Partnership with Psychiatrische Dienste Aargau

2023-05-22

Bern / Windisch, May 23, 2023 – YLAH AG and PDAG will be joining forces. In Praxis für Ihre psychische Gesundheit Zofingen, one of the eight outpatient locations of PDAG, YLAH’s therapy platform is being tested in a pilot project and will be expanded to other locations in the future.

The approach of so-called blended psychotherapy, i.e., the combination of therapy sessions and elements of online therapy, is considered a promising method. Professionals can use it to digitally assign personalized support and small tasks to their patients between individual sessions. In this way, they engage with their mental health between face-to-face appointments and are motivated to integrate therapeutic activities into their daily lives. This hybrid approach is considered by experts to be more effective and efficient than stand-alone sessions or online-only therapy. YLAH focuses in a first step on the indications anxiety disorder and depression as well as related treatment topics.

The CEO of YLAH AG, Florence von Gunten, expresses her delight:

«The collaboration with PDAG is another milestone for us. Jointly analyzing the current treatment process from a psychotherapeutic perspective as well as innovation and digitalization management was an important first step. We learned a lot about current challenges and how PDAG can ideally support their patients, doctors and therapists with YLAH.» 

Katrin Hanno, MD, is Center Director and Chief Physician of Zentrum für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie (ZPPA) and Deputy Clinic Director of PDAG. She manages the Zofingen site and sees a lot of potential in the collaboration with YLAH:

«We see YLAH’s therapy platform as an innovative approach to integrate online interventions into regular psychotherapy. We expect this to result in more goal-oriented and flexible treatments, while at the same time making more effective use of our human resources. In addition, YLAH gives us the opportunity to reduce waiting times or use them therapeutically.»

Benedikt Niederer, Head of Innovation and Digitalization Management at PDAG, adds:

«The collaboration with YLAH is a prime example of how innovation can be meaningfully lived in a dynamic company. The partnership introduces PDAG to new, digital ways of working, and YLAH in turn gets the opportunity to apply and improve its product in a proven clinical setting and under real working conditions. This type of collaboration creates effectively measurable added value for all parties involved, especially for patients.»

In addition to integrating YLAH into the current therapy path, joint research activities are also planned. In this way, the latest scientific findings are to be used profitably with the help of digitalisation and integrated into everyday clinical practice. The various projects are the responsibility of Prof. Dr. med. Marc Walter, Head and Chief Physician of Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie (KPP).

«By breaking new ground with the help of digitalisation, PDAG once again underline their innovative character»,

Benedikt Niederer sums up.

The project team f.l.t.r.: Pia Eggimann, Marc Walter, Florence von Gunten, Benedikt Niederer, Cordelia Trümpy, Katrin Hanno, Marcel Canclini. 

About YLAH AG

The Bernese start-up YLAH AG was founded in 2022 by Florence von Gunten (product development, scientific validation), Cordelia Trümpy (go to market) and Marcel Canclini (product development and operations). Together with their team, they develop and validate the YLAH therapy platform (software as a medical device) in close cooperation with end users. To ensure the quality of the therapy content, the spin-off from the University of Bern works closely with the online therapy specialist, Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger.

Media contact: cordelia.truempy@ylah.ch

About Psychiatrische Dienste Aargau (PDAG)

The PDAG examine, treat and care for mentally ill people of all ages with all psychiatric clinical pictures. Tailor-made inpatient or outpatient and consultative services guarantee the type of treatment that suits the patient, the illness and the life situation. The PDAG provides psychiatric treatment, emergency services and crisis intervention for the population of the canton. PDAG specialists can be called in by regional hospitals and homes, and the consultation and liaison services are available on site at the cantonal hospitals, including for children and the elderly. In legal cases, forensic psychiatrists also prepare expert reports. The PDAG includes the four clinics

  • Psychiatry and psychotherapy
  • Consultant, geriatric and neuropsychiatry
  • Forensic psychiatry
  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

PDAG has been a public limited company owned by the Canton of Aargau since 2004. Over 1600 people work for the PDAG in more than 50 professions. The PDAG are a teaching hospital of the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich and a training and further education centre for doctors, psychologists, nurses and other professions.

Further information on the PDAG can be found at www.pdag.ch