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PODelation

Harnessing Technology for Environmental Health Outreach & Engagement

Time to Embrace Health 2.0

December 2nd, 2010

Authenticity is key to connecting with people around their health.

Utilizing technology to create behavior change takes an entrepreneurial spirit, passion to make a difference, and a holistic view of health.

A possible explanation for the reason that Health has generated its own “2.0” term are its applications across health care in general, and in particular it potential in public health promotion. One author describes the potential as “limitless”. (Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_2.0)

The Health 2.0 Conference is the leading showcase of cutting-edge technologies in health care, including Online Communities, Search and lightweight Tools for consumers to manage their health and connect to providers online. Above all, Health 2.0 remains a venue where innovation in technology is introduced and ground-breaking ideas are shared to drive change in the health care system.

Articles and videos from this conference are quite thought-provoking for our outreach and engagement coming out of academia.

See What’s the point of Health 2.0? for a video and article coming from this conference.  A final quote from the video:
“Use Technology to Expand the Human Element”

In 2007, I presented and wrote about PatientsLikeMe.com, a site that allows patients to share and help one another. I knew this idea was valuable to patients!

In the time since launch (2005), the company has expanded to 9 disease categories, with plans to expand to many more. The company was named as one of the “15 Companies that Will Change the World” by Business 2.0 and CNN Money.[2] It was also featured in a March, 2008 New York Time Magazine article entitled “Practicing Patients”[3] and in December 2008 on a television segment with Sanjay Gupta for the CBS Evening News.[4]

Wikipedia reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PatientsLikeMe

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