CONNECT
Summary
CONNECT is a digital health study aiming to detect early signs of relapse in people with psychosis. Using smartphone and wearable data, the study seeks to identify behavioural and physiological changes (e.g. activity, sleep, mood) that may precede worsening mental health. CONNECT is a non-interventional study focused on longitudinal data collection to better understand relapse patterns.
Platform
Native app for iOS and Android, integrated with wearable and device health data platforms.
Funders
Led by the University of Manchester, in partnership with multiple UK universities and the McPin Foundation. Funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Services
- Digital health research
- Co-design
- UI/UX design
- Software development
- Technical project management
- Quality assurance
Our role & approach
- We collaborated closely with clinicians, people with lived experience of psychosis, and researchers to co-design user flows, engagement strategies, and sampling schedules.
- We facilitated public and participant involvement via the Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) and Involvement Network (through McPin) to guide UI design and engagement strategies.
- We developed the native mobile application and integrated it with the RADAR-base research infrastructure to support capture of both active (questionnaire) and passive (sensor) data.
- We implemented integration with Apple HealthKit (iOS) and Health Connect (Android), enabling data capture from supported wearable devices and health services.
- We worked within established governance and data protection frameworks to support secure transmission of study data.
- We managed technical delivery, risk mitigation, and quality assurance throughout development.
What we built
- A native mobile app for participants to complete short questionnaires multiple times per week.
- Passive data capture via Apple HealthKit (iOS) and Health Connect (Android), delivered through in-house iOS integration and Android components developed in collaboration with The Hyve.
- Integration with the RADAR-base research infrastructure, including development of custom data layers to transform and transmit study data, with infrastructure deployment and maintenance provided by The Hyve.
- Engagement-focused interface design to support retention while minimising burden.
CONNECT software architecture
Outcomes & impact
- The study aims to recruit 1,100 participants with psychosis across six UK sites.
- The hybrid active and passive data collection approach supports analysis of behavioural and physiological changes that may precede relapse.
- The study will generate a longitudinal dataset that may inform future research into relapse prediction tools.
- Public and participant involvement is embedded through LEAP and the McPin Involvement Network, ensuring the study reflects lived experience perspectives.
“Working with the Digital Health Software Team has been a collaborative experience. Their ability to translate complex research ideas into robust, user‑centred digital tools has been invaluable, and they consistently bring creativity, rigour, and pragmatism to everything they do.”
Professor Sandra Bucci, Chief Investigator for the CONNECT study