Success story: QuattroPole Health Hackathon - 4 cities, 7 challenges, 8 solutions

Train the Trainer course on Tuesday 10 September 2024 (09:30-10:30 CEST). 

The first part will share reusable information on the digital health market. 

The second part will present the first Quattropole Health Hackathon - a German PSO Success Story - that brought together 120 hackers across 4 cities that successfully addressed 7 key healthcare challenges and produced 8 digital healthcare solutions.

QuattroPole is a cross-border network of four cities in the heart of Europe. It provides a collaboration space and framework that enables Luxembourg, Metz, Saarbrücken and Trier to cooperate and formulate shared strategic policies to increase their visibility and economic success on the European stage.  

Cross-border cooperation plays a vital role for the health and well-being of the people in the Greater Region – the border triangle between France, Germany and Luxembourg. It is particularly relevant in the healthcare sector where the situation with regard to skilled labour is incredibly tense. For healthcare organisations it is very difficult to find enough personnel to adequately provide the necessary healthcare for people in the region – let alone, to keep the personnel in good shape and to prevent unnecessary workload and difficulties in operations. So the central question that we tried to answer in EDIH Saarland was: How can we get affordable solutions to the most pressing problems in healthcare in a reasonable time for the cities of the Quattropole region (Saarbrücken (D), Trier (D), Metz (F), Luxemburg (LU))?

The key challenges that were found to have a negative impact on work and work places in the healthcare sector and for which we successfully found solutions included, e.g.: 

• Overcoming linguistic & cultural barriers in daily hospital life (Saarbrücken): How can language barriers be overcome in a smart way when admitting patients or explaining treatments?
• Quality of life in the workplace, innovation & environmental friendliness (Metz): The journey to work is an important part of the working day: commuting accidents, for example, account for a large proportion of road accidents. How can we improve the journey to work for nursing staff and reduce negative impacts (fatigue, stress, fuel costs, environmental concerns).
• Support for international collaboration in nursing care (Trier): Once nursing staff have been recruited from abroad, integrating them into everyday nursing work is often a challenge with professional & linguistic differences leading to communication problems. How can we overcome these barriers?
• Supporting patient movement (Metz): For many it is difficult to find their way around hospital facilities during their visit (consultations, examinations etc.). The challenge is to offer a simple, ergonomic and accessible tool or application for all patients that allows them to find their way around the hospital and to improve traffic flows.
• Well-being, public space & health at the workplace (Luxembourg): What are innovative and creative solutions that address the interplay between green spaces, workplace health and well-being.

Course agenda:

• Overview: Digital health market, applications, and benefits
• PSO Success story: QuattroPole
  • Customer needs
  • Customer solution
  • Results and impact
  • Lessons learned
  • Key takeaways
• Questions & answers (participant discussion)

To enrol in and access this course and materials, please visit the eLearning Platform and follow the steps outlined in the EDIH Academy Trainee User Guide below.

Course provider: EDIH Saarland (DE)