The Mayor of London’s Civic Innovation Challenge will see the NHS working with startups to support dementia sufferers in London
Guest post from Lesley Soden, Head of Innovation, Health Innovation Network — South London
As the Head of Innovation for the Health Innovation Network — South London, I often have start-ups seeking our advice and guidance on how their digital product can be taken up by NHS Trusts. They will have an impressive health solution that’s been developed but it doesn’t match the challenges that our NHS providers are facing every day. I often wish there were more opportunities for companies and developers to work with clinicians and managers working on the front line to work up jointly together digital solutions that meet their most urgent challenges.
The start-ups will struggle with navigating the complexity of the NHS system and funding streams for innovation. However, the Mayor of London’s Civic Innovation Challenge bypasses this struggle and is a fantastic opportunity for start-ups to work with the NHS to support London’s Ageing Population. Our Healthier South East London STP have worked with local health providers to identify a support need for individuals with dementia from a black and minority ethnic (BME) background.
Whilst people from BME backgrounds are no less likely to be referred to Memory Assessment Services than the white British population, there is some evidence that people of Black African and Caribbean heritage in particular may develop dementia at an earlier age, and when they develop dementia they may be referred at a later stage of their illness — indicating that there are barriers to engaging with dementia services.
Feedback from people with dementia and their carers suggests this could be because some services are not sufficiently person-centred, or they lack access to culturally appropriate resources. For example, reminiscence resources that reflect the culture and history of the community the person comes from (reminiscence therapy uses items from the past to trigger long-term memories). The solution would need to create a digitalised personalised reminiscence resource to reflect local BME community history and culture.
At the moment, a dementia worker will compile reminiscence materials for individuals to help trigger long-term memories. These are often paper-based, and not always culturally relevant. The solution will need to accessible, logical and simple for dementia workers, and carers to use.
This competition is a golden opportunity for technology start-ups; from receiving start-up funding to validating and testing a health solution with potential customers to co-develop a digital solution to their challenge. The start-ups will be supported and mentored by Bethnal Green Ventures to help guide them alongside this opportunity for media exposure through being part of the Mayor of London’s flagship innovation programme.
Apply here for the Mayor of London’s Civic Innovation Challenge by July 8th.
