THE FUTURE OF MENTAL HEALTH
Delivering better mental health globally
Footage from Tend virtual environment
VISION
How do we take the best treatment for depression and scale it for 300M people?
Tend is a new scalable way to support mental health and wellbeing anywhere in the world, right where it is needed most at a cost affordable to all.
Sign up for our waitlist to be among the first to get involved!
IMMERSIVE VR BASED MBCT
Tend is a full Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course based on VR.
MBCT is one of the most thoroughly clinically tested and effective tools to reduce stress, anxiety, low mood and burnout. Numerous RCTs from across the world have shown its huge benefit to a wide range of individuals for improving their mood and productivity - at home and at work.
For the first time ever, we can deliver MBCT anywhere in the world at any time of day or night.
BREATHTAKING ESCAPE
Based on the Meta Quest 2 VR headsets, Tend offers a unique way to deliver Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. As well as being a world first fully interactive MBCT course, Tend is a place to escape to. Providing an immersive break from users' surroundings has proved extremely successful in improving retention and course completion.
The view from the virtual home environment during
the sunset relaxation session. Screenshot from Meta Quest 2
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
WE'RE AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH
We ran a feasibility clinical trial with 12 patients with a history of depression. The results were overwhelming. Their depression
and anxiety scores reduced from an average of PHQ-9 10.8 to 5.5 taking them from being 'moderately depressed' to close to sub clinical score. This represents a potential breakthrough in the treatment of low mood, depression and anxiety.
Tend MBCT clinical trial results in numbers
83%
COMPLETION RATE
49%
REDUCTION IN PHQ9 DEPRESSION SCORE
48%
REDUCTION IN GAD-7 ANXIETY
SCORE
75%
Would recommend Tend to friends and family
Meet The Team
Matthew Hoad-Robson
Founder/CEO
With over fifteen years experience delivering multi-award winning content for clients including Rolls-Royce, BBC, Greenpeace, NSPCC, Cancer Research UK amongst many others, Matthew is a highly experienced creative leader. He is the founder and managing director of Tend, an experienced meditator with a keen interest in improving mental health through technology.
Kathleen Wets
Co-Founder/COO
Kathleen studied neuroscience, psychology and pharmacology at Stanford University and her postgraduate at The Institute of Psychiatry, Kings. She was editor of "Current Opinion in Neurobiology" and has previous experience working in successful
science publishing startups. Kathleen brings with her a wealth of experience in research. Now dedicated to developing evidence-based, effective and scalable tools to improve global mental health.
Declan Halton-Woodward
Operations Director
Declan has worked in executive offices for over 10 years, supporting CEOs/Boards on strategy, operations, HR and commercial matters. He has worked as a senior Police Officer in high-risk environments to deliver critical public services. He has also run high-value business operations, international change and project management in the Defence industry, start ups, and finance. Declan is heavily involved in Diversity and Inclusion both in the public sector - driving LGBTQ+ police engagement and in the private sector - where he has led diversity initiatives in a major UK-private bank. He has won awards in both a business capacity and for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion.
Dr Kim Bevan OBE
Principal Investigator
Kim has over 30 years of working in mental health provision. Holding a PhD in psychology Dr Bevan is Tend's Principal Investigator and in charge of trials and research. Kim has worked in a variety of clinical settings and as CEO of The Retreat Clinics, Britain's oldest mental health provider operating continuously since 1792.
Emma Taylor
Clinical Safety Officer
Emma is a clinical nurse specialist focusing on mental health. Emma is the director of digital mentality and co-founder and clinical director for Tend. In addition to providing clinical knowledge Emma is a multi-award winning nurse with multiple digital designs and innovations and three year’s experience in developing digital therapeutics.
Andrew Murdoch
Lead Developer
Andrew is an award-winning game designer and programmer, with 6+ years experience in positions of technical leadership, design leadership, and tech consultancy. In employment at Abertay University, Andrew’s career began by developing innovative AI tools to aid HR teams. Prior to joining Tend, Andrew was working with video game publishers to port Unity game projects to Nintendo and Sony consoles.
Professor Josh Sanes
Scientific Advisor
Joshua R Sanes is a Harvard neurobiologist known for significant contributions to the understanding of how neural circuits develop in the visual and motor systems. Sanes has received many awards including election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Ezechi Britton MBE Technology and Business Advisor
Ezechi is co-founder and former CTO at Fintech startup Neyber, a lending platform that has received over £100 million in investment from companies including Goldman Sachs.
Nikki Crane FRSA Research and Commissioning
Nikki is an arts professional with over 30 years experience working in health contexts. Now lead for Arts, Health & Wellbeing at King’s College London she is joint project manager for SHAPER the largest study in the world bringing arts-based mental health interventions into a national health service.
Jon Brichto
Chairman
Jon Brichto is managing director of multi-award winning creative production company Brickwall, with nearly twenty years as a successful business leader. At Brickwall, Jon has overseen the company’s expansion across digital channels developing the business from a film company into a full service creative production studio working on animation, film and digital projects.
Our Partners
The Retreat York
Brickwall
Digital Mentality