Health Innovation Challenge winners announced!

Today we announced the winners for the third annual Health Innovation Challenge.
When the Challenge launched in September, we asked college and university students to find innovative policies or practices in Canadian health care, tell us why the innovations were working, and how they could be applied to the rest of the country.

Winners in the Health Policy category from Western University and the University of Toronto wrote about the use of automated remote drug dispensing technology to improve medication access in rural communities, and strategies in Ontario for removing financial and employment-related barriers to organ donation.

Winners in the Health Practice category from McMaster University and St. Francis Xavier University addressed strategies to curb emergency department admissions from long term care facilities, and a program to appoint case managers to help ensure patients with osteoporosis are identified and receive appropriate treatment to prevent osteoporotic fractures.

“These students represent the future of health care in Canada. We think it’s extremely important to engage youth in health care renewal and encourage them to learn from innovative practices and policies that are working,” said John G. Abbott, CEO, Health Council of Canada. “This year’s winning entries are outstanding, thoughtful examples of innovations in health care.”

Over 220 students across Canada submitted essays explaining what they think could change the future of health care in Canada. Several professors incorporated the Challenge into their class curricula, and as a result, entries came from a range of programs including nursing, medicine, pharmacy and many others.

Each winner receives $1,000 and the chance to apply for a summer internship at the Health Council of Canada office in Toronto, Ontario. Winners will also be invited to accept their award at a ceremony in June in Toronto.

To read their full entries, head to www.facebook.com/healthinnovation.

Here they are, and again, congratulations!

Health Policy

 

Group Winner:

· University of Western Ontario(London, ON)– Alvin Li, Sonia Thomas, Organ donation strategy: Reimbursement and job-protection policy

Individual Winner:

·         University of Toronto (Toronto, ON) – Galina Gheihman, Ontario’s remote drug dispensing policy as an innovation to improve prescription medication access in remote, rural and Northern communities

Health Practice

Group Winner:

·         McMaster University (Hamilton, ON) – Aaron Lau, Yi Ki Tse, NPSTAT - A novel nurse practitioner acute care model in the community for Canada's current and future aging population

Individual Winner:

·         St. Francis Xavier University (Antigonish, NS) – Elizabeth Gallivan, Bridging the osteoporosis treatment gap

Key Words: Health Innovation, Health Innovation Challenge