LIVINGLIVING
they'll work together with a health coach
to set and achieve realistic goals. They'll
learn how to build balanced meals and
eat more mindfully, increase activity levels
by tracking steps with other users, work
on tackling negative thought patterns and
how to work around setbacks. Through
the app, there's also access to a support
group, and daily articles which help to
guide users towards their personal goal. A
mentor is on hand to answer any queries
and help to keep people accountable until
new habits become routine.
After the 12 weeks, there's an option
to stay on the programme. For £9.99
a month, users can continue getting
support from their health coach, track
progress and receive motivational weekly
articles.
OurPath CEO Chris Edson says,
"Given that Type 2 diabetes is largely
a lifestyle disease, behavioural change
is the essence of the solution to this
problem, and digital is a fantastic way
of effecting behavioural change at scale.
What helps to drive behavioural change is
human interaction, which is a core aspect
of the OurPath programme. We also try
to go further than just looking at diet and
exercise, with large parts focusing on
things like sleep, stress management,
and mental health. Having a real human
as a health coach can help to pinpoint
challenges in these areas, and it's why
we believe what we're doing is more akin
to providing a digital service, rather than
simply an app. Some of the emerging
results have indicated 40% of people with
Type 2 on our programme have put their
diabetes into remission at three months.
These results have reinforced our belief
that digital innovation can help address
the challenges faced by the NHS, and
we're delighted to be demonstrating
how technology can make behavioural
interventions more engaging, more
scalable, and more seamlessly integrated
into people's daily lives."
www.ourpath.co.uk
Qstream
Qstream is a micro-learning solution that's
scientifically proven to make people better
at what they do. Developed at Harvard,
Qstream says it 'increases knowledge
retention up to 170%, changes
behaviours and results in an average
17% improvement in job proficiency.'
In the workplace, the platform creates
bite-sized, scenario-based challenges to
improve job skills in just a few minutes a
day, while also highlighting opportunities
for managers to know who, what and
when to coach. Dr Kerfoot, a Qstream
founder, and his team developed a
Qstream specific solution as part of a
worldwide competition - the Ascensia
Diabetes Challenge, which sets out
to find innovative digital solutions to
support Type 2 diabetes management.
A clinical study found that people with
Type 2 who were randomly assigned to
use Qstream had far greater reductions
in HbA1c than those who received the
same information in a booklet. Out of 116
entries, The Ascencia Diabetes Challenge
named Qstream as one of six finalists and
awarded a runner-up prize of €30,000.
www.qstream.com
Spirit Healthcare
Leicester-based company Spirit
Healthcare delivers an education course
called Empower in response to needs
identified within the NHS. Founder Chris
Barker says, "Our Empower courses have
resulted in hugely improved understanding
of lifestyle choices for the vast majority of
people who attend them with a significant
improvement shown in measured clinical
outcomes. According to a National
Diabetes Audit published by Diabetes UK,
less than 10% of people referred actually
make it onto a course and complete it.
We realised that simple things like hiring
the room, setting the room up and basic
communications with patients themselves
was something we had to provide for the
NHS as part of the service."
Spirithealthcare works with the local
health services. They give referrals to
patients to attend the course, they are
put on the Empower database and from
which we can send them reminders and
prompts to book a course online. Says
Barker, "We are able to show that 45%
of people who are referred to our courses
not only attend but complete them."
www.spirithealthcare.com
An Empower class from SpiritHealthcare.