Now that we’ve finished the pilot and analysed the results, we’ve been working on posters and academic papers to share our findings. We followed a set process to create Orchid, making sure we had properly researched the market, included all the things proven to help people make positive changes to their behaviour, and discussed every stage of its development with members of our Patient and Public Involvement Group. That process is called Intervention Mapping and is a big part of our presentations, alongside the pilot findings.

Overall, we had 152 people sign up to use Orchid, of those users 29% were male and 41% were white. Feedback was positive, with useful comments on design, content and accessibility which will inform future development. The pilot showed that implementing Orchid in healthcare settings and secondary schools is feasible. Health professionals and patients found it acceptable to discuss Orchid in consultations, while teachers and students found Orchid a useful learning tool.

So far, we have presented Orchid at conferences in London, Cardiff and Newport, and even been to the beautiful island of Madeira to present at an International Digital Public Health conference. We have also submitted 2 academic papers for publication, one about the healthcare pilot (read the pre-print here) and one about the school pilot (read the pre-print here).

The next step is to apply for funding to develop and test Orchid further!