The AHSN Network has supported many innovators to help advance our health and care system. Find out more about successful innovations supported by the NHS.
Sweatcoin incentivises physical activity through a mobile app. It does this by tracking the number of outdoor and indoor steps a person takes and converting these into points, or Sweatcoins, which can be redeemed for products, goods and services
LiveSmart is aimed at companies who are keen to improve the health and wellbeing of their workforce. They provide pathology-based health assessments, digital health data tracking, reporting and behaviour change programmes, alongside 1:1 healthcoaching services led by their medical team to help build a happier, healthier workforce.
Smoke Free is a behavioural change app used to support people giving up smoking. The app incorporates evidence on how to quit smoking and includes more than 30 different behaviour-change techniques. Users are encouraged to stay smoke-free through consistent notifications of progress in terms of time, money saved, health improvements made and more. They can also employ the app’s “missions”, which are daily tasks designed to help people quit and stay smoke-free. A Smoke Free-led, randomised control trial of more than 28,000 participants found that those who engaged with the missions were twice as likely to remain abstinent from smoking three months following their set quit date. A subsequent randomised control trial found that the app’s automated chatbot increased quit rates even further.
Workforce challenges threaten the ability of the health and care system to function. It is estimated the NHS spends £3 billion a year on temporary staffing. Filling vacancies can be a significant drain on NHS organisations’ budgets, as they often use locum staff – either from their own pool of “bank” staff, or from agencies which can cost on average 20% more.
Incumbent NHS psychological services (IAPT) are characterised by lengthy waiting-lists and poor recovery rates, and these are subject to considerable geographic variation. Increased demand, reductions in real-terms investment in mental health services and increased competition for face-to-face sessions means that despite making the effort to see a GP, many will not receive face-to-face care, with this figure currently reaching one-in-three.
Falls are the most common cause of hospital admission for people age over 65 and the rate of falls is almost two times as high in older adults with a visual impairment. How can we use innovation to increase rates of vision screenings and reduce instances of falls the elderly?
