We’re so excited to share our latest iteration of Inspire’s support hub. Our one-stop digital wellbeing support hub.

Gillian Cameron, Inspire’s Digital Services Executive, and part-time PhD Researcher, explains the changes and improvements you’ll see now we have launched.

The development of our Inspire Support Hub has been an ongoing programme of work starting in 2015…. Where it all began with an innovation voucher funded by Invest NI. We identified a need to create an online resource, where our clients could access mental health resources and information 24/7, in a confidential, accessible way. This led to Inspire forming a partnership with the interdisciplinary team of Computing and Psychology at Ulster University, who have strong expertise in digital health research.

Together, we designed and developed our Inspire Support Hub, a web platform populated with mental health resources, including e-learning programmes, chatbot self-assessment, a video library and mood tracker.

Since its launch in 2019, each year over 4,500 people have signed up and interacted with its resources over 36,000 times. During the Covid-19 lockdown, the number of people accessing our hub doubled.

To ensure our hub continued to showcase the latest research in digital wellbeing we undertook a piece of research to determine what challenges people face when using our Inspire Support Hub, how we can address these and enhance our digital services.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the next iteration of our Inspire Support Hub, focusing on the best possible online experience, and expanding access to our services.

Responding to feedback

We engaged with the people who use our services, from managers, to directors, to staff across a range of different vocations, to find the main challenges that arise when using our hub. One of the stand out issues was gaining access, with our sign up process becoming a barrier to access. We also listened to feedback on creating an app version, and have addressed this issue by designing our new hub to be completely “mobile first”.

Analysing how the hub has been used across the past few years has allowed us to map out the most commonly used features and topics, offering actionable insights to adapt the hub to improve the user experience, and provided recommendations for future development. Our team have used these insights to enhance our existing features, and added new tools to create a more engaging and interactive digital platform.

New features on the Inspire Support Hub

We have enhanced our most popular features, our iHelpr chatbot, that provides a friendly way to answer self-assessment questionnaires. Our focus is embedding more interactive content, having refreshed and reformatted a lot of our existing resources to engage the user more. One of our more popular features, was our guided learning courses, so in response to this information we have built in accessible courses that offer a different way to move through our resources, providing interactive quizzes to check your understanding.

As research supports an association between expressing gratitude and an individual’s wellbeing we have developed a new exciting feature, our gratitude diary. Users will be able to write 3 things you are grateful for on a regular basis, making space for those things that make us thankful in our lives.

A new feature that we are excited to introduce is LiveChat. Our team are available to provide guidance on the website, enquire about counselling and offer advice on the services we provide. Our services have never been easier to access, as we now have a self-referral form on the hub, meaning once our clients complete this a member of our team will be in touch to complete the referral process.

The right support, at the right time

Our digital hub, underpinned with professional oversight and governance, can offer improved access to mental health treatment. Whilst the Inspire Support Hub has ascetically changed and we have added some new tools to increase usability and accessibility, at the heart of all content on the hub is clinically proven information. Our work is evidenced based and we know that our digital interventions complement and broaden access to our existing services, providing a stepped-care approach to ensure the right support is given at the right time.

Contact our team if you’d like to know more about how the Inspire Support Hub can support your organisation.

FAQ’s

We know you’ll have questions about our planned changes. We hope this information helps to answer some of those, but reach out to your account manager with any other queries, feedback or comments.

When will the new hub be available?

The hub is now live! Keep your eyes peeled for an information pack to support you through this process at the end of April.

Why are you changing the Inspire Support Hub?

We are changing the Inspire Support Hub to give our clients the best possible online experience, and expand access to our services. Last year, we undertook a piece of research to determine what challenges users face when using our Inspire Support Hub, and how we can address these and enhance our digital platform. We found the main issue was gaining access to the hub, with our sign up process becoming a barrier to access. We also listened to feedback on creating an app version, and have addressed this issue be designing our new hub to be completely “mobile first”. We have enhanced our existing features, and added new tools to create a more engaging and interactive digital platform.

What features are on the new hub?

We have enhanced our most popular features, our iHelpr Chatbot, Mood Tracker and Resource Library. We’re focusing more on video content, and have refreshed all of our resources. We have added a range of guided learning courses that offer a different way to move through our resources, providing interactive quizzes to check your understanding.

You can now use our gratitude diary to write 3 things you are grateful for on a regular basis, as research supports an association between expressing gratitude and an individual’s wellbeing.

Our services have never been easier to access, as we now have a self-referral form, once you complete this a member of our team will be in touch to complete the referral process. You can also chat to our team using our new LiveChat feature.

What is Livechat? / What can I ask on Live Chat?

Livechat is there to help guide you through the website, enquire about counselling and offer advice on the services we provide. Please note: Livechat is not a counselling service and is only available between 10am – 4pm Monday to Friday.

Do I have to sign up again?

Yes, you will need to sign up again, using your email address.

Why am I being asked for my email address now?

Based on an overwhelming amount of requests for an easier sign up process, we are now asking for an email address upon sign up. This allows for easier sign up, and you can reset your password if you ever forget it. You can use any email address, your work or personal email to sign up. Your email address and personal details will be anonymised, and never be shared with your employer.

What happens if I input my old pin?

Our pins are changing to make access to our hub easier. If you find your old pin is not accepted, please email hubsupport@inspirewellbeing.org with your organisation name and we will be able to provide you with the new details.

Can I transfer my data to the new Hub?

Unfortunately not, but the new hub will have the mood tracker, plus a range of new features you can start using straight away.

Who can I contact if I have any questions about the new Hub?

If you have any queries about the new hub, please reach out to us on hubsupport@inspirewellbeing.org