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Beating the Blues

An online program for people with mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety, to find better ways to manage their symptoms.
It's best if the programme is completed with the support of a health professional who can monitor progress.
Since there are several tasks to complete each week, the programme will require a level of self-motivation to be effective.

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Beating the Blues	By Versus Arthritis
	Features Reference to what to do in a crisis with details of other services and websites. Video tutorial for providers on how to use the web portal to support patients/clients using the programme. Case studies that users can relate to. Ability for practitioners to refer patients/clients and monitor their progress through the practitioner portal and can be alerted if patients/clients have identified experiencing a high level of risk at any time. Monitoring client’s risk for suicide -if they indicate high level of suicidal thoughts/urges it encourages them to contact a crisis team or support person and can also alert health practitioner who may have referred them to use the programme. Weekly monitoring of symptoms and progress using standardised questionnaires Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
Country of origin	New Zealand
Clinical review	Read a clinical review below.
Security and privacy	Does the app: Collect medical information? Yes Require a login? Yes Have password protection? Yes Have a privacy policy? Yes Require internet access to use? Yes Read more about safety and security when using apps. Brochures: Tips to improve your privacy and security [PDF, 65 KB] Healthify He Puna Waiora, NZ Staying safe online(external link) Netsafe, NZ
Cost	Free
Advertisements	This app contains no ads.
How to access the programme	(external link)

Beating the Blues is an online, interactive and confidential Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) program, designed to help people overcome their depression and/or anxiety.

- It's is made up of eight sessions (recommended to focus on one per week), and includes a series of videos and interactive activities to teach coping skills.
- The programme is ‘hosted’ by NZ TV/radio personality Mike Puru, who appears in all the introductory videos and explains the concepts in each session.
- There are also case study videos which follow the lives of four different NZ individuals who are struggling with anxiety or depression. These cases are relatable and help users to better understand the concepts and activities in each session.
- Each session is 50 minutes in duration and consists of a mix of cognitive and behavioural strategies which can be customised to the user’s specific challenges. It allows users to set their own goals and monitor their progress towards these goals.
- Each session is designed to be completed weekly and builds on the previous session. Users can repeat sessions if they wish and the programme keeps track of which session they have reached. If for any reason, a user does not complete a session of the programme, the system will remember how far in that session the user has reached. It can easily restart where the user has left off, the next time they login.

Practitioners can ‘prescribe’ Beating the Blues for their clients/patients and are able to monitor their progress (and receive alerts if there are any suicide risks highlighted) via the manage my health web-portal.

Summaries of each session and resources highlighted in each session are available to be downloaded and printed out.

For the complete app description, go to the programme website(external link), for a more detailed review, see reviews below.

PROS	CONS
✔ Reference to what to do in a crisis with details of other services and websites. ✔ Video tutorial for providers on how to use the web portal to support patients/clients using the programme. ✔ Case studies that users can relate to. ✔ Ability for practitioners to refer patients/clients and monitor their progress through the practitioner portal and can be alerted if patients/clients have identified experiencing a high level of risk at any time. ✔ Monitoring client’s risk for suicide -if they indicate high level of suicidal thoughts/urges it encourages them to contact a crisis team or support person and can also alert health practitioner who may have referred them to use the programme. ✔ Weekly monitoring of symptoms and progress using standardised questionnaires Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).	✘ As a practitioner there does not seem to be access to the actual program (I had to ask the developers directly to be able to gain access to the program as a user would).

PROS

CONS

✔ Reference to what to do in a crisis with details of other services and websites.

✔ Video tutorial for providers on how to use the web portal to support patients/clients using the programme.

✔ Case studies that users can relate to.

✔ Ability for practitioners to refer patients/clients and monitor their progress through the practitioner portal and can be alerted if patients/clients have identified experiencing a high level of risk at any time.

✔ Monitoring client’s risk for suicide -if they indicate high level of suicidal thoughts/urges it encourages them to contact a crisis team or support person and can also alert health practitioner who may have referred them to use the programme.

✔ Weekly monitoring of symptoms and progress using standardised questionnaires Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).

✘ As a practitioner there does not seem to be access to the actual program (I had to ask the developers directly to be able to gain access to the program as a user would).

Clinical review

Reviewer: David Bloore, Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice
Date of review: October 2024
Platform: Can access program on smart phone, tablet, laptop or PC. Not available as an app.
Comments: Overall, this is a well-designed CBT program that is easy to navigate. The content is presented in an easy-to-understand manner and well-paced over an 8-week time-frame. The videos are engaging and offer insights into real-life experiences of anxiety and depression. The program is interactive and incorporates information from the user’s own experiences to help them set goals and apply interventions to their specific challenges. Weekly reviews also help users to reflect on their progress and see how they are doing over time. It is also useful for practitioners to be able to follow the progress of their clients and I see real benefit in this program also being used as a therapeutic tool.
Safety concerns: None.
New Zealand relevance: Yes
Concerns: None.

Consumer guide – how to choose a health app
Clinicians guide – how to choose a health app
Anxiety apps
Depression apps
CBT apps
Goal setting, problem solving and motivation apps
New Zealand-based apps
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