Apax is a progressive, non-profit, social enterprise that adopts a creative approach to providing assisted living and supported housing services to vulnerable adults. Having undergone a successful digital transformation, Apax began investigating how immersive technologies could improve the mental wellbeing of its residents.
According to UK homelessness charity Crisis, 45% of people experiencing homelessness have been diagnosed with a mental health issue. For rough sleepers, that figure rises to 80%. These individuals also struggle with everyday life skills, which makes a future move to independent living extremely challenging.
Supporting 140-plus residents in London who have experienced homelessness and mental health issues, Apax delivers services that empower independent living and social cohesion.
Apax’s key workers spend one-to-one time with residents, helping them overcome different issues, including mental wellness and digital exclusion. However, time-consuming, paper-based reports have historically been required following every session. The opportunity to enhance residents’ digital skills, combined with the organisation’s potential to expand its internal capabilities, presents a promising pathway to embrace and effectively integrate innovative technologies.
VR in action
With clinical trials showing that VR technology can help people recover from mental health problems, Apax decided to deploy immersive technology to improve its residents’ mental wellness and provide a complementary recovery programme to traditional methods.
“Every one of our residents has the potential to live independently one day. Our job is to provide the services that ensure they can confidently complete that journey. Our new VR Wellness programme has delivered incredible results that have improved mental health and provided the skills that people need for a more fulfilling life.” Israa Qaddourah, Project Manager, Apax
Extending its partnership with Meta, Apax chose the Quest 2 VR headset, while it recruited leading Solutions Integrator Insight to build a strategy on how to best utilise the hardware, identify the most suitable wellness applications and deliver a change management service to ensure the smooth roll-out of the new technology.
Insight recommended the TRIPP wellness platform for its unique spatial audio and visual experience. It negotiated a software licence that enabled Apax to benefit from regular updates and a range of wellbeing experiences that were carefully selected to positively impact residents’ moods.
The spatial computing deployment resulted in residents not only reducing stress, managing their mood and depression, but also helped them develop the skills and confidence for a more fulfilling life.
Built on a digital platform, the programme also eliminated paper-based reporting, freeing up key workers to provide more quality support to residents.
By combining Meta Quest 2 headsets with the TRIPP meditation app, Insight enabled Apax’s key workers to boost mental health recovery and promote digital inclusion among residents, enhancing their journey toward independent living.
“Insight put a huge amount of work into this project. The team’s ability to blend hardware and software expertise, with leading change management methods have been pivotal to our overall success. “Anousha Vahdaty, CEO, Apax.
The programme’s success has prompted Apax to explore other applications for the VR headsets, aiming to enhance staff training and digital skills among residents across their business.
Results in Numbers:
100% the project met or exceeded all resident and staff expectations.
+36% thanks to the introduction of the new VR Wellness programme, residents’ social anxiety management improved.
100% of residents and staff reported positive impacts from the programme, including stress reduction and mood improvement.
80% found the technology easy to use from the beginning thanks to workshops and training demonstrations.
By Davi De Andrade, Services Development Executive at Insight
