10045223CONNECTPlus YP (Young Person): Digital self management service for pre-diagnosis careClosedGrant for R&DInnovate UK* Our proposal is for a new digital service, CONNECTPlus YP (Young Person), working in partnership with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Children and Family Health Devon, that will sit within Health and Care Innovations existing CONNECTPlus multiple conditions app. The aim is to provide a single source of information and support for young people waiting for assessment and who are experiencing a range of symptoms suggestive of conditions including Long COVID, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), chronic pain, persistent physical symptoms (sometimes also known as medically unexplained or functional conditions), alongside support for those also presenting with anxiety and depression, learning disabilities and neurodiversity. The scale and length of waiting lists for assessment is growing, and the challenges prolonged delays present to these young people, as well as current clinical pressures, need addressing. CONNECTPlus YP is anticipated to provide earlier intervention, guidance and support to build better coping mechanisms, reducing progression to severe functional impairment and facilitate an earlier return to normal life, including school. Data collected through the app will provide evidence to improve multi disciplinary teams (MDTs) triage and assessment. CONNECTPlus YP is innovative because it: * Offers support information and resources to an underserved group of young people, whose complex difficulties often cause marked functional impairment of educational and social function for a long time prior to intervention. * Provides information and support for multiple conditions (in a single place) to improve knowledge, confidence and self-management * Includes behavioural trackers and diaries enabling real time data gathering "in the home" to provide a combined support and symptom-gathering solution for young people * Facilitates more effective assessment at the point of triage for those young people accessing the app prior to clinical assessment * Uses symptom data to inform ongoing support after assessment * Uses a Clinician Dashboard for MDTs to view data for remote monitoring * Provides signposting to local information, community and peer support groups (alongside national resources) enabling more immediate and appropriate support channels * Delivers information in multimedia format that is sensitive to ethnic and deprived areas needs * Provides an educational toolkit to upskill the health and social care workforce, and auxiliary services (e.g. in education settings) and arm them with the knowledge, skills and evidence-based resources to support these young people