This month five North West tech firms visited Digital Health in Stockholm. The conference brings together the leading voices in the future of healthcare as both businesses, universities and practitioners work to develop innovative solutions to solve health and social care problems. The five tech firms had pitched winning ideas at the inaugural North West Digital Health Challenge devised by Open Labs and So-Mo.
The Challenge itself helped Open Labs to develop connections between tech firms in the region, health and social care practioners and commissioners along with academics and researchers. The city-region is widely acknowledged as a leader within the innovative and rapidly expanding field of digital innovation in health. Mi and Liverpool Vision launched an eHealth Cluster to bring together SMEs working in the field, to connect university departments helping to develop products, to organise regular events and highlight funding opportunities and run a small grants bursary. The work of the cluster has enabled the city-region to establish a reputation as one of the most innovative and collaborative in the field.
The five winning product ideas are;
Memory Enabling Technology by Citrus Suite – Picture Frame Network or PFN is a system to aid the memory of daily routines and to promote independence for people living with dementia. Up to six android tablets are set up in the user’s home, connected by Wi-Fi and positioned in key areas using text, audio and video messages to help with daily activities and customisable prompts to stimulate memory. When not being used the tablets can act as picture frames.
Peace of Mind, Red Ninja – An innovative, ambient, sensor system to detect and prevent falls. Using a passive sensor peace of mind works proactively and is suitable for vulnerable groups who are at higher risks of falls including people with learning disabilities, dementia and any kind of neurological condition or prior brain injury.
Memory Jigsaw, Mashbo – A memory enabling personalised application helping people to piece together old memories by following visual cues. This can be a recreational form of distraction therapy.
Reward your world, RYW Community Systems – A behaviour change platform built on an incentivations engine recording activities and measuring positive social, health and well-being. It encourages people to increase physical activity and well-being initiatives. Users can record activity and integrate behaviour into an activity database with goals and rewards providing motivations.
SupportSpace, Future Coders – An application designed to meet the needs of people with personal budgets and the government bodies funding them. It provides a marketplace for those who provide care and also a means of delivering an audit trail showing the budget has been spent correctly.
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This post was authored by Laura Brown (Twitter @MsLaura_Brown, www.lauramariebrown.com)