SloMo is an evidence-based digital therapeutic for people experiencing distressing thoughts and paranoia.
Developed by a multidisciplinary team led by King’s College London, SloMo was created to support people living with psychosis by helping them notice fast, overwhelming thoughts and practise ways to slow them down.
The therapy combines face-to-face sessions with a digital app that can be used outside the therapy room, helping people continue building skills in everyday life.
SloMo is a strong example of complex, research-led digital health work: clinically sensitive, evidence-based and designed around real people.
SloMo was not simply a technology project. It brought together academic research, clinical psychology, lived experience, inclusive design and digital development.
Bitjam worked as part of the wider SloMo team, supporting the development of the secure backend system that powers the app.
Working alongside clinical psychologists and researchers to support a digital therapeutic for people experiencing psychosis and paranoia.
Supporting a product shaped with people who understand the reality of distressing thoughts, psychosis and paranoia.
Helping ensure the tool could feel accessible for people with different levels of digital confidence.
Supporting the secure backend infrastructure needed for sensitive clinical information.
Bitjam’s role involved working closely with clinical psychologists, researchers, inclusive designers, people with lived experience and technology partners.
Bitjam’s understanding of the project was strengthened by the background of our Managing Director, Carl Plant, who previously worked as a mental health nurse, including experience within crisis team settings.
This gave Bitjam an additional understanding of the sensitivity, complexity and real-world pressures involved in developing technology for mental health services.
At Bitjam, we work collaboratively with clients, researchers, clinicians, users and wider project teams. We do not build digital tools in isolation.
For SloMo, this meant supporting a careful development process where clinical safety, usability, accessibility, data integrity and regulation all mattered.
The app needed to be secure and reliable, but it also needed to feel approachable and usable for people who may be experiencing distressing thoughts, paranoia or low confidence with technology.
This is where Bitjam’s approach is particularly valuable. We are used to working with academic and clinical teams where the brief is not just to build software, but to help shape how research, user feedback, clinical requirements and technical delivery come together in a product that can work in the real world.
The SloMo concept uses a simple but powerful visual metaphor.
Fast, unhelpful thoughts are represented as quick-spinning grey bubbles. Slower, safer thoughts are shown as colourful, steadier bubbles.
This visual approach helps people recognise when their thinking is speeding up and gives them a practical way to slow things down.
The app helps people recognise when thoughts are becoming fast, overwhelming or unhelpful.
People can practise techniques that help create more space and steadier thinking.
The app supports people outside therapy, helping them return to skills when they need them.
Digital therapy can take a complex clinical idea and make it more visual, interactive and easier to return to when support is needed.
Patients practise this approach with their therapist during sessions, then continue using the app outside therapy to support the same skills in daily life.
SloMo has been tested through clinical research and has shown beneficial effects on paranoia-related outcomes, including observer-rated paranoia and self-reported persecution.
It has also been recognised as the first evidence-based, UKCA-marked digital therapeutic for treating paranoia.
Developed with careful attention to clinical outcomes, usability and real-world use.
Recognised as an evidence-based, UKCA-marked digital therapeutic for treating paranoia.
Recommended by NICE as an option in the NHS while further evidence is generated.
SloMo has received Wellcome funding to support further optimisation, evaluation and implementation across NHS Trusts.
In 2024, NICE recommended SloMo as one of a small number of digital technologies that can be used as an option in the NHS for adults and young people with psychosis while further evidence is generated.
This recognition reflects the importance of developing digital health tools that are not only innovative, but safe, evaluated and suitable for real-world clinical pathways.
Access to psychological support for psychosis can be limited, and digital tools have the potential to make evidence-based support more accessible and engaging.
For people experiencing paranoia, having a tool that can be used both with a therapist and in everyday life can make support feel more practical and connected to real situations.
SloMo shows how digital technology can extend the reach of therapy without losing the human, clinical and relational elements that matter.
SloMo reflects the kind of work Bitjam does best.
It required technical expertise, but also careful collaboration, clinical understanding, inclusive thinking and the ability to work within a complex research and regulatory environment.
By working as part of a multidisciplinary team, Bitjam helped support the development of a digital therapeutic designed to make a real difference for people living with psychosis and paranoia.
It is a strong example of our approach: working with research and clinical teams to turn important ideas into safe, accessible and meaningful digital tools.
Bitjam helps research teams, clinical teams and healthcare partners turn complex therapeutic ideas into secure, accessible and real-world digital health tools.
Supporting Keele University’s NIHR-funded CAM-Pain programme with a digital resource for children and young people living with musculoskeletal pain.
Bitjam worked with Keele University and a community of practice to co-design and develop Pain Navigator, a digital resource created as part of the NIHR-funded CAM-Pain programme.
The CAM-Pain programme is focused on improving understanding and support for children and young people living with musculoskeletal pain.
Led by a team of academics at Keele University, the project has involved research, clinical insight and direct work with children and young people to understand what support they need and how that support should be presented.
Pain Navigator has been developed in co-production with young people, with children’s focus groups helping to shape the content, tone, design and overall direction of the resource.
This was a key part of the project, ensuring the final tool was not based on assumptions, but on the needs, experiences and voices of the young people it is designed to support.
The resource is now available for young people, families, clinicians, researchers and wider healthcare audiences.
Visit painnavigator.co.ukAt Bitjam, we do not simply take a brief and build in isolation. Our approach is based on working closely with clients, users and stakeholders to shape digital tools that are useful, accessible and grounded in real need.
For Pain Navigator, this meant working alongside Keele University’s academic team to translate research insight, clinical knowledge and feedback from young people into a clear, engaging and practical digital resource.
Keele University brought the research expertise, clinical understanding and direct insight from work with children and young people.
Young people helped shape the content, tone, design and direction through focus groups and feedback.
Bitjam brought digital strategy, user experience, content structure, design and development expertise.
Together, this helped shape a resource that is evidence-based, age-appropriate and easy to navigate.
Our role was not just to build a website, but to help turn complex research, content and user feedback into a live digital tool that feels clear, supportive and meaningful for young people and the people around them.
A key part of Pain Navigator is that it has been developed in co-production with young people.
Through Keele University’s work with children and young people, including focus groups, the project team gathered feedback on what young people wanted from the resource and how it should look, feel and work.
Their feedback helped guide important decisions around content, language, structure, tone and design. It helped ensure Pain Navigator feels approachable and supportive, rather than overly clinical or difficult to understand.
This co-production approach helped make sure Pain Navigator reflected lived experience, while still being grounded in research and clinical expertise.
Pain Navigator gives young people a place to explore information about pain in a way that feels clear, friendly and supportive.
Helping young people understand pain and what can influence it.
Practical information to support pain management outside clinical appointments.
Helping young people understand what may happen after speaking with a healthcare professional.
Supporting treatment, ongoing pain management and confidence over time.
The tone, structure and design were carefully considered so that the resource feels reassuring and age-appropriate, while still being grounded in evidence and research.
For young people living with persistent pain, clear and accessible information can make a real difference.
Pain Navigator gives young people and families a trusted place to start, helping them understand pain, explore practical support and feel more confident in conversations with healthcare professionals.
By involving young people in the development process, the resource has been shaped around what they actually need, not just what adults assume they need.
Pain Navigator reflects the way we believe digital tools should be developed: through genuine collaboration, careful listening and practical design.
By combining Keele University’s academic expertise, clinical insight and work with young people with Bitjam’s digital health design and development skills, we have helped create a resource that has the potential to make a meaningful difference for children and young people living with pain.
Pain Navigator is a strong example of the kind of digital health work Bitjam supports: evidence-based, co-produced and focused on real-world impact.
We are pleased that the project has been so well received and look forward to supporting Keele University as Pain Navigator is shared more widely.
Bitjam helps universities, research teams and healthcare partners turn evidence, lived experience and clinical insight into digital tools that are useful, accessible and ready for real-world impact.
OSI, Online Support and Intervention for Child Anxiety, is a parent-led, therapist-supported digital programme designed to help children overcome problems with fears, worries and anxiety.
Bitjam works closely with the TOPIC Research Group as a long-term technical and implementation partner, supporting the OSI platform from research and clinical use through to wider scaling, internationalisation and commercial readiness.
Driven by the Oxford University team and closely connected to the TOPIC Research Group, OSI builds on the work of Professor Cathy Creswell, an internationally recognised expert in child anxiety and one of the programme’s founders.
The programme is based on evidence-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and has been supported by funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Lucy Taylor and the wider Oxford team have played an important role in OSI’s ongoing development, implementation and international adaptation. As OSI has grown, Koa Health has become the commercial partner supporting wider delivery, helping take the intervention into clinical services and future markets.
Bitjam’s role has been to support the OSI platform as it moves from research and clinical use towards wider scaling, internationalisation and commercial readiness.
Childhood anxiety can have a serious impact on family life, school, friendships and confidence.
While Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can be effective for child anxiety, many families face barriers to support, including waiting lists, limited therapist availability and difficulty accessing specialist services.
OSI was developed to help address that gap.
Parents and carers work through seven weekly modules and a follow-up module using videos, quizzes, worksheets and practical exercises.
Therapists provide focused weekly support, helping parents apply strategies and work through any difficulties.
Children are supported through a companion game app designed to make practice more engaging and age-appropriate.
The platform includes tools to support case management, progress monitoring and service delivery.
Parents work through structured online content designed to help them support their child at home. Together, the parent programme, clinician case management system and child game app create a connected digital intervention.
One of OSI’s strengths is that it recognises the reality of child mental health services. The programme is designed to reduce the amount of therapist time needed while still giving families structured, evidence-based support.
Bitjam became involved at an important point in OSI’s development.
The platform needed to be stable, secure and ready to support the demands of research, clinical use and future growth.
Bitjam took over hosting and development from the previous provider, focusing on reliability, usability and a cloud-based architecture that could support the programme as it scaled.
They need to support clinicians, not add unnecessary complexity. They need to feel manageable for families, not overwhelming. They need to be safe, secure and usable in day-to-day care.
Bitjam’s role has been to support OSI with that real-world delivery in mind.
As evidence-based digital health interventions grow, the challenge is not simply to make the technology bigger.
To work well in different countries, services and communities, digital interventions need careful internationalisation. That includes translation, cultural adaptation, localisation, clinical review, technical configuration and testing with the people who will deliver and use the intervention.
We have already supported international expansion into Iceland, working closely with the Reykjavik University team.
For OSI, this means supporting a platform that can grow carefully, without losing the clinical thinking, evidence base and family-centred approach that made it effective in the first place.
OSI is expanding further through international research and implementation work, with the wider programme looking at how the intervention can be adapted for diverse populations and settings.
Internationalising a digital intervention is not just about changing language. It is about understanding context, culture, services and the people using the tool.
OSI is also moving into a wider implementation phase through OSI-GROWS.
OSI-GROWS is focused on making OSI a routine part of NHS-supported mental health services for children. The project aims to improve how child anxiety problems are treated by offering effective online tools and training for families and clinicians.
This is a major step for the programme. It moves OSI beyond a successful digital intervention and into the practical challenge of implementation: how to make sure more services can use it, more clinicians can deliver it, and more families can benefit from it.
For Bitjam, this kind of work requires more than development. It requires a long-term understanding of how digital health products are maintained, adapted and supported as they move into real service delivery.
For families dealing with child anxiety, the right support can make a huge difference.
It can help children face fears, build confidence and take part more fully in school, friendships and family life. It can also help parents feel less helpless and more equipped to support their child day to day.
OSI shows how digital tools can help extend the reach of evidence-based care without removing the role of therapists, clinicians and families.
It is not technology replacing support. It is technology helping support reach further.
OSI is one of Bitjam’s largest and most significant digital health projects.
It brings together Oxford-led research, NHS service needs, clinical practice, family experience, child-centred design, scalable technology, commercial delivery and international implementation.
For Bitjam, the work reflects a wider direction for our digital health services: helping evidence-based interventions move safely and thoughtfully into new countries, cultures and care settings.
As OSI continues to expand, the project shows what is possible when academic leadership, clinical expertise, commercial delivery and careful digital implementation come together with a clear purpose: helping more children and families access the support they need, wherever they are.
Bitjam helps research teams, healthcare organisations and digital health partners develop, scale and support secure, evidence-based digital health technology.
CommonGround is an online peer support platform developed to support the mental wellbeing of people living with long-term physical health conditions.
CommonGround sits right in the space Bitjam knows well: where research, lived experience and healthcare need have to be translated into a digital product that feels safe, useful and human.
The project is led by researchers from King’s College London’s Department of Psychological Medicine, with support from King’s Health Partners and Impact on Urban Health.
It has been developed in collaboration with people with long-term conditions, specialist software developers and wider project partners.
Living with a long-term physical health condition can affect far more than physical symptoms.
People may also experience low mood, anxiety, isolation, uncertainty and the emotional impact of managing their condition day to day.
CommonGround was developed to explore how online peer support and evidence-based self-help information could help people better manage both their physical and mental health.
A digital space where people can connect with others who may understand what they are going through.
Support for the emotional impact of living with and managing a long-term physical health condition.
Information designed to support people alongside their physical health needs.
A platform shaped with care around safety, usability and the needs of people living with long-term conditions.
The aim is to create a safe, supportive digital space where people with long-term conditions can connect with others who may understand what they are going through.
People living with long-term physical health conditions may be at increased risk of poor mental health, yet the right support is not always available early enough.
CommonGround responds to this gap by exploring how peer connection and digital self-help can support people before difficulties become more serious.
At Bitjam, we do not simply take a brief and build in isolation. Our approach is based on working closely with clients, researchers, clinicians, users and wider stakeholders to shape digital tools that are useful, accessible and grounded in real need.
For CommonGround, this meant working with a multidisciplinary project team to help turn research insight, user needs and clinical considerations into a practical digital platform.
The project brought together academic expertise, lived experience, healthcare knowledge and digital development. Bitjam’s role was to support the translation of that work into a platform that could feel welcoming, usable and appropriate for people managing long-term health conditions.
A key part of CommonGround is that it has been developed in collaboration with people living with long-term conditions.
This matters because a peer support platform needs to feel safe, respectful and genuinely useful to the people it is designed for. It cannot be shaped by assumptions alone.
By involving people with lived experience, the project team could better understand what users might need from an online community, what would help them feel supported, and how information and interaction should be presented.
That insight helped shape a platform focused on connection, trust and practical support.
Helping people feel less alone by creating opportunities for shared understanding.
Designing the platform around safety, respect and the needs of its users.
Making information and peer support easier to access in a way that feels realistic and manageable.
Supporting a digital space that feels approachable rather than clinical, cold or overwhelming.
CommonGround is designed to bring together peer support and evidence-based self-help information.
Users can access a digital space where they can connect with others, share experiences and find resources that support mental wellbeing alongside physical health.
Behind that simple idea sits a more complex challenge: the platform needs to be secure, accessible, easy to use and suitable for a healthcare research environment.
CommonGround shows how carefully designed digital tools can support human connection, not replace it.
For Bitjam, the value of the project is not just in the technology behind it, but in what that technology makes possible: connection, shared understanding and earlier support.
There is a strong link between physical and mental health.
People living with long-term physical health conditions may be at increased risk of poor mental health, yet the right support is not always available early enough.
CommonGround responds to this gap by exploring how peer connection and digital self-help can support people before difficulties become more serious.
It is not just about building a platform. It is about creating a space where people can feel heard, understood and supported.
CommonGround brings together research, lived experience, healthcare insight and digital delivery in a way that feels practical and purposeful.
By working with King’s College London, King’s Health Partners and people with long-term conditions, Bitjam helped shape a platform designed to make peer support more accessible and meaningful.
CommonGround shows how carefully designed digital tools can support human connection, not replace it.
Bitjam helps research teams, healthcare organisations and project partners turn complex health ideas into secure, usable and human digital products.
Digital health ideas, research platforms, funding bids, regulated tools - start here.
Tell us what you’re building, who it’s for and where you are in the process. You do not need a finished brief.
Whether you are shaping an early idea, preparing a funding application, planning a digital health product, working on regulated software, or looking for support with an existing platform, we are happy to start with a conversation.
It might be an early idea, a funding bid, a research platform, an existing system, or a regulated digital health tool. Tell us where you are now and we can help work out the next sensible step.
Bitjam is based within IC7 at Keele University Science and Innovation Park, working with research, healthcare and digital health partners across the UK and internationally.
Bitjam designs and develops regulated digital health software, digital therapeutics and medical device applications for research, clinical and real-world healthcare settings.
We work with universities, NHS teams, clinicians, researchers and commercial partners to turn clinical expertise and research evidence into safe, secure and usable digital products.
Regulated digital health products need more than good software. They need to be clinically safe, technically robust, accessible, secure and appropriate for the people and services using them.
Bitjam brings together digital development experience with a strong understanding of healthcare, research and clinical environments.
We work with the people who understand the clinical need, service pressures, evidence base and users themselves.
From early ideas and funding applications through to build, deployment, monitoring and ongoing improvement.
Early technical scoping, product planning, funding application input and feasibility support.
Co-design, user experience design, prototyping and testing with users and project teams.
Secure software development, cloud hosting, infrastructure and technical documentation.
Testing, deployment, monitoring, ongoing support, localisation and long-term improvement.
Good medical device software cannot be created in isolation. It needs to reflect the needs of patients, clinicians, researchers, services and implementation partners.
Compliance is not something to bolt on at the end. Bitjam develops digital health software with safety, privacy and governance considered from the start.
We work with clinical safety specialists and project teams to help identify risks, document decisions and support safe deployment.
We help teams think through the documentation, evidence and technical decisions needed for regulated digital health products.
Digital health products often involve sensitive personal and clinical information, so security must be built into every stage.
Bitjam is ISO27001 certified for information security and is working towards ISO13485 for medical device quality management.
We design and develop with privacy, access control, secure hosting, data integrity and responsible information governance in mind.
A regulated digital health product only succeeds if people can use it.
The design must work for real people, real services and real pressures, not just look good in a prototype.
We understand the importance of building tools that feel human, not cold or overly technical.
Medical device software needs more than good development. It needs a team that understands clinical risk, regulation, data protection, technical documentation and the realities of healthcare delivery.
Bitjam combines secure software development with knowledge of MHRA expectations, UKCA considerations, DTAC, GDPR, DPIA and DCB0129 clinical safety processes, so software is not only well built, but safe, documented, usable and ready for real-world healthcare environments.
If you are developing a digital therapeutic, regulated medical device product or clinical software tool, Bitjam can help you move from idea to safe, usable and compliant delivery.
We work with research teams, healthcare organisations, universities and commercial partners to co-design digital health tools that are secure, ethical and ready for real-world impact.
We design, develop and support secure, compliant digital health tools for research, clinical care and real-world implementation.
Bitjam works with universities, NHS teams, researchers, clinicians, public-sector organisations and commercial partners to turn complex ideas into digital products that are safe, useful and ready to grow.
We help research and healthcare teams move from idea to usable, scalable digital health technology.
Our work supports projects at different stages, from funding applications and early prototypes through to medical device software, international rollout and long-term support.
We are trusted by universities, NHS teams, NIHR-funded projects and international research partners to build technology that is secure, ethical and ready for real-world use.
Practical, specialist support for digital health projects at every stage.
We build accessible, intuitive and clinically informed digital health products, including digital therapeutics, research platforms, patient-facing tools, clinician dashboards and secure data-driven systems.
We support regulated digital health products, including digital therapeutics and software that may fall within medical device requirements.
We help teams culturally adapt, translate and localise digital health products while protecting the clinical integrity of the original intervention.
We provide secure hosting, maintenance and technical support for digital health platforms, research systems and regulated health technology.
We support early discovery, scoping and co-design work so teams understand what should be built, who it is for and how it needs to work in practice.
We support teams as digital health projects move from research environments into pilot use, clinical delivery, commercial readiness or wider rollout.
Our approach brings together co-design, clinical understanding, research insight and agile software development.
We understand your goals, users, clinical pathways, research aims, risks and constraints.
We work with clinicians, researchers, patients, families, young people, carers, lived-experience partners and service teams.
We create clear, accessible designs and test ideas early, so feedback can shape the direction before build.
We develop securely and iteratively, with regular review, testing and refinement.
We support launch, hosting, information governance and clinical safety considerations.
We provide ongoing support, maintenance, improvement and planning for wider rollout or commercial readiness.
Bitjam works at the intersection of healthcare, research, regulation and software development.
We understand that digital health is not just about building software. It is about creating tools that are safe, trusted, evidence-based and useful in the real world.
Whether you are preparing a funding application, developing a digital intervention, scaling an existing platform or adapting a product for international use, we would be happy to talk.
Bitjam works with research teams, healthcare organisations, universities and partners to co-design digital health technology that is safe, thoughtful and ready for impact.
Explore a selection of Bitjam’s work with universities, NHS teams, research groups and healthcare partners.
Each project shows a different part of our work, from digital therapeutics and regulated health software to co-produced resources and peer support platforms.
Digital health projects built with clinical insight, lived experience, research expertise and practical technical delivery.
Scaling digital support for child anxiety with Oxford University, TOPIC Research Group and wider partners.
Turning digital therapy research into a real-world tool for people experiencing paranoia.
Supporting connection and mental wellbeing for people living with long-term physical health conditions.
Supporting Keele University’s NIHR-funded CAM-Pain programme with a resource co-produced with young people.
Bitjam helps research teams, universities, healthcare organisations and digital health partners shape, build and support secure digital health technology.