Families offered Lumi Nova app to help children with anxiety

The app provides support for children suffering from mild to moderate emotional difficulties

More families will get access to an app which aims to help children suffering with anxiety.

NHS Gloucestershire has teamed up with BFB Labs to allow free use of Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage - a game for children aged between seven and 12.

Lumi Nova has quests to help children understand their feelings and tackle emotional difficulties.

The app requires authorised access from schools or GPs, and has proved successful in trials across the UK.

Children using the app can select from a range of challenges - such as a fear of the dark, struggling to make friends, or falling behind in school.

Dr Mala Ubhi, NHS Gloucestershire's clinical lead for mental health, said the app provides "lifelong skills" which help children adapt as they grow up.

"The whole app is based on cognitive behavioural therapy techniques, or CBT," she said.

"And that means that the techniques focus on how thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes can affect our feelings and actions.

"So whilst it might feel like a computer game, there's definitely evidence behind this sort of technique to manage mild to moderate anxiety for children," she added.

'Real successes'

Lumi Nova is recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and has been piloted by several schools, including The Rissington School in Cheltenham.

Head teacher Sue Dawe said: "The children really loved setting themselves targets and working through the levels of the exciting intergalactic adventure game, whilst learning skills to self-manage their worries.

"It was such an innovative way to get children involved in successfully overcoming their difficulties, and we had a number of real successes - one child who was scared of dogs will now happily approach and speak to our school reading dog.

"At a time when many children are developing low level anxieties, but when access to resources is sometimes difficult for families, it is so important to have a resource that is so readily available to everyone."