Sleepio
 | |
| Founder(s) | Colin Espie, Peter Hames |
|---|---|
| Industry | Healthcare |
| URL | Sleepio.com |
| Launched | 2012 |
Sleepio is a digital sleep-improvement program featuring cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques developed by sleep scientist Colin Espie and ex-insomnia sufferer Peter Hames.[1]
Sleepio was tested in a randomized placebo-group clinical trial in 2012.[2] In a commentary on this research published by The Lancet, Sleepio was described as "a proven intervention for sleep disorders using the internet".[1] The journal Nature described Sleepio as "about as effective as CBT delivered in person".[3]
History
[edit]Sleepio is the first program from Big Health, the behavioural medicine company co-founded by Professor Colin Espie and Peter Hames.[4]
In March 2013 Sleepio was one of the launch apps in the Apps Library of the UK National Health Service (NHS).[5][6]
Sleepio was one of ten partners worldwide to launch on Jawbone's UP self-tracking platform in April 2013,[7] allowing import of sleep data collected by the UP activity tracker into Sleepio. Integrated support is also available to users of the BodyMedia FIT band.[8]
Sleepio was available free of charge via the NHS to people over 18 living in the English counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.[9]
How it works
[edit]The Sleepio program is delivered via the web and via mobile devices.[10] A virtual sleep expert, The Prof, guides the user through six interactive weekly sessions.[11]
The results of the cognitive behavioural therapy group showed Sleepio to be comparable in effectiveness to face-to-face CBT.[1]
A 2020 study involving over 7,000 NHS patients found that a six-week Sleepio treatment was effective, with a success rate of 56% compared to a target success rate of 50%, and a gain of nearly six hours of sleep per week.[12]
Awards
[edit]In March 2013, Sleepio was a finalist in the Digital Innovation category at the NHS Innovation EXPO.[13]
In November 2013, Sleepio was the winning "Healthcare IT Product Innovation" as selected by a UK healthcare industry website, E-Health Insider.[14] The start-up was also a semi-finalist in the BIG Awards organised by Cisco Systems, Inc. in 2013.[15]
In April 2014, Sleepio won the Bupa Startup competition at Wired Health.[16]
In June 2014, the company behind the Sleepio program, Big Health, was chosen as the Best Health Startup at The Europas Awards, the annual event honoring the best tech startups in Europe.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Moore, Mike (2012). "Looking for a good night's sleep". The Lancet. 380 (9839): 322–323. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61220-3. ISSN 0140-6736.
- ^ Colin A. Espie, Simon D. Kyle, Chris Williams, Jason C. Ong, Neil J. Douglas, Peter Hames, June S. L. Brown, “A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of online cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic insomnia disorder delivered via an automated media-rich web application”, Sleep, June 2012.
- ^ Crow, James Mitchell (2013). "Insomnia: Chasing the dream". Nature. 497 (7450): S16–S18. doi:10.1038/497S16a. ISSN 0028-0836.
- ^ Steve O'Hear, “Big Health, the startup behind Sleepio, raises $12M to scale delivery of non-drug mental health solutions”, Techcrunch, July 2016.
- ^ Jessica Hodgson, “U.K. Health Service Takes Closer Look at Apps’ Potential”, The Wall Street Journal, May 2013.
- ^ "NHS Apps Library". NHS. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ Dante D’Orazio, “Jawbone launches an ecosystem for Up, lets other apps tap into your fitness data”, The Verge, April 2013.
- ^ "BodyMedia Teams with Sleepio & A.R.O. to Support Sleep & Life Improvements" (Press release). 2013-05-28. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
- ^ "Sleepio app". NHS. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ Espie, C. A., Hames P., McKinstry, B., “Use of digital (internet and mobile) media delivery of cognitive-behavioral insomnia therapy, “Sleep Medicine Clinics”, September 2013.
- ^ Lynne Lamberg, “The Virtual Doctor Will See you Now”, Psychiatric News, August 17, 2012.
- ^ Denis Campbell (30 July 2020). "UK study finds digital treatment for insomnia more effective than face-to-face therapy". The Guardian.
- ^ Stephen Adams, “Inside the healthcare ‘Dragons’ Den’”, The Telegraph, March 2013.
- ^ “Mersey Burns App wins EHI Awards 2013”, EHI Mobile, October 2013.
- ^ Caroline Baldwin, “Cisco announces BIG Awards startup semi-finalists”, Computer Weekly, August 2013.
- ^ Liat Clark, "Insomnia app Sleepio wins startup competition at Wired Health", Wired, May 2014.
- ^ "The Europas Awards - The Winners" (Press release). 2014-06-10. Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2014-06-18.