Cross-sectoral action for health is crucial. The transport networks of our cities, the amount of green space in our neighbourhoods and the quality of our housing all influence our health outcomes.
This week we attended a Health 2.0 meetup in Manchester. Health 2.0 is a global initiative that has grown into a movement of over 100,000 entrepreneurs, developers and healthcare stakeholders. Groups meet to share, discuss, showcase and develop ideas to improve patient care.
Image of Bright Building meeting space (https://mspl.co.uk/meetings-events/)
Health 2.0 Manchester is a meetup group focused on innovations in the delivery of healthcare and health related technology. At this event we heard an interesting range of speakers, from nurses to app developers, talking about the work they are doing to improve the delivery of healthcare in the North West region. Presenters included; Dan Gippell, the founder of Betterpoints app, a health behaviour change app developed to incentivise citizens to become more active, Rebecca Morris-Chippendale, Business Development Manager from NorthWest EHealth Ltd., who offer an alternative approach to clinical trial design and management around the world, and many more. It was particularly refreshing to hear Rebecca emphasising the need for collaborations between public and private organisations in healthcare.
The event enabled us to find out more about new and existing healthcare solutions in the North West region. We were able to see how agent-based simulations fit into and could contribute to existing projects.
Health 2.0 is a great initiative, demonstrating the need for collaboration and innovation in the delivery of healthcare. It was very encouraging to see first-hand how Manchester are promoting the sharing of ideas and collaboration, offering many exciting opportunities for SME’s and public health partners alike, to work together for a better future.
More information about the global Health 2.0 movement: https://health2con.com
Health 2.0 in Manchester: https://www.meetup.com/Health-2-0-Manchester/
By Harriet McCay and Allie Short