Innovation beyond technology: how creativity and collaboration drive better health outcomes

The term innovation is used a lot when talking about health these days. Frequently coupled with digital and the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is often viewed only through a technical lens, and technological advancements are undoubtedly part of the picture. But valuable aspects that can be overlooked in this conversation include creativity, collaboration and co-production, which can be equally crucial to advancement.

A great example is our recent involvement in the production of an animation supporting maternal mental health, which is due to enjoy its official launch event at Tullie in Carlisle next week – a museum, art gallery and community hub that provides ‘a home for the eternally curious’ – making it a fitting place to highlight this incredible project, and exemplifying our whole approach at Ways to Wellness!

The animation, entitled ‘See the Whole of Me’, brings together findings from a collaborative project based on participatory research, which was co-designed and produced with those with lived experience, working alongside academic, VCSE, and NHS partners.

Participatory research is often linked to community action, and reaches out to hear from those who may not traditionally participate in research, such as those who are socially isolated, living in rural communities, or living with precarity.

For this project, in addition to the report into its outputs, which included the animation as well as zines made by the women involved, the research team created a framework for maternal listening, which was shared in a recent development session hosted by Boost, the healthcare learning and improvement community, with participants challenged to think about how ready their organisation is to hear and respond to holistic, whole-life experiences, especially when shared by mums and mums-to-be.

Taking this as only one example of our varied ‘test and learn’ prototypes and projects, our work is anything but dry. With robust measurement a given, we create space for people to come together and work towards achieving meaningful change. Once together, we try new things, learning continually as we go. And we look at using fresh approaches to disseminating our findings.

It’s agile, it’s iterative and it’s effective!

Find out more about how we work on our website and get in touch at info@waystowellness.org.uk if you have a project you think we could collaborate with you on.