Best use of social media in healthcare

This category is sponsored by:

Winner:

Interactive health services by digital TV and mobile phone - NHS Sefton

Sefton is an area of inequalities. Providing health information online fails to reach many people who would benefit. One solution is providing information via TV; and Looking Local does this. It can be accessed on cable, satellite and mobile phone as well as online. It links to content from websites like NHS Choices, Jobcentre Plus and Transport Direct. Users can also book GP appointments.

Finalists

Couch to 5K - NHS Connecting for Health

Couch to 5K is a nine week running plan that helps absolute beginners to get into running through a series of podcasts that guide them through the sessions, telling them when to run and when to walk. The podcasts can be downloaded onto an MP3 player or mobile phone and are available from both the NHS Choices website and iTunes.

YouTube videos - Hillview Surgery, NHS Ealing and EMIS users in NHS Ealing

Dr Shanker Vijay of Hillview Surgery in Ealing created a YouTube channel to widen its communication with patients. Then he created a channel for NHS Ealing and its successor, the Ealing GP Commissioning Consortia, starting with videos to raise awareness of breast and bowel cancer in different languages. Finally, Dr Vijay created a third channel to help local practices with EMIS Web training.

Helping You Find Healthy Facebook application - Bupa

Bupa's Helping You Find Healthy campaign is built around enabling everyone in the UK to find their version of health. Bupa created a UK Facebook page with a health calculator application that allows users to make health pledges, track their progress and invite friends. Each pledge is backed by tailored content for achieving it.

Sharing telehealth best practice: leveraging the power of social media - The King's Fund

The King's Fund held an International Telehealth Summit in March 2011 and wanted to share the event with as many people as possible, while generating input from the wider UK health IT community. This was achieved through an integrated social media campaign that combined top-quality live video and with real-time social media to host discussion.