SUMIT (Substance Use and Mental Health Interventions using Digital Technology) is a €6.8m project supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)

The project is led by QUB Community and Place (QCAP) Belfast and partnered with Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Digital Heath and Care Innovation Centre DHI (Scotland), University of St Andrews and Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.  It is aimed at transforming support for people living with substance use and mental health challenges across Northern Ireland, Ireland and Fife Scotland using digital enhancements of existing supports.

Why SUMIT - Policies and strategies in Northern Ireland (NI) and Ireland (IRE) stress the need to transform health and social care services, amid overwhelming demands, workforce capacity / capability challenges, and growing societal divisions including deprivation and health inequalities which are impacting on care. People living with substance use and associated mental health issues often experience particular and extreme challenges in accessing treatment and support (e.g. waiting lists, lack of crisis interventions) compounded by multi- factor exclusion (stigma, poverty, ill-health). Digital innovation and digitisation are identified as part of the solution, but uptake at scale remains a challenge. People with addiction and mental health issues face a unique set of challenges in how they access, interact with and trust the digital world and health and care services.

The video below shows some of the challenges identified by people with lived experience and potential for digital enhancements to address these challenges