A new algorithm which could have the ability to predict which of us might experience a mental health crisis has been trialled in the UK, with the results showing that it’s effective enough for routine use. A version of the algorithm would track users’ mobile phone calls, messages and location in a bid to improve accuracy.

New Study

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust worked in partnership with Alpha, a division of Spanish telecom firm Telefonica which owns UK network provider O2, to see if there would be any benefit in automatically flagging those they felt were most at risk of experiencing a mental health crisis to NHS staff.