Public Health Hackathon 2012

The First Annual Health Literacy Hackathon took place October 13-14 2012. See the winners and site archive below. See you in 2013!

Almost 90% of adults struggle with complex health information. This is because most health information is presented in ways that make it hard to understand and use. People of color, older adults, and people with poor health status struggle the most with finding and understanding health information.

It doesn't have to be this way! Health information should be understandable, accessible, and convenient.

Hackathon Results Are In!

Grand Prize Winners: Carrot Stick

Team Members: Amit Ringel, Zeke Nierenberg, Kira McCoy, Jamie Matheson

Carrot/Stick is phone-based service that utilizes family and social support to empower smokers to quit. www.carrotstick.me

Water Buddy

Team Members: Katie Silvius, Lili Dwight, Rob Carey, Althea Mortensen

Water Buddy liberates older adults from the fear of accidents and the ills of dehydration.

Patient Speak

Team Members: Eli Schiff, Viet Trang

PatientSpeak is an app that utilizes waiting room down time as a place where patients can communicate needs to their doctor – at their own pace, in their own language.

Easy Meal

Team Members: Cathy Wickham, Heather Wemhoener, David Wemhoener, Dan Alroy, James Dufour

Easy Meal is an open-source app that allows users to find healthy recipes by sorting ingredients – the app makes navigating the grocery store an adventure.

The Informed Patient

Team Members: Jonviea Chamberlain, Yara Youssef, Steve Quann, Diana Satin

The Informed Patient is a mobile app that provides personalized recommendations for preventive care based on a person's demographics.

Healthy And Happy

Team Members: William Tobia, Darlene Freeman, Rick Competiello

Healthy and Happy is a patient portal mobile app that utilizes a unique rewards system to encourage patients to keep track of their health statistics.

What is the health lit hackathon?

This fall, the inaugural CommunicateHealth Health Literacy Hackathon will challenge participants to create a technology-driven tool to improve how people understand and use health information.

It could be an app, a website, an interactive online tool, a media campaign, or something else! Inspiration and examples will be provided.

Participants will have 1 day to design their tool. Tools don’t need to be fully developed or complete, but presentations should include a plan for how the project could be implemented and launched. Participants will keep intellectual property rights to anything they create during the hackathon.

Tools will be judged based on creativity, usability, feasibility, and best use of technology. The first place winner will be awarded $2,000. There will be cash prizes for runners-up.

Who should attend the hackathon?

If you are a:

Graphic or web designer
Developer or programmer
Public health advocate
Researcher
Writer
Person who’s passionate about health 2.0 or new technologies

Then this event is for you!

Participants will compete in teams of 3 to 5 people. You can register as part of a group or as an individual. We’ll match individuals up with a group at the event.

A $10 deposit is required to register, but it will be returned to you on Saturday when you check in. There will also be a light breakfast sponsored by Mad*Pow on Saturday and Sunday.

Meet the Judges

Stacy Robison

President, CommunicateHealth

Stacy Robison, President and Co-founder of CommunicateHealth, Inc., is a self-proclaimed health literacy geek with a passion for Health 2.0. She has created numerous health literacy tools and resources including Health Literacy Online: A guide to writing and designing easy-to-use health Web sites.

Lauren McCormack

Director, Health Communication Program, RTI International

Lauren McCormack, MSPH, PhD conducts research that bridges the fields of health communication, health services research, and health IT. Her research involves developing, testing, and evaluating messages and interventions to promote health literacy, patient-centered care, patient engagement, and shared decision making.

Julie McKinney

Health Literacy Consultant

Julie McKinney has been working in health literacy for 16 years. She moderated the LINCS Health Literacy Discussion List for seven years, and has co-authored several online and print health literacy resource guides, health literacy curricula for adult learners, and teacher trainings.

Jamie Thomson

Senior Experience Designer, Mad*Pow

As a Senior Experience Designer at Mad*Pow in Boston, Jamie looks to change the world through research-driven design. Some of her clients include the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, Healthrageous, WellPoint, Aetna, and Comcast. Jamie is on Twitter @uxjam.

Nick Snyder

Creative Technologist, Mad*Pow

Nick Snyder is a designer, speaker, and writer currently based in Boston, MA. He believes in creating last experiences through the marriage of great design and the latest technology. Nick has previously worked for Environmental Tectonics Corporation, Cheng & Tsui, and currently is a full-time front-end designer/developer at Mad*Pow. Nick is on Twitter @_FasterHorses.

When?

Mark your calendars! The Health Literacy Hackathon is happening on:

Saturday October 13th and Sunday October 14th, 2012.

Where?

UMass Amherst

Team Based Learn Room #25

W.E.B. Dubois Library basement

See Map!

Schedule

Friday

7-9 p.m.

Meet and greet at the Foundry (all ages), 24 Main St. Northampton, MA (optional)

Saturday

9:00 a.m.

Arrival, check-in, and networking breakfast sponsored by Mad*Pow

9:30 a.m.

Welcome, introduction, and inspirational presentations

10:00 a.m.

Forming teams and work day kick-off

10:15 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Hack away! Brainstorm, wireframe, design, and iterate. Staff will be around all day to answer questions, offer feedback, and help with anything else. Break for lunch and dinner whenever you need to.

Sunday

9:00 a.m.

Arrival and networking breakfast sponsored by Mad*Pow

9:30 a.m.

Put final touches on presentations

10:30 a.m.

Final presentations begin

12:00 p.m.

Judging

1:00 p.m.

Winners announced!

The Challenge

Your challenge: Create a technology-driven tool to improve how people access, understand, and use health information.

About personas: Understanding your audience is critical when deciding what to design, write, or build. These personas are fictional characters with names, ages, and pictures for you to keep in mind while designing your tool.

Johanna, 37

Johanna has a hard time keeping track of her family’s doctor visits.

Johanna is married, works full-time, and is pregnant with her second child. She is proud of her family’s healthy lifestyle and uses the Web to search for healthy recipes and activity ideas. Johanna uses her smartphone to stay organized with work, but she needs help keeping track of her prenatal care, her child’s doctor visits, shot schedules, and her aging mother's needs. Johanna has a computer at work, a smartphone, and a laptop at home.

Mary, 22

Mary has limited access to technology and online health information.

Mary is a single mother who is focused on raising a healthy child, but she is reliant on her family and friends for most of her health information. She uses public transportation, English is her second language, and her main use of technology is her smartphone.

George, 71

George has trouble understanding his doctor’s instructions.

George lives alone and has difficulty understanding his new treatment regimen. He is taking new medicines and keeping track of his health statistics with tools he’s never used before. His doctor did not explain the new medicines and their dosages to him in words he recognized. He is familiar with email and texting because his relatives communicate with him these ways.

About Health Literacy

Health literacy is the capacity to find, understand, and use the basic health information and services to make everyday health decisions.

See the rest of the Health Literacy Infographic »

Resources: