Summary:
Rigorous science takes time, and people living with Long COVID need help today. That’s why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) hosted the Long COVID “Healthathon”, a prize competition for digital solutions aimed at supporting those living with Long COVID today. In June, the Healthathon awarded $25,000 to prototypes of toolkits, apps, resources, and other tech solutions that educate, support, and empower people living with Long COVID.
More than40 teams and individuals submitted design proposals in response to the Long COVID Healthathon challenge question, “How might we design and implement real-world solutions to improve the lives of those with Long COVID today?” Their submissions spanned across themes of talking about Long COVID more openly, creating databases and directories, and harnessing the power of wearable technology and artificial intelligence.
A multidisciplinary panel of judges selected 15 Healthathon finalists to receive $250 each and continue developing their prototypes. The Healthathon finalists attended live checkpoints with presentations from subject matter experts in Long COVID and human-centered design. Each of the Healthathon finalists submitted a case study with evidence of their prototype’s potential for impact.
On June 10th, HHS announced three winners of the Long COVID Healthathon, who will each receive $7,000.
- AdaptAble: A workplace hub to help employers better understand Long COVID and provide accommodations, submitted by Kambria Dumesnil. AdaptAble is a platform transforming the challenge of Long COVID into an opportunity for growth, understanding, and accommodation in the workplace.
- We Want To Be Seen: Visualizing the invisible struggles of Long COVID, submitted by Meagan Hughes. We Want To Be Seen visualizes the many invisible, debilitating struggles of long haulers. This project uses data storytelling to map crowdsourced, patient-led data and build empathy for a cross-section of diverse, yet familiar Long COVID experiences.
- Equicare: Bridging Health Disparities Through Provider Learning, submitted by Joel Yap. Equicare addresses gaps in Long COVID care and cultural competencies through its comprehensive certificate program, connects patients with Equicare-certified providers, and empowers its users with internal tools to combat health disparities.
Dr. Kristen Honey, Chief Data Scientist and Executive Director of InnovationX in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Healthgave the event’s keynote, which focused on using Health+ (pronounced “health plus”) human-centered design methods to put people first when addressing complex problems in health. Dr. Honey described the goals of the Long COVID Healthathon, saying “We hope that by building trust, reaching across different silos and different disciplines, and acting together, we can hopefully come up with novel approaches and new solutions. Then together we can iterate and adapt them.”
Dr. Honey also described how the Long COVID Healthathon builds off the momentum of the Health+ Long COVID Human-Centered Design Report, which brings the experiences of people with Long COVID to the forefront in defining solutions. The report synthesizes over 1,000 hours of desk research, one-on-one interviews, and workshops with people affected by Long COVID into opportunity areas, or recommendations for improving the quality of care and lives for people affected by Long COVID.
Congratulations to the Long COVID Healthathon winners, finalists, and all who contributed their expertise to the challenge! Follow @HHS_Innovates on X for more opportunities to collaborate and innovate together.
