Digital Health Apps
Wavemaker believes in empowering people furthest away from the digital world to get more involved with it and to prove that technology is for all of us, not just the few.
It’s with this in mind that we jumped at the chance to work alongside Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Dr Ruth Chambers, alongside a range of local organisations such as Redmoor Health and Keele University, to find ways to improve the lives and healthcare of patients through digital support.
The idea started around six months ago, when Stoke CCG approached us to discuss ways that to encourage more people to use apps and the technology that patients have access to everyday. Since that initial meeting, we’ve been working closely together to discuss ways to make more people aware of how they can use their devices to take charge of their health and improve their fitness and overall wellbeing.
The scheme is part of a Good Things Foundation funded ‘national pathfinder’ programme, on behalf of the NHS Digital, and is one of only a handful of pathfinder projects with an aim to engage and encourage best practice in the world of digital and telehealth.
To promote the scheme, the we parked our ‘mobile classroom’ on Hanley’s Tesco Extra car park on 5th July (specifically planned to coincide with the NHS’ 70th birthday!), and invited shoppers to receive a free heart health check and to discuss different apps which help to could help monitor their health. The event was a huge success with over five hundred people stopping by to find out more information and have their blood pressure and ‘heart age’ checked.
Ben, CEO of Wavemaker, says, ‘As we’ve grown, we’ve been able to get involved with more opportunities and, for us, working alongside Stoke-on-Trent CCG was the perfect chance to continue to make a difference to the area whilst offering our digital experience and knowledge. By working alongside with Stoke CCG, we are able to make a tangible impact in people’s day to day lives whilst forging new connections and relationships in the health and care sectors. Providing an alternative solution for such an important issue continues to be one of the highlights of the year, and has been very fulfilling for both staff and the organisation as a whole. The project has been well received and we are looking forward to more partnership work with the CCG and NHS Digital.’
Due to the popularity of the event, further plans are being made to visit other parts of the region and to get more people talking, and thinking, about their health. Further stops are being finalised so if you want to see the mobile classroom near to where you are, make sure to let Wavemaker know by sending them an email at info@wavemaker.org.uk.