House of Commons Meetup: Digital Health: Making Healthcare Work For Generation Z

Join this meeting in the House of Commons hosted by Lisa Cameron MP where we discuss the challenge of connecting digital culture and health to ensure we take care of the next generation.

Digital technologies have transformed the way we work, shop, and socialize. Now health care providers are beginning to deploy digital tools to better understand and serve their patients.

Digital health technologies encompass a wide variety of tools, ranging from wearable sensors and portable diagnostic equipment to data-driven software platforms, telemedicine tools, and mobile health care apps.

This has a particular impact on young people who are increasingly turning to the digital world for their health and well being care.

Here we discuss the Digital Health and Young People project that looks especially at how young people access health information through digital space and where there is an urgent need to provide support and guidance.

We will look how to bring together different voices so as to exchange ideas, inform policy development and advance opportunities for equality through digital health access and engagement as well as bringing together academics, non-profit groups, industry and designers, health professionals and policy makers.”

Creating awareness about the needs of young people and the importance of the digital world in engaging them around issues of health is becoming ever more important.

Speaking at this meeting will be

Lisa Cameron MP is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and consultant clinical psychologist. In parliament, Lisa was a member of the Foreign Affairs Team. She was elected as the SNP’s Member of the International Development Committee and was Climate Justice Spokesperson. Lisa was elected as chair of the Disability All Party Parliamentary Group in 2015 and re-elected to this post in 2016 and 2017. Lisa champions disability supports and inclusion as a key issue.

Dr Emma Rich is a Reader/Associate Professor in the Department for Health at the University of Bath. Her research examines sport, physical activity and health education from a critical socio-cultural perspective. Over the past 15 years Emma been undertaking critical health research examining the relationship between the cultures, policies and practices of schools and young people’s health, wellbeing and identities. She is currently leading a research project funded by the Wellcome Trust ‘The Digital Health Generation.”

Dr Sarah Lewis is a Research Associate on the Digital Health Generation project. Since completing her PhD at Loughborough University in 2014, Sarah has been involved in a number of research projects, including the ESRC funded Space for Sharing project, which looked at trust, empathy and sharing in online contexts. Working at the University of Lincoln with Professor Dave Boothroyd, Sarah was able to expand the knowledge and expertise gained during her PhD research, a grounded theory study of support on online anorexia forums, to different online platforms, and illustrate the use of case study methodology for the successful study of related online environments. Sarah has published work on online drugs culture and methods, as well as being keen to attend and organise academic events, especially those that seek to develop links across subject fields and disciplines.

Professor Andy Miah, PhD is Chair in Science Communication & Future Media, in the School of Environment & Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester. Andy regularly interviews for a range of major media companies, which have included BBC’s Newsnight and Start the Week with Andrew Marr, ABC’s’ The 7:30 Review and CBC’s The Hour. Professor His research discusses the intersections of art, ethics, technology and culture and he has published broadly in areas of emerging technologies, particularly related to human enhancement.

We also hope to have some young people there to tell us of their experience of digital health app and how they use them.