DigitAll Health and Self-Care with Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria

Self-care. It’s something that many of us don’t think about in our day-to-day lives. However, it’s something that deserves our attention and, with the technological and digital advancements that have been made in recent years, it’s easier than ever to be aware of your health and wellbeing.

Though many of us have the best of intentions when it comes to looking after ourselves, we often don’t know how to, especially in today’s world of busy schedules and commitments. It’s because of this that there is now ‘Self-Care Week’, a week aimed at raising awareness of what self-care means and the many ways that people can meaningfully monitor their well-being and health, in ways that work around even the most hectic of lifestyles.

For a while now, Wavemaker has been an active promoter of self-care, going out into the community with our mobile digital classroom to show people the many options available for managing personal wellbeing- from apps such as ‘Couch to 5K’ to online services such as Patient Online. Furthermore, we’ve been on hand answering people’s digital health questions such as ‘is it worthwhile getting a fitbit?’ or ‘how can I remember to take my medication?’ by discussing their needs and how they can use their technology in a way that works for them.

To coincide with Self-Care Week, and as part of our DigitAll Health programme, we were back out on the road again, this time visiting Morecambe and Blackpool to show people the digital technology available and how it can be used to improve overall welfare. This time, we were working in collaboration with Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria to reach out to people across the area and to spread the ‘self-care’ message by setting up outside Morrisons stores.

Over the course of the two days, we were joined by well over 100 visitors. We had some great discussions that gave us the chance to show off some of the tech we’d brought along and to find out more about what people wanted to achieve with their own devices.

Ben McManus CEO of Wavemaker said, ‘I was incredibly surprised by how many people had already registered for Patient Online and My GP. There is a misconception that elderly members of the community are not digitally savvy. This was clearly not the case in Morecambe…’

Self-care, and digital health as a whole, continues to be an important issue, especially with the shift towards a technological future. Wavemaker will continue to be at the forefront when it comes to helping people prepare for this change and to feel comfortable with the changing face of welfare, both as part of Self-Care week and for a long time after.