Kate McCann
PR Lead
Phone: 07528 796400
Linsey Scott
Marketing and Communications Director
Phone: 07788 432323
Out of office hours
Text: 07528 796400
About ORCHA
Founded by NHS clinicians, ORCHA is the world’s leading digital health evaluation and distribution organisation. We provide services to national health bodies across three continents, including the NHS in 50% of UK regions, delivering national accreditation frameworks, bespoke Digital Health Libraries, and professional recommendation tools, specific to the needs of our clients. ORCHA’s unique Review Engine assesses digital health solutions against more than 350 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data & Privacy, and Usability & Accessibility, plus additional criteria depending on needs.
As an NHS speech and language therapist, Liz was frustrated she could only see one patient at a time, especially with such long waiting times. This led her on a mission to improve quality and efficiencies within NHS departments. With the advent of healthcare apps, Liz set up ORCHA, the world’s first health app rating system. Her objective: that professionals and citizens should have access to health apps they can trust.
Simon can speak about how digital health may be used to supplement or transform existing care pathways, enabling improved access or reducing reliance on incumbent services. His background is in health economics, market access, social media analytics, medical writing & value demonstration, with application in the pharmaceutical, academic, digital, & regulatory sectors.
Tim is ORCHA’s spokesperson on regulation, security and accreditation in the world of digital health. Amongst many senior roles he has held, Tim is former Managing Director of the NHS Cheshire & Merseyside CSU, an 800 strong organisation, turning over £40m pa and providing a range of support services to health and social care commissioners across the region and the North of England.
About ORCHA
Founded by NHS clinicians, ORCHA is the world’s leading digital health evaluation and distribution organisation. We provide services to national health bodies across three continents, including the NHS in 50% of UK regions, delivering national accreditation frameworks, bespoke Digital Health Libraries, and professional recommendation tools, specific to the needs of our clients. ORCHA’s unique Review Engine assesses digital health solutions against more than 350 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data & Privacy, and Usability & Accessibility, plus additional criteria depending on needs.
ORCHA’s research expertise
ORCHA is the world’s leading reviewer of digital health products – but our in-house experts also monitor industry trends and commission their own research:
The facts below may be useful background, but if there’s something you want to know and it isn’t listed, just ask us.
All our new research is also published on our news feed.
The digital health market
How consumers are using apps
How healthcare professionals are using apps
Facts about ORCHA
Call or text Kate McCann on +44 (0)7528 796400 or email kate.mccann@orchahealth.com
About ORCHA
Founded by NHS clinicians, ORCHA is the world’s leading digital health evaluation and distribution organisation. We provide services to national health bodies across three continents, including the NHS in 50% of UK regions, delivering national accreditation frameworks, bespoke Digital Health Libraries, and professional recommendation tools, specific to the needs of our clients. ORCHA’s unique Review Engine assesses digital health solutions against more than 350 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data & Privacy, and Usability & Accessibility, plus additional criteria depending on needs.
As the weather gets nicer, we all like to spend more time outside. And we often hear about how good being outdoors is for our health – usually as we’re being hustled out of the door while the hoovering is finished. But it’s all well and good being told to “go outside”, “experience the joys of nature” and “touch grass”. Ok, you’re outside. Experiencing nature. Touching grass. Now what?
This is where the famous mindfulness comes into play. Mindfulness is talked about a lot these days. To be honest, it can seem intimidating – the idea that you have to be completely present, in a state of total calm, et cetera. But mindfulness is a skill, like anything else. You start small, and slowly but steadily improve.
Guided mindfulness meditations are a good way to start practising, as these can help to keep your mind on track when it (inevitably) wanders. For guided meditations and help learning mindfulness techniques, there are some great health apps in your Digital Healthy Schools Library which can support you with practical techniques and reminders to practise them. Search “mindfulness” to get started – and remember that you can use the filters at the top of the page to find the best app for you.
And just to note – mindfulness isn’t for everyone. Many people find it helps them manage their day-to-day stress, but for some it just doesn’t work. You may want to try this article from Mind, for more information on whether mindfulness is right for you.
So, what is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the act of noticing what’s happening in the present moment without judgement. This could be what’s happening in your mind, your body, or around you.
Whenever you catch your mind drifting into other thoughts, just gently bring it back, without any judgement towards your mind for doing what it does naturally: drift. Notice how thoughts come and go, and create space between them. This may help you to learn that your thoughts don’t have to define you, which might help you react more calmly to situations, and teach you to reflect before you respond.
Just paying more attention to yourself and your surroundings – noticing how you feel in this moment, looking more closely at whatever you can see, focusing on what you can smell, feel and hear – are all mindfulness exercises. You don’t have to be outdoors – but this article is titled “Getting Outside”, so we’ll stay on theme.
This leads nicely onto a great mindfulness exercise you may have already heard of: the Five Senses exercise. The goal of this exercise is to calm your mind by using your five senses to focus on your environment instead of your thoughts. This can help you to be present in the moment, keeping your mind just busy enough not to begin worrying, planning or daydreaming.
Nature has a scientifically proven positive effect on our mental health. Green and blue spaces (parks or woodlands and beaches or canals) are great – but trees planted along a street, plants in pots and even watching nature documentaries are all shown to be good for our mental health. In the section below, there are some great apps to help you get started with mindfulness and getting outdoors – you can search them in your Digital Healthy Schools Library to see exactly what support they provide and view some screenshots from within the apps to check that they feel right for you. If these apps aren’t quite what you need, try searching “mindfulness” to find the best app for you.
So get outside. Stare at the sky. Touch grass. Just pay attention while you’re doing it.
About ORCHA
Founded by NHS clinicians, ORCHA is the world’s leading digital health evaluation and distribution organisation. We provide services to national health bodies across three continents, including the NHS in 50% of UK regions, delivering national accreditation frameworks, bespoke Digital Health Libraries, and professional recommendation tools, specific to the needs of our clients. ORCHA’s unique Review Engine assesses digital health solutions against more than 300 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data u0026amp; Privacy, and Usability u0026amp; Accessibility, plus additional criteria depending on needs.
See how ORCHA works
Discover how our services, including Reviews, Digital Health Libraries, and market intelligence reports, can work for your specific needs.
Search ORCHA’s App Library, featuring thousands of independent app reviews across a broad spectrum of health conditions. Every app is evaluated against more than 300 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data u0026amp; Privacy, and Usability u0026amp; Accessibility, making it easy for you to find the best apps for your needs.