What you missed. #ShiftingHealth2018

Sophia Arkinstall
Sep 1, 2018 · 5 min read

100+ attendees and 9 hours of innovative thinking to shift health away from illness towards wellness. If you missed this years Shifting Health by Design, here is my short post event wrap-up.

What is Shifting Health by Design?

Launched in 2016 the objective is to provoke innovative thinking to shift health, co-create a future health paradigm and help move towards a truly consumer-centred approach.

Shifting Health by Design is pioneered by Health City Springfield Central, facilitated by Aurecon, in partnership with Mater Misericordiae Ltd, Aveo Group and Springfield City Group and is co-created by you.

The Format

This years format included an opening address from the first ever Member for Jordan on behalf of the Health Minister, four keynotes, four panel discussions and a Q&A session. The process focused on: I like… I wish… What if…? Some awesome points…

  • I like that we have the ability to apply learnings across communities for improved health outcomes.
  • I wish we could masterplan cities to encourage positive health behaviours such as incidental physical activity.
  • What if communities and technologies such as AI work together to promote positive mental health while fostering an individual’s sense of belonging and purpose?

Topic 1 Genomics

Ben Lundie Genome.One delivered the keynote and got us all thinking about the future health possibilities and implications for whole genome sequencing. Some major points from the presentation and panel discussion…

  • Genomics sequencing tests are becoming quicker and more affordable.
  • Pharmacogenomics (how genes respond to drugs) helps patients treat disease more effectively.

The whole genome diagnostic test has the best diagnostic power of any genome test.

  • Donna Bonney (Mater Education) spoke on the importance of becoming a more genomic literate society through education.
  • Mary-Anne Young (Genome.One) made the point that genomics is a healthy technology and does not cause cause distress or psychological harm.
  • Insurance companies have been using genomic and health information for years.

Topic 2 Ageing

Jason Eldering GM Aveo says people fundamentally want to be well. Move more and engage more proactively with their GP. Some key points from the keynote and panel:

  • As we age we must continue to know our purpose for getting out of bed each day.
  • The challenge of modern society is mental health. We must consider the impact of loneliness and depression. It is thus important to build a sense of community and belonging in communities.

Prof Laurie Buys (QUT) — Health is not an end game. It is important to connect everyone in the community to avoid isolation. Health is an enabler and we must have places that facilitate this.

  • Darryl Grundy from (UQ Health Care) says allied health is critical to support aged care, e.g., psychology, physiotherapy.

Topic 3 Clinical services

Sean Hubbard and Justin Greenwell presented on the Mater Group’s strategy broadly and locally with Mater Springfield.

  • We all learnt just how long it took to travel between Ireland and Australian when Mater was first founded: 18.5km/h on-board a ship to be exact!
  • A major benefit of Mater Springfield is the ability to treat patients close to home.
  • Mater is focused on delivering evidence based care while maintaining a genuine focus on high-quality and individualised service. Outstanding service with an emphasis on the human touch-points both clinical and non-clinical.
  • Mater is excited about OneView which will allow for education, entertainment, support and tracking of goals for patients all at their finger tips.
  • At Mater’s core is neuroscience, healthy living, women’s health and age-friendly care delivered with precision and personalised care at every stage.

Topic 4 Planning for health

Fantastic insights from Ed Baker, Broadway Malyan, into the philosophy and planning trends of health cities that help to enable a ‘shift in health’.

  • Wellness plays a key role in health. What role do sports such as golf play?
  • Global trend: Ageing population. 1 in 4 Singaporeans will be over 65 by 2030. Currently in Australia, 1 in 7 people are aged over 65.
  • Smart Cities: Today cities are becoming a collision of the physical and digital.
  • Living Labs: Districts such as Barcelona are a petri dish and living lab for measuring innovation.
  • Smart Mobility: This is change the way we live and will have an impact on our health.
  • Biophilia: Think open green spaces and typologies. These are increasingly common, quality places for people to enjoy while also promoting health and wellness.

Leonardo da Vinci was the original design thinker. Seeing things in fresh ways, gaining new insights and hatching new ideas.

What about AI?

This was touched on during the day: AI is changing healthcare faster than we think and it’s already here.

  • Deep learning software is becoming increasingly useful in healthcare and in particular in transforming diagnostic medicine, including screening for cancer at the individual cell level.
  • AI has the ability to use human created algorithms to recommend treatments. That is, using evidence based approaches.

My Two Cents on Diversity

  • Diversity helps raise our collective IQ. It allows for meaningful discussion and thus meaningful change.

Representation of the community is crucial for allowing richer insights, more creativity and more fun!

The Challenges

Manage data, continue to co-create and to consider the broader role of ethics and education.

  • So much information is out there, it’s worthwhile to stop and evaluate. We must strive to build upon existing data rather than solely contributing to the mass of information.
  • We must carefully consider structures, rigour and frameworks required to build successful programs, studies and research.

How can we ensure ethics plays a key role going forward? Do ethics institutes build trust in the community and help to create a more literate population?

What’s next?

Outcomes from the symposium will be shared in a conversation capture and a published manifesto.

A huge thank you to…

  • You, the amazing audience for your incredible ideas around achieving better health outcomes, the thought provoking questions and your impressive engagement with sli.do!
  • The incredible speakers, panelists and facilitators!
  • The brilliant Illustrators, AV Teams and Brookwater Team!

Final word

I feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to work along side such an innovative, energy filled and passionate team (everyone involved!) to deliver this event. It’s been a blast!

Continue to follow the conversation with #ShiftingHealth2018

Written by

Creating healthier, happier and smarter cities | MBA Candidate

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