Manage Asthma

If cold air affects your asthma, there are apps that can help you look after your asthma in winter and all year round. Used within the NHS, Digital Health Passport is a free app that helps you understand and manage your asthma. It lets you:

• Keep a diary of your asthma to help recognise patterns or spot triggers you didn’t know you had.
• View local air quality, pollution and weather alerts to help you prepare for your day.
• Watch videos to learn how to care for your lung health.

Age: 12+ years old.

Stop Smoking

If you smoke, consider giving-up as its one of the best changes you can make to improve your lung health. Made by the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Quit Smoking is a free app that is a 28-day guide to help you stop smoking. It lets you:

• Complete tasks that can help you beat your cravings and focus on your goals.
• Get daily messages of support and advice.
• Track how many days you have had without a cigarette and how much money you have saved.

Age: 17+ years old.

Prevent falls

The cold and reduced activity in the winter can reduce muscle strength and put you at greater risk of falling. But you can reduce your risk of falling if you look after your body's strength, balance, and flexibility as you age. KOKU (Keep On Keep Up) is a free app that that lets you:

• Specify what your mobility concerns, usual abilities and goals are.
• Be guided through three exercises that have been selected for you.
• Track your progress and be notified when you need to exercise again.

This app only works on an iPad or tablet, not a phone.

Age: Developed with older adults for older adults.

Exercise

Just ten minutes of brisk walking every day can get your heart pumping and can make you feel more energetic, as well as lowering your risk of serious illnesses.

Developed by the NHS, Active 10 Walking Tracker is a free app that helps you to include brisk walking into your daily routine. It lets you:

• Track all your walking and how many minutes were brisk.
• Use a Pace Checker, to see what brisk walking feels like.
• Set goals to keep motivated and help you progress.

Age: 4+ years old.

Emotional well-being

Being mindful and practicing meditations can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit your emotional fitness and resilience.
Developed by mental health experts, Smiling Mind is a free app that introduces you to mindfulness and meditation, to achieve your goals, including reducing stress, improving relationships, support good sleep, or concentration. It lets you:

• Understand what mindfulness is and how to practice it.
• Be guided through meditations to help achieve your goals.
• Track your progress.

Age: 4+

Manage anxiety and depression

If you need help with your mental wellbeing, but feel stigma about opening up, or have no one to speak with, the Wysa Mental Health Support app may be able to help you. It lets you anonymously:

• Chat about whatever is on your mind with an emotionally intelligent chatbot, that uses AI to react to the emotions you express.
• Exercises to beat specific challenges.

Additional paid for features include:

• Access to a wider self-care library, with many more therapeutic exercises to beat specific challenges (Around £10 per month).
• A live text session every week with a qualified therapist (Around £50 per month).

Age: 13+

For young adults

Developed for teenage mental health charity stem4, Move Mood is a free app designed to help young people who are experiencing low mood or depression.
Completely anonymous, it lets you:

• Set tasks that you want to achieve each day.
• Be accompanied by an animated companion, to be there and motive you.
• Keep track of your progress and receive rewards.

Age: Designed for young adults.

NHS advice

To help you feel more confident in giving the right care for your child, Catch is a free app for parents and carers of children aged 0 to 5 years old. It lets you find:

• NHS clinically approved information, so you can be sure you’re getting the right advice.
• Guidance on what to do in an emergency, such as burns, scalds or helping a choking child.
• A map to help you find your nearest pharmacy or NHS service.

6 most common illnesses

Developed by NHS Musgrove Park Hospital, HANDi Paediatric is a free app that provides information and advice to parents, carers and medical professionals on the six most common childhood illnesses:

• Diarrhoea (gastroenteritis)
• Chesty child (wheeze and asthma)
• Chesty baby (bronchiolitis)
• High temperature
• Abdominal pain
• Common newborn problems

Information includes how to assess for each illness, advice on how to care for your child at home, when to seek further help and where to find local services.

Download the NHS app

The flu virus strikes in winter and it can be far more serious than you think. Book your vaccination now. Made by the NHS, the NHS app is free and amongst many other things, lets you:

• Book, cancel or change a flu vaccination.
• Book, or manage a COVID-19 vaccination appointment.
• Order a repeat prescription.

Intended age range: 12+ years old.