID-19. But they have also been equally fast in spotting a loophole in app store security, in order to get their apps to market.

Apple’s App Store requires a COVID-19 app to have been developed in partnership with the NHS, or requires documentation from the NHS showing that they have authorised the distribution of the app’s content. The Google Play Store has also put similar requirements in place for any app claiming to be COVID-19 related.

To avoid these restrictions, app developers have spotted that, by entering their app under the category of ‘COVO 19’, they can bypass app store regulations needed in order to appear under ‘COVID 19’.

But should we be concerned by this move? As an independent assessor of health and care apps, ORCHA has reviewed 17 of the COVID-19 apps available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Cumulatively, these apps have been downloaded over 1,580,000 times on Google Play alone.

The outcome of our reviews has revealed that, yes, we should be concerned about the quality of COVID-19 apps, as they are of very mixed quality. It also revealed that the steps taken by app stores have failed, not just because developers found a work around, but because one NHS app didn’t list under COVID-19, and the fact that those apps that do not meet the stores’ criteria actually achieve a higher ORCHA Score than the apps that do.

Almost 60% of all COVID-19 apps reviewed scored below ORCHA’s quality threshold. Whilst some apps performed particularly well, many apps hovered just above or below the cut-off score, and some apps achieved dangerously low scores. The few apps that managed to enter app stores using the ‘COVO 19’ loophole achieved an average score of 71.6%. This is around ten percentage points higher than the average score achieved by all COVID-19 apps reviewed by ORCHA.

Looking at why apps achieved these scores, the strongest results were seen in User Experience, with the average score in this review domain being 76%. This is good to see, as, for an app to be used by all, it must be easy to use.

Data Privacy is where the biggest weaknesses lay. The average score for COVID-19 apps in this review domain is 55%. This is of concern and requires action, as, if we are asking people to use an app, they also need to have a very clear understanding of how secure their data is, so that they can make an informed choice as to when to use the app and what data to share.

It is to be expected that, due to the unprecedented nature of COVID-19, Clinical Assurance scores might not be as high as non-COVID apps that we have reviewed; the average score here was 57%.

The challenge remains, therefore, of helping consumers to understand which apps are potentially unsafe to use, and ensuring that consumers are armed with the full facts about the strengths and weakness of an app before it is downloaded.

This week, we look at some of the best apps for heart health. After using the COVID-19 App Formulary, Dr Tom Micklewright gives another personal, practical view on three apps which can help patients better manage heart health at home.

ORCHA has reviewed a total of 221 apps for heart and stroke. This is a category of low-scoring apps, with almost 80% scoring below our quality threshold. This is worrying, considering that these apps have been downloaded 1,077,586,960 times on Google Play, and includes apps from well-known brands.

It illustrates why our independent app reviews should be consulted to check which apps are safe to use, before downloading or recommending to a patient.

In the video below, hear Dr Tom Micklewright introduce his independent reviews of heart health apps that can help during the COVID-19 crisis, and how professionals can recommend these solutions to patients via the ORCHA App Library.

Click below to watch the video:

Kardia demonstration: 

Dr Micklewright looks at the way in which the Kardia app and device provides medical-grade single lead ECG tracing, meaning it can be used to detect atrial fibrillation (AF). Patients can take their own readings, which are recorded and can be tracked in the app:

Click here to access ORCHA’s review of Kardia on our COVID-19 App Library.

FibriCheck app demonstration: 

Dr Micklewright demonstrates the FibriCheck app, exploring how it can be used to detect AF, how it compares to a patch-based ECG trace, and what the clinician dashboard feature looks like:

Click here to view ORCHA’s review of FibriCheck on our dedicated COVID-19 App Library.

Fitbit demonstration: 

For his insight into another top-scoring app that can help with managing heart health at home, Dr Micklewright demonstrates how Fitbit goes beyond simply tracking steps and sleep, to also track heart rate. The Fitbit watch and app mean that tracking heart rate can become a routine part of the patient’s day:

Click here to read ORCHA’s review of Fitbit on the COVID-19 App Library.

ORCHA COVID-19 App Formulary: 

Dr Micklewright summarises which apps can have a role in identifying heart arrhythmias, and which help with more general lifestyle changes. All apps mentioned can be accessed on ORCHA’s COVID-19 App Library.

On 5th May, Northern Ireland’s Minister of Health announced as part of NI’s Coronavirus News Conference that a new health App Library has been launched to help people manage their health and wellbeing, as part of the NI Government’s COVID-19 response. We are delighted to have worked with Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSCNI), in collaboration with the Department of Health in NI, to facilitate this App Library.

Our aim is to continue helping health and care organisations to embed safe digital health into care pathways, and allow patients to access assured apps to help with self-management during the COVID-19 crisis.

Health Minister, Robin Swann, explained:

“Since taking up post as Health Minister I have made mental health and wellbeing a priority. In these unprecedented times it is hugely important to consider the impact that this deadly virus can have on our lives, including the impact on mental health and wellbeing.

“We must support people to look after their mental health and this new Apps library will provide a one stop shop where the public can access safe and secure apps to help them during the pandemic.”

Click below to watch the NI Health Minister announce the App Library launch: