Digital innovation & the #mHealthHabitat – it’s the little things

Digital innovation & the #mHealthHabitat – it’s the little things

by | Mar 16, 2014 | #mHabitat, #NHStalktech, NHS stuff | 0 comments

Quite some time ago the lovely @amcunningham tweeted me a link to a post about why we are sometimes reluctant to share learning. The basic argument is that as we learn new things they become obvious to use and melt in to our background knowledge. As a result we don’t think it is special or worth sharing. It’s one of those little things that always stuck in the back of my mind. As we’ve been setting up the mHealthHabitat programme I’ve been reminded (and reminded myself) of the importance of capturing learning before we forget. Learning quickly becomes the status quo and when that happens we forget the potential power of sharing it with others. So this post captures a lovely learning point – about how innovation pops up in unexpected places and the importance of creating spaces for the unexpected to happen. It’s another way of celebrating the joy of serendipity which I’ve blogged about before. This week I hooked up with @FranBurrows for a coffee and a chat about Mindfull – ostensibly a chance to find out a bit more about what they do and add it to my list of interesting mHealth initiatives out there in  what sometimes seems to be a very crowded market. But Francis surprised me. His passion and enthusiasm compelled me. The care and cleverness of Mindfull impressed me. The user-centred design and development chimed with our values and orientiation to support the creation of a flourishing #mhealthHabitat in Leeds. And from our conversation exciting possibilities for collaboration emerged. The digital developments that Francis is curious about happen to align with those...
#NHSTalkTech – a pledge for New Year #NHSChangeDay or any other day

#NHSTalkTech – a pledge for New Year #NHSChangeDay or any other day

by | Jan 1, 2014 | #NHStalktech | 0 comments

When James @@Psycle_Doc contacted me with an idea for an  NHS Change Day pledge I jumped at the opportunity – supporting and inspiring NHS staff to talk tech has been my mission during 2013 and a big focus of my PhD research as well. I’m most definitely not a techie, but I’ve seen again and again, people using social media platforms in creative ways to share information, have conversations and support each other – both as people accessing services and as professionals (and often both). Many professionals I speak to have all sorts of worries about social networking but this is even more of a reason to talk tech – to make sense of it and understand what it means for day to day practice and for professional development. The NHS Employers #NHSEngage campaign is all about encouraging a permissive use of social media and it’s no surprise that the Health Service Journal’s 2014 list of 25 rising stars has a strong tech theme, including recognising Teresa Chinn for establishing her @WeNurses online community of nurses. People’s lives increasingly revolve around social networking platforms for conversation and mobile phone applications for the basics of day to day living – from google maps through to online banking. Why wouldn’t we expect the same to manage a health condition if it means we can take more control ourselves, improve our experience and even possibly improve our outcomes? Another reason to talk tech is to understand the barriers that some people accessing services face. A recent report found that 51% of disabled people have never used the Internet and as the Government...