The Ministry of Health and Families has launched the II Challenge in Health of Andalusia, aimed at improving the care and quality of life of children under 8 years with type 1 diabetes in the school environment, a population that is estimated in our communitythat is around 600 boys and girls.
This has been released on Wednesday in Malaga the Minister of Health and Families, Jesús Aguirre, during the presentation of this initiative, in which the methodology and details of this call for 'open innovation' that promotesThe collaboration between administrations and the different social sectors, to favor synergies and the creation of innovative projects.In this case, the II Health Challenge is being developed in collaboration with the Andalusian Health Quality Agency, and with the participation of the Ministry of Education and Sports, given that the object focuses on the population during the period of permanence inThe School Center, and the Ministry of Economy, Knowledge, Companies and University, especially in the phase of capturing interested audiences and accompaniment or mentoring of the proposed ideas.
In this way, the 'challenge' aimsThe quality of life and integration of these minors, which will also affect positively on their family environment, ”said the head of Health and Families, who stressed that the objective of the challenge is“ attracting external talent to the Public Health System of Andalusiato offer concrete and tangible solutions to real health needs of the Andalusian population. ”
Type 1 diabetes is the second most frequent chronic disease in pediatric age and the most frequent autoimmune disease in childhood and adolescence.In Andalusia, a pediatric population of approximately 2,500 patients with this type of diabetes is estimated, of which some 600 patients are between 3-8 years, age at which most children reach autonomy for their own control and administrationof the corresponding treatment.The number of new cases of type 1 diabetes that are diagnosed per year is progressively increasing worldwide;In Andalusia the number of new cases of type 1 diabetes in the pediatric age is 300-350 a year.
Areas of improvement
The counselor has specified that the innovative solution that is sought is not predefined, but that “it can be given in mobile application, technological improvement, action protocol, organizational change, or any other proposal”, which allows improving the quality of lifeof this population, and its family and social environment during the school day.
In this sense, it is proposed that the innovative solutions proposals contribute to improving the attention to the minors in these three specific areas: in ‘training’, increasing the training of the people who attend the minor;in ‘Organization’, improving the coordination of the process of attention and surveillance of minors;or in ‘Communication’, speeding up the information flows among the people involved in the care of the child when it is in the school.
How to participate
The II Health Challenge is open to all interested persons from any field or sector that, individually or as a team, wish to participate in this initiative, contributing their innovative idea or solution.
To participate, you can access the challenge website, where, in addition to consulting the bases of the call and registering, you can know all aspects of this project (methodology, requirements, phases, awards, etc.), as well as enteringin contact with othersParticipants to form groups and exchange experiences and knowledge, and stay informed of the news and news that occurs.Updated information is also offered through Twitter social networks (@retosandalucia), Facebook and LinkedIn.
Phases and challenge awards
The II health challenge is developed in several phases.In the first, which extends until October 2019, participants can present their proposals and get in touch with other people or interested teams.
The proposals presented will be evaluated by a court, composed of professionals and entities of recognized prestige, which will award awards to the first and second best idea within each of the 3 modalities: training, organization and communication.In this way, prizes will be awarded to the first and second better ideas for each modality, which will receive 1,500 and 500 euros respectively, in addition to a personalized advice on how to become an innovative solution.
A second phase will be extended until June 2020, when it will be decided which are the two best innovative solutions, which will receive a prize valued at 60,000 and 10,000 euros respectively, including advanced advice to develop and facilitate their access to the market, through thePromotion in fairs and events, networks and media, as well as to be implemented in the health system if it proceeds.
Prior identification of needs
In order to know the needs and expectations of the people involved in the care of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus during the school day, in November 2018 a workshop was held, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports, and the Andalusian Health Quality Agency, in which around 20 people participated -among which representatives with experience and knowledge were counted in the area of the challenges;Mothers and fathers of school children, under 8 years of age, with type I diabetes;as well as professionals from the field of health, education and technology- who shared their experience and knowledge, and tried to identify the main problems related to the care of these children when they are outside their family environment and specificallyIn the school environment.
Thus, after the analysis of the needs detected, it was determined that improvements and solutions that increase the training of teachers in this area should occur;Improve the homogeneity of information about each boy and girl;and favor the communication and coordination between professors, health professionals and families, with the aim of achieving better control and care for minors with type 1 diabetes while they are in the school, while facilitating the reconciliation of families and reliefpressure and anxiety that can suffer.
First Health Challenge
The II health challenge starts from the experience and uses the same open innovation methodology of the first edition, to which it incorporates improvements, such as the participation of citizenship from the initial phase of identification of needs and priorities, as well as extensionof the results, since the real implementation of the proposed innovation is intended.
The first health challenge was launched in December 2015 with the aim of finding ICT solutions that improve the quality of life and adherence to the treatment of patients with COPD in Andalusia, through the design of a mobile application.To this call were presented around 40 innovative proposals from different parts of Spain and abroad, contributed by health professionals, entrepreneurs and companies in the field of health together with programmers and ICT experts.In total, 150 peopleThey involved in the different teams that were part of this first challenge, which resulted in three winning and winning applications.
