# Tend VR > Scalable immersive therapies for depression and anxiety — evidence-based, engaging, and accessible. ## About Tend VR is transforming mental health care through scalable, immersive therapies. Our evidence-backed Virtual Reality Mindfulness-Based Intervention (Tend VR-MBI) offers a clinically proven approach to treating common mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. By combining well-established therapies with the immersive power of virtual reality, Tend delivers effective, accessible mental health support anytime, anywhere. Founded from lived experience and driven by clinical expertise, Tend VR is on a mission to make high-quality mental health care a fundamental human right. We address the global mental health crisis by providing safe, effective interventions that can be rapidly deployed at population scale and at a fraction of the cost of traditional therapies. ## Tagline Transforming mental health through scalable immersive therapies. ## Our Vision We believe that good mental health care is a fundamental human right. Our vision is a world without blame or stigma for those of us experiencing poor mental health, where everyone can access the high-quality support they need. ## Why We Exist We are living through a global mental health crisis: over a billion people experience poor mental health each year, and current treatment options simply cannot deliver care at the scale needed. In the UK, around 12 million people experience mental health problems each year, but only around 1.5 million are referred for treatment, of whom just 17% reliably recover. Tend exists to deliver safe and effective interventions that can be rolled out rapidly at population scale, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional therapies. Our mission is to put high-quality mental health care in the hands of as many people as possible, enabling individuals to recover and communities to thrive. ## What We Offer Tend's evidence-backed Virtual Reality Mindfulness-Based Intervention (Tend VR-MBI) has been developed to radically transform how we help people with common mental health problems. We have adapted a well-established therapy for depression and anxiety and combined it with the immersive power of virtual reality, providing a highly effective course that can be delivered anywhere, at any time through Meta Quest VR headsets. Through comprehensive training materials, we provide the knowledge, tools, and support to enable our products to be used confidently, safely, and effectively. ## Why Tend ### Clinically Evidenced, Outcomes Focused Our courses have been robustly researched through multiple feasibility studies with nearly 200 participants, and shown to be clinically reliable in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms. Results from studies with Manchester University have shown significant reductions in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores. Early data from real-world NHS deployments have shown large improvements in key clinical outcomes, at a fraction of the cost of traditional talking therapies. ### Engaging and Motivating The immersive nature of our virtual reality-based courses makes for a highly engaging and motivating user experience. We see improved completion rates and better clinical outcomes than many other therapies. One of the first patients to receive our intervention on the NHS told the BBC it had transformed his life. ### Accessible Anywhere, At Any Time Delivered through VR headsets, our courses can be deployed at scale in the community or at home, making them accessible, flexible, and highly affordable. As well as our clinical course designed for use through the NHS and other healthcare providers, we are also developing a personal wellbeing product that can be used at home by anyone with a VR headset. ## Clinical Evidence and Outcomes Tend VR's intervention has been rigorously tested through five feasibility studies with nearly 200 participants, and is now delivering outstanding real-world results in NHS and voluntary sector deployments. ### Effect Sizes: Tend VR vs NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT Benchmarks) In real-world NHS and VCSE cohorts, Tend VR has demonstrated very large effect sizes that significantly outperform standard NHS treatments: - Depression (PHQ-9): Tend VR achieves a Cohen's d effect size of 1.18, compared to 0.66 for NHS Step 2 (Guided Self Help/CBT) and 0.86 for NHS Step 3 (High Intensity CBT). Tend's depression outcomes are approximately 1.4x better than the most intensive NHS talking therapy. - Anxiety (GAD-7): Tend VR achieves a Cohen's d effect size of 1.53, compared to 0.85 for NHS Step 2 and 0.99 for NHS Step 3. Tend's anxiety outcomes are approximately 1.5x better than the most intensive NHS talking therapy. - In studies with Manchester University, mean PHQ-9 scores reduced by 5.93 points and mean GAD-7 scores reduced by 5.91 points. Tend VR breaks the traditional efficacy ceiling of digital interventions by significantly outperforming the resource-intensive "gold standard" of High Intensity CBT, particularly in anxiety outcomes. ### Cost Effectiveness: Delivering More for Less Tend delivers substantially better clinical outcomes at a fraction of the cost of comparable therapies: - Tend VR-MBI costs approximately £245-£250 per course, achieving a treatment effect size (Cohen's d) of approximately 1.3. - NHS Step 2 CBT costs approximately £500 per course with an effect size of approximately 0.5. Tend is around 2x cheaper with far better results. - NHS Step 3 High Intensity CBT costs approximately £1,400-£2,000 per course with an effect size of approximately 0.7. Tend is 5-8x cheaper whilst significantly outperforming it. - iCBT (computerised CBT) costs approximately £249 per course with an effect size of approximately 0.5. Tend matches the price but delivers approximately 2.6x the clinical benefit. - SSRIs (antidepressants) cost approximately £44 but achieve an effect size of only approximately 0.3. Tend delivers over 4x the clinical improvement. In cost effectiveness terms (Cohen's d per £100 spent), Tend VR is the most cost-effective treatment available, delivering approximately 3x more clinical benefit per pound than any other intervention. ### NHS Outcomes and Savings (Modelled per 1,000 Patients) Tend's NHS Outcomes & Savings Calculator demonstrates the clinical and fiscal impact of deploying Tend VR-MBI at scale. For every 1,000 patients treated with Tend VR-MBI compared to standard Guided Self Help: - +183 additional patients reliably recovered - £461,000 in annual service savings (through more efficient delivery, Step 3 avoidance, and reduced re-referrals) - £111,000 in annual ICB savings (reduced A&E attendances, GP visits, comorbidity costs, and hospital admissions) - +37 patients with reduced self-harm risk - +91 additional patients returning to work - +241 fewer patients dropping out of treatment untreated ### Competitive Differentiation Tend is, to our knowledge, the first company to successfully complete feasibility studies evaluating VR-MBI and the first to market. Tend is unique among digital mental health interventions in combining all of the following: a clinically proven depression and anxiety product, best-in-class clinical results, Class I/II medical device status, a gamified patient experience, fully scalable delivery, and significant cost savings versus traditional talking therapies. No other competitor in this space offers all of these attributes. ## Who We Work With Tend VR is a trusted supplier to the NHS, Mind, and many other voluntary sector organisations. We serve healthcare providers, mental health services, and organisations looking to offer scalable, effective mental health support. ## Our Story Tend is a product of lived experience. Tend's founder Matthew grew up with a mum who has schizoaffective disorder, and experienced first-hand from a young age the immense impact that poor mental health has on people's lives, including those close to them. In founding Tend, Matthew combined his lived experience with the strong clinical expertise of the wider Tend team to create a product designed to transform the lives of those experiencing mental health problems. ## Our Team We are a team of experts from across the mental health, creative, and technology sectors. We all bring either our own lived experience of mental health and neurodiversity, or our experience of supporting friends and family with poor mental health. We are united in our desire to transform the lives of people experiencing mental health problems, delivering clinically evidenced solutions with the best results at the lowest cost possible. ## Key Topics - Virtual reality therapy - VR mental health treatment - Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) - VR Mindfulness-Based Intervention (VR-MBI) - Depression treatment - Anxiety treatment - Scalable mental health interventions - Digital therapeutics - NHS mental health services - Immersive therapy - Population-scale mental health care - Mental health technology - Meta Quest VR therapy - Evidence-based mental health care ## Press Coverage - BBC News (December 2025): "North Yorkshire NHS service becomes first to offer VR mindfulness" — BBC coverage of Tend VR's deployment with the North Yorkshire Talking Therapies team, featuring patient testimonials describing the intervention as life-transforming. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62v9ww3deno ## Contact - Website: https://www.tendmentalhealth.com - Email: support@tend-vr.com