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Home / DMHW 26 KEY QUESTIONS • Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your role? • What excites you most about the future of digital mental health? • What has stood out to you most at the conference so far? • Why do you think events like DMHW26 are important? • Looking ahead, what gives you the most hope for the future of digital mental health? ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS • What first inspired your interest in digital mental health? • What is the biggest opportunity for digital mental health right now? • What is the biggest challenge facing the field today? • What impact do you hope your work will have on people's lives? • How do you see technology improving access to mental health support? • What role do you think AI will play in the future of mental health care? • How do we ensure technology enhances, rather than replaces, human connection? • If you could change one thing about digital mental health today, what would it be? • Where do you see digital mental health in the next 5–10 years? • What advice would you give to someone entering the field today?

Are you considering a master’s degree in digital health and social care? The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) offers Master's Scholarships to support a talent pipeline and nurture future leaders into the sector. Once you secure a spot on a relevant course, contact your course organiser who will apply for the scholarship on your behalf. Home / Master’s Scholarships Are you considering a master’s degree in digital health and social care? The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) offers Master's Scholarships to support a talent pipeline, and nurture future leaders in the sector. Once you secure a spot on a relevant course, contact your course organiser who will apply for the scholarship on your behalf. Scholarship details The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) awards annual master’s scholarship funding to DHI. Our 2026-27 scholarship window is now open. The first deadline for applications is on the 30th of June 2026. We may arrange a second application deadline in August if there are scholarships left following the June deadline. We also reserve a small number of scholarships for January 2027 intake. The deadline for those applications will be in November, but you can also apply before. The scholarship value for 2026-27 is £8,229 per student. Funding is available both for Taught MSc and MRes programs starting in either September or January. Whether you prefer full-time or part-time study, we have options to fit your schedule. We are hosting a series of online information events in spring 2026, on the 15th of April (12-1 pm, and 5-6 pm) and the 13th of May (12-1 pm, and 5-6 pm). If you want to attend these events or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on:  scholarships@dhi-scotland.com  . How to apply Direct applications from students are not accepted. Applications must be submitted by your course organiser. Eligible students should work closely with their course organiser who will use the DHI scholarship administration form to apply. For MRes students, a research proposal of no more than 1,500 words is required. Please ensure you read the privacy notice to access the Master’s Scholarships funding in digital health and social care. Eligibility criteria Students are eligible, if they can answer “yes” to all of the following questions: Determine if you are eligible to apply by answering the following questions with a "yes": Are you a British citizen, an EU citizen with Settled Status, or hold indefinite leave to remain status?   Have you been resident in  the UK for at least the last three years (proof may be required)?   Are you (or will you be) an ordinary resident in Scotland when starting the course?   Are you starting a new course?  If you meet these requirements, you can apply by selecting your preferred digital health and care Master’s course at a Scottish University and following the application process. Find out about detailed eligibility criteria on the SAAS website.    If there is an option to apply for a scholarship, please ensure that you do so.   To be eligible for funding, your MSc or MRes dissertation work needs to align with at least one of DHI's strategic themes.   If you have any questions or would like to apply, please contact us at scholarships@dhi-scotland.com . Eligible courses The funding is only available to courses at Scottish Universities. Courses should focus on digital health and social care or include modules on the digital transformation of health and social care services Funding is available for both full-time and part-time MSc or MRes courses.  Your dissertation needs to align with at least one of DHI’s Strategic Themes, contributing to the transformation of digital health and social care.  For course leaders It is the university’s responsibility to ensure that applicant students meet all eligibility criteria, and that the student is accepted on an eligible master’s course. Course leaders apply on behalf of the applicant student using DHI Scholarship Administration Form for all (MSc and MRes) courses. For MRes applications, a research plan of a maximum of 1500 words is required using a DHI Research Proposal Template.  To access the forms, email us at scholarships@dhi-scotland.com .   Courses can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis. Part-time funding is allocated at a 0.5 FTE basis, with the first half in the first year of study, and the second half in the second year of study.  Scholarships are awarded on a fee-waiver basis only and cannot be used to cover other costs, such as living expenses.  If the course fee is higher than the scholarship award, the university needs to agree to waive the excess of the student's fee. In cases where the master’s fee is less than the available award, the excess sum is intended to be used for supporting the student in their studies, such as buying necessary equipment or funding a conference trip to disseminate their research.   DHI will prioritise applications from dedicated taught digital health and care master's courses.  If the number of applicants exceeds the number of available places, DHI will allocate places proportionally between the applying universities, who will then select the most suitable candidates for the scholarships.  Once approved, your host University and the University of Strathclyde will sign a scholarship agreement and data-sharing agreement. DHI’s strategic themes for research To be eligible for scholarship funding, students must align their master’s dissertation topic to one of the DHI’s strategic themes. The themes in 2025-26 were: The contribution of digital health and care to Scotland’s Net Zero targets  Digital innovation for people living with substance use issues and/or supporting mental health and wellbeing Measuring the impact of digital health & care projects  Ethical and trustworthy approaches in AI and data-enabled health and care systems Digital innovations for long-term condition management and a shift from hospital to home and community settings Digital Innovation for social care and supported living in the community Digital innovation for prevention and anticipation of illness or infirmity Digital innovation in support of Population Health/Public Health including emergency planning and/or response Digital skills and workforce development in health and social care  Digital innovations for reducing healthcare inequalities We are particularly interested in dissertations that incorporate AI, machine learning, predictive analytics, data, Internet of (Medical) Things, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and/ or Immersive Reality.  Potential courses If you are unsure whether your course is eligible for funding, email us at scholarships@dhi-scotland.com .  Previously funded courses include: University of Aberdeen MSc Health Data Science MPH Master of Public Health  MSC Leadership in Professional Contexts MSc Medical Physics Edinburgh Napier University MRes Master of Research Glasgow School of Art  MRes Master of Research in Design University of Glasgow  MSc Digital Health Interventions MSc Primary Health Care    Heriot Watt University MSc Biomedical engineering University of Highlands and Islands  MSc  Applied Data Analytics   Robert Gordon University  MSc Midwifery MRes in different subjects including nursing   University of St Andrews  MSc Health Data Science   University of Strathclyde  MSc Digital Health Systems MSc Data Science for Politics and Policy Making MSc Clinical Health Psychology    MRes Physical Activity for Health MSc in Public Health and Social Innovation University of West of Scotland MSc Leading People-centred Integrated Care University of Stirling MSc Health Psychology Get in touch If you have any queries or are interested in applying for a Master’s Scholarship in digital health and care, email: scholarships@dhi-scotland.com . We’re here to help and look forward to hearing from you!

DHI undertakes research, facilitates international knowledge exchange, and publishes academic outputs, grey literature, white papers and a variety of other digital resources focused on digital health and social care. Home / Resources DHI undertakes research, facilitates international knowledge exchange, and publishes academic outputs, grey literature, white papers and a variety of other digital resources focused on digital health and social care. Article Blog post Executive summary Factsheet Paper Poster Presentation Report Show / exhibition Video Search by author ENVISION: The Digital Blueprint for a Smart Home of the Future Executive Summary : Executive Summary Executive summary 2026 Start Now ENVISION: The Digital Blueprint for a Smart Home of the Future Report 2026 Start Now Navigating Scotland’s Digital Health and Social Care Innovation Ecosystem: Mapping Support Structures from an Entrepreneurial Perspective Report 2026 Start Now Digital Health and Social Care Deep Dive Report Report 2026 Start Now Health and Social Care Workforce Survey : Experience, Opportunities and Attitudes to Digital Working – Summary Report Executive summary 2026 Start Now Digital Care Collaborative Scotland A community driving digital innovation across social care, social work and housing Executive summary 2026 Start Now Transforming Diabetes Care through Innovation: Leveraging Scotland’s Collaborative Ecosystem Thought Leadership Event Summary Report Executive summary 2025 Start Now Digital Innovation in Social Care - Industry Engagement Workshop Report 2025 Start Now Summary of Key Challenges & Opportunities for Digital Mental Health Research & Innovation in Scotland Executive summary 2025 Start Now Digital Mental Health Innovation Cluster (DMHIC) : Annual Report 2024–2025 Report 2025 Start Now Adult ADHD Scottish Pathway Research : A review of the current landscape of approaches to Adult ADHD care across health boards in Scotland Report 2025 Start Now Digital Lifelines Scotland – Evaluation Logic Model Report 2025 Start Now Evaluation of the Digital Lifelines Scotland (DLS) Programme – FINAL REPORT Report 2025 Start Now Evaluation of the Digital Lifelines Scotland (DLS) Programme – SUPPORTING EVIDENCE REPORT Report 2025 Start Now Evaluation of the Digital Lifelines Scotland (DLS) Programme – EVALUATION SUMMARY Report 2025 Start Now Evaluation of a Digital Solution for the Assessment and Management of Pain in Scottish Care Services Report 2025 Start Now First Prev 1 Page 1 Next Last

Suppliers are invited to apply for a new opportunity to develop digitally enabled products supporting mental health and substance use across Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The SUMIT (Substance Use and Mental Health Interventions using Digital Technology) Project has reached a major milestone with the publication of its Digital Products contract notice, now live on Public Contracts Scotland. Led by Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), with the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) at the University of Strathclyde leading the digital products workstream, SUMIT is a cross-border initiative designed to improve outcomes for people experiencing substance use and mental health challenges. The project spans Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland and is supported by the PEACEPLUS Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). A major opportunity for innovation This procurement will commission a minimum of three digitally enabled products that can be deployed across multiple health and care settings. The focus is on solutions that not only demonstrate innovation, but also deliver sustainable, long-term impact for individuals and systems alike. Suppliers will have the opportunity to develop products that: Improve access to support and services Address inequalities in care provision Enable earlier intervention and better outcomes Scale across jurisdictions and health systems Built on collaboration and co-design A core principle of the SUMIT project is participatory design, ensuring that solutions are shaped by those who will use and deliver them. This includes people with lived experience, alongside health and care, and voluntary sector professionals. The approach is informed by insights gathered through: Demonstrator sites across participating locations Extensive industry engagement, including the SUMIT Industry Breakfast Briefing held on 31 March Ongoing collaboration between academic, clinical, voluntary and innovation partners This ensures that the solutions developed are practical, relevant, and capable of being embedded into real-world settings. Driving cross-border impact SUMIT represents a unique example of cross-border collaboration, bringing together expertise from across three jurisdictions to tackle shared challenges. By supporting the development of scalable digital products, the project aims to create lasting improvements in how services are accessed and delivered. The initiative also reflects a strong commitment to reducing health inequalities, particularly for communities who face barriers to accessing traditional services. Apply now Organisations interested in applying can access the full contract notice and tender documentation via Public Contracts Scotland: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUN557948 Reference number: JUN557948 Applications are being managed through the PCS Tender system. This is a significant opportunity for organisations to collaborate, innovate, and contribute to transforming mental health and substance use support across the region.

The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI), marking the beginning of a new international education collaboration to support the next generation of entrepreneurs. It will create new collaborative opportunities between Scotland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and build on the strengths of our existing academic institutions. The partnership will enhance the global expansion of the #DigiInventors Challenge by connecting school pupils in Scotland and the UAE with DIDI students and staff, who will be entrepreneurial role models and bootcamp mentors for this inspirational and engaging programme. Through this collaboration, participants will gain exposure to international perspectives, design-led thinking, and real-world challenges as they develop their ideas for transforming health and care. The #DigiInventors Challenge is an existing national programme in Scotland that empowers young people to develop entrepreneurial, digital, design innovation, STEM, and meta skills while developing ideas to solve real-world health and social care challenges. By encouraging collaboration across education, design, digital health and care, the programme helps young people channel innovation as a positive force for change locally and internationally. The partnership between DHI and DIDI further strengthens this ambition by bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise. The agreement reflects a shared commitment between DHI and DIDI to inspire future talent, improve the gender imbalance within digital and STEM subjects, and demonstrate how design and technology can work together to improve lives. Moira Mackenzie, Deputy CEO and Director of Innovation, Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre, said: “This exciting partnership furthers the global ambitions of the #DigiInventors Challenge. By connecting young people in Scotland and the UAE with design thinking and international expertise from Dubai, we are creating opportunities for inspiration, collaboration and learning that extend far beyond the classroom. Through DHI’s unique position in Scotland’s innovation landscape, we hope to act as a connector for DIDI to create new collaborative opportunities with relevant institutions and organisations across Scotland.” Mohammad Abdullah, President, Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation, said: At DIDI, we believe the most powerful design tool we have is the next generation. This partnership with DHI is a natural extension of our mission - to cultivate leaders who think beyond borders and use creativity as a force for real-world impact. By connecting our students with young innovators in Scotland, we are building bridges between cultures, disciplines, and ideas at exactly the moment the world needs it most. Health and care are fundamentally human challenges, and design thinking - rooted in empathy - is one of the most powerful ways we can address them together." At a time when global challenges are at the forefront of people’s minds, the partnership highlights the positive role of international collaboration in education and innovation. By working together, both organisations aim to create meaningful opportunities for young people while contributing to the future of the global digital health and care sector. The collaboration will initially focus on enhancing the #DigiInventors Challenge, with potential to explore further joint activity in education, innovation, and knowledge exchange in the future. The next #DigiInventors Challenge will launch in August 2026 – check the website (www.digiinventors.com) for the latest information.

Moray Growth Deal-funded research sets out how today’s technology can turn an ordinary home into preventative health infrastructure affordably and at scale A new blueprint published today sets out how rural homes can be designed, built and retrofitted to support healthier, lower-carbon and more independent living. Produced by the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI), ‘ENVISION: The Digital Blueprint for a Smart Home of the Future’ is designed to be replicated across rural Scotland and beyond, offering a practical, costed response to three of the UK's most pressing and interconnected challenges: a health and care system under historic strain, a housing stock responsible for nearly a fifth of the country's carbon emissions, and a population ageing faster than the infrastructure built to support it. The blueprint was delivered as part of the £5 million Rural Centre of Excellence for Digital Health & Care Innovation, funded by the UK Government as part of the Moray Growth Deal, which supports a programme to advance digital health, social care innovation, and rural housing development. It was produced in partnership with built environment specialists BE-ST, Moray Council, architecture practice Architype, strategic built environment and technology partner Evolve Capex, and socio-political entrepreneurs The Alternative UK. Scotland’s future homes will need to deliver more than minimum compliance alone. Greater affordability in use, improved health and comfort, adaptability, resilience and reduced future retrofit demand are increasingly what commissioners, landlords and housing providers will expect. The ENVISION blueprint explores how those outcomes can be delivered proportionately across different housing models, from scalable options for volume builders to longer-term rental and social housing approaches, with more ambitious specifications positioned as demonstrator propositions for those ready to go further. Working from evidence that people spend approximately 90% of their lives indoors, and that the home environment is a direct determinant of physical and mental health, the blueprint identifies ten predictive use cases, from damp and mould risk detection to early signs of cognitive drift, where low-cost digital systems embedded at build stage can intervene before health deteriorates. Although designed to be replicable across Scotland and beyond, the blueprint is firmly rooted in Moray. Developed with a cross-sector project delivery group, and drawing on the region's rural realities including higher energy costs, older and harder-to-treat housing stock, patchy connectivity, and reduced access to health and care services, it positions Moray as a leading exemplar of rural digital health innovation. The blueprint has already attracted a group of early adopters committed to testing and implementing its recommendations, including Moray Council, BE-ST, Hanover, Bield, Grampian Housing Association, Capability Scotland and The Retail Trust. Private home builders considering innovation plots through the Moray Growth Deal housing mix programme are also among those the blueprint is designed to serve. Margaret Whoriskey, Head of Innovation for Care & Wellbeing at DHI, said: “There is a real opportunity here to move beyond minimum standards and design homes that actively support people to live well as their health and care needs change. ENVISION reframes the home as something more fundamental, not just shelter, but preventative infrastructure. The technology to make that shift is available now, it is affordable, and the financial case for deploying it is strong, particularly for social landlords managing assets over the long term.” Councillor Marc Macrae, Chair of the Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee and Moray Growth Deal lead said: “It is great to see Moray as an innovator in rural housing and digital health. Through the Moray Growth Deal, we can support solutions that respond to challenges faced in our communities such as fuel poverty and ageing housing stock. “The ENVISION blueprint shows that homes, both new and old, can play an important role in improving health and wellbeing while also reducing energy costs and emissions.” The blueprint situates the home at the intersection of three global challenges whose urgency has been sharply reinforced by recent data. On health and care: Nearly one million older people in the UK experience persistent loneliness, a risk factor comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day Fuel poverty affects approximately 6.1 million households across the UK, with cold, damp homes directly worsening respiratory and cardiovascular conditions The NHS faces rising demand from demographic change with no equivalent rise in capacity On housing and climate: Around 55% of UK homes already overheat during relatively cool summers, a figure set to worsen Operational emissions from buildings account for approximately 19% of the UK's carbon footprint 80% of the buildings that will be occupied in 2050 already exist, making retrofit as urgent as new build On rural Scotland specifically: Rural households face higher energy costs, older housing stock harder to treat, patchy digital connectivity, and reduced access to health and care services Single-occupancy living, more prevalent in rural areas, drives up per-person energy use and amplifies the risks of isolation The blueprint responds to each of these with a phased, practically-grounded approach structured across three horizons: Horizon 1 (deployable now, within 1-3 years), Horizon 2 (predictive integration, 3-7 years) and Horizon 3 (ambient intelligence and regenerative communities, 7+ years). Each horizon builds deliberately on the one before, protecting today's investments from obsolescence. Janette Hughes, Director of Planning and Performance at DHI and executive lead for the programme, said: “What makes ENVISION different is that it doesn't ask housing providers to take a leap of faith. Horizon 1 is built entirely from proven technology that is deployable today. The sensors, the edge computing, the basic health monitoring - none of it is experimental. What's new is the framework for bringing it together coherently, and the evidence that doing so is financially defensible. We wanted to give commissioners and housing providers something they could actually use.” The analysis finds that the preferred Horizon 1, Level 2 specification adds £33,121 per dwelling above the policy baseline, around 11% of total build cost, with the digital infrastructure itself representing only around 1.4% of that. When combined with a Passivhaus-grade fabric specification, the model reduces annual maintenance costs by £1,470 per dwelling and turns a projected £1,320 annual operating deficit for a social landlord into a £403 surplus. At the heart of the blueprint is a Home Operating System (HOS), a low-power edge computing hub that integrates all sensors and controls including indoor air quality, temperature, movement, humidity and sleep patterns, and runs automation and predictive modelling locally, without streaming sensitive data to the cloud. In practical terms, the system can detect rising humidity patterns that precede visible damp and mould formation by days; identify early signs of cognitive drift or mobility decline before they become safety risks; flag fuel poverty under-heating and suggest safe heating cycles; and recognise patterns of loneliness and social withdrawal associated with depression and accelerated cognitive decline. Crucially, all data processing happens inside the home. Nothing is shared with landlords, care services or health providers without explicit resident consent. The blueprint sets out a governance model designed around resident agency, described as 'local first, cloud optional', and is built on open protocols to avoid vendor lock-in. For rural communities where broadband reliability cannot be guaranteed, the system is designed to function at full capacity for essential functions including heating, ventilation and safety, even in the event of complete connectivity loss. Although the blueprint was developed for rural Moray under the UK Government's Growth Deal investment, its authors are explicit that its principles apply far beyond its origin. The three-horizon framework, the affordability analysis, and the technology stack have all been designed for replication across different tenures, geographies, and housing types. Kaye Keenan, Impact Manager at BE-ST, said: “BE-ST is delighted to support this DHI blueprint, providing guidance and support around sustainable construction and innovation. By prioritising construction methods and materials with low embodied energy, it aligns with Scotland's net zero ambitions whilst also considering rural-specific design challenges. The design of the blueprint is a great opportunity for creating embedded adoptability in smart rural homes.” ENVISION is published today alongside complementary Living Lab outputs and launched as part of an online webinar on 2 June 2026. To register for the upcoming webinar (02.06.26 - 13:00 - 14:30) click here Learn more: here