Launch of CoSign: A New Essex-Based Signposting Tool for Emotional Distress
Posted on: July 27, 2026
A team of researchers at the University of Essex in collaboration with Essex based local authority, third sector and NHS staff as well as people with lived experience of mental distress have developed a signposting tool “CoSign”. The development process was supported by NIHR ARC East of England.
What is CoSign?
CoSign was designed to support individuals over 18 to identify wider determinants (e.g. relationships, work, family, housing etc) that may be triggering their current emotional distress and to facilitate signposting to appropriate community-based support. CoSign is not an assessment or diagnosis tool and is not an outcome measure. Neither is CoSign an asset map or attempting to replace existing asset maps and search tools, since the main aim of CoSign is to help users identify what kind of support to start looking for rather than to provide an exhaustive list of support services. The signposts generated by CoSign signpost individuals to support/services in Essex or national advice services that match the user’s specific challenges. Users are also directed to the Essex Map, Frontline and other local maps for more detailed, localised searches.
Although designed for individual use, CoSign could also be used by professionals (e.g. social prescribers, community workers, GPs, student support workers) working collaboratively with clients.
The question items in CoSign have been selected through a rigorous process using statistical techniques. The statistical analysis used data from the Understanding Society: UK Household Longitudinal Survey. CoSign is ready for use in a pilot phase and feedback is being collected from users through an evaluation project.
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