With guidance from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Cooper University Health Care hosted its inaugural Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Hackathon event. This event brought together stakeholders from across New Jersey to look at ways in which health IT could improve the lives of those in underserved communities.
This initiative not only brought together IT and healthcare professionals, but also benefitted from contributions from others with concentrations in various fields such as social work, education, housing, nutrition, workforce development, law, and business. There was opportunity for inventors, investors, and entrepreneurs to connect with each other to collaborate and create solutions to help bridge the social divide using health IT.
Registration opened in September giving participants the opportunity to virtually connect and form teams. Educational training sessions were provided on a weekly basis during the virtual event. Session topics included "Understanding Provided Data," "A Comprehensive View of SDOH," and "General Q&A on Pitch Decks."
The event concluded with presentations, competition, and the awards event, which was held in Camden, New Jersey on Friday, November 10, 2023. An expert judging panel decided the winners who received financial awards as well as access to technical, financial, and research support.
The Winning Teams
Baron Rides - Community Carpooling Service
Team: Lauwinda Cherilus, Pietra Oliveira, and Leonardo Vargas, Tech
Essex County College Dream Team - Digital Literacy for Seniors
Team: Oscar Obochi, Grace Anthony, Teresa Cadet, Stephen Frimpong, Louis Paul, and Hajara Sulley
Cooper IT Team - Vertical Hydroponic Farms
Team: Tyree Guinn, Jorge da Costa, and Tam Nguyen
Team Healthcode - Symptom Tracker App
Team: Margaret Snyder, Brent Cubbage, Santos Herrere-Lopez, and Joe Huntenburg
Background Information on the Hackathon
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines social determinants of health as "life-enhancing resources, such as food supply, housing, economic and social relationships, transportation, education, and health care, whose distribution across populations effectively determines length and quality of life." According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 84% of health outcomes are attributable to a combination of factors that fall under social determinants of health.
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDOH) |
|||||
Category One |
Category Two |
Category Three |
|||
Economic Stability |
Neighborhood and Physical Environment |
Education |
Community and Social Context |
Food |
Health Care System |
Employment Expenses Debt Medical Bills Support |
Housing Transportation Safety Parks Playgrounds Walkability ZIP Code/ |
Literacy Language Early Childhood Education Vocational Training Higher Education |
Social Integration Support Systems Community Engagement Discrimination Stress Justice-Involved* |
Hunger Access to Healthy Options |
Health Coverage Provider Availability Provider Linguistic and Cultural Competency Quality of Care |
|
|||||
HEALTH OUTCOMES |
|||||
Mortality, Morbidity, Life Expectancy, Health Care Expenditures, Health Status, Functional Limitations |
* Addition from CUHC
NJ SDOH Hackathon 2024
Information will be available soon.