Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation praise Beingwell cognition programme
Updated: Jan 19, 2021
A core value we stand by at Beingwell is credibility. As such, everything we do is heavily backed up by science, or evidence, and we make sure to only work with leaders in each field of wellbeing. Our mission is to cut through the wellbeing noise and present our members with only the best, most trustworthy, and impactful wellbeing solutions. Our specialized cognition offering by MyCognition draws on 200 years of psychological research, as well as our clinical trials and studies in both businesses and schools. We couldn't be prouder that The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has reported that MyCognition, a core pillar of the Beingwell family, is a leader in the cognition field:
"For some, gaining (NIH, FDA or NHS) regulatory approval is the milestone for establishing their credibility and effectiveness. The list of companies achieving this is small, but notable are: [in first place] MyCognition, a cognitive assessment and training program” - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
MyCognition: Your personalized mind fitness assessment and improvement program
MyCognition is an app that gives you a medically approved snapshot of your cognition in just 15 minutes. Your report will show you a current overview, and past history, of your mind’s fitness so you can track your progress. It highlights the importance of the 5 key domains; attention, working memory, episodic memory, executive function, and processing speed.
As part of the report, you'll see an explanation of each domain, as well as guidance on where you have the most room for improvement. You will receive personalized advice on how you can improve your cognition, which will in turn aid you in your daily activities and lifestyle. To get the best results it's recommended that you spend just 15 minutes per day training your mind with the Aquasnap app. This is connected to your latest MyCognition report in order to focus on the areas you need to train the most. All of your results are stored in the active mindfulness game so that you can keep track of your past scores and monitor your progress over time!
“MyCognition’s combined assessment-intervention approach is a true differentiator… a few companies try to do both; MyCognition is the most comprehensive.”
- Catherine May, Intentional Futures (who undertook the global review for the Gates Foundation)
So, what exactly is cognition?
Your cognition can be thought of as the fitness levels of your brain and mind. Much like keeping physically fit, keeping mentally fit is essential to maintaining good health and happiness. Keeping your brain and mind fit (having good cognition) is important as it controls all of your thought processes. This includes your ability to: control your emotions, respond well to stress, make decisions, solve problems, be creative, learn from past experiences, focus, organise, pay attention, and plan and respond to events with speed and accuracy. Interestingly, your mind may be hardwired in the brain, but it is also intrinsically linked to your body, allowing you to boost your resilience and support your immune system. If you'd like to understand more about your own cognition, and see how you're doing, you can use the MyCQ assessment app.
Why is good cognition vitally important for children?
It is hugely important that we put an increased focus on the cognition of children, as poor cognitive fitness not only affects them at that moment but also later on in life. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation shared a report with MyCognition showing that good cognitive control in childhood can predict outcomes in later life. These include good physical health, reduced substance dependence, good personal finances, and lower risk of being charged with criminal offenses. Improvements in cognition result in better outcomes regardless of the child’s initial levels. The exciting report by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was part of a wider review of the technology sector dedicated to the measurement and improvement of cognitive/executive function in education.
Key take-aways from The Gates Foundation Report:
The Gates Foundation Report contains four key messages relating to the importance of cognitive functions:
That cognition is not fixed but can be trained, practiced, and improved.
That cognitive dysfunction is linked to mental health, including addiction, ADHD, conduct disorder, depression, OCD, and schizophrenia.
That cognition is associated with adult outcomes: job success, health, public safety, and quality of life.
That measurements of cognition are predictive of student academic outcomes.
In each case of the points above, MyCognition is leading on scientific research and successfully working with both companies and schools to improve learning outcomes, resilience, and mental health:
MyCognition has developed clinically validated and NHS approved programs that provide personalised, targeted cognitive training, linked to our cognitive assessment.
MyCognition has undertaken extensive clinical research, successfully treating several mental health conditions. It has undertaken research across all age groups, from children to elderly adults. We believe our programs can prevent mental illness.
MyCognition has undertaken studies in the workplace showing that cognition can be assessed and improved at work and that it relates to productivity as well as mental health.
MyCognition can easily and regularly assess every child in every school (that has WIFI access). Our assessment is clinically validated and NHS approved.
We are proud of the recognition from the extremely highly regarded Gates Foundation and we look forward to sharing more news about the work we are doing in the cognition/mental health space. The MyCognition app is NHS approved and CE-marked by the MHRA as a Class 1a medical device. Keiron Sparrowhawk, Founder of MyCognition quotes, “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation put MyCognition as a leader in cognitive functions. We recognise this responsibility and will work with governments and education suppliers to ensure that globally, children get access to our cognitive health assessment and improvement programs.”
Want to learn more about MyCognition? Get to know one of our leading cognitive scientists, Martina Ratto here.