National health content hub being created

NEWS 

Health Navigator Charitable Trust, KidsHealth NZ and HealthInfo Canterbury are creating a national, as a service, health content hub. 

The partners are calling on others to join them in creating the hub , which will act as a central repository for trusted, New Zealand focused, high-quality health content and self-care resources for all New Zealanders. 

Janine Bycroft, Health Navigator executive director, says the partnership has been working on the concept for two years, with all three co-creating and sharing resources for public use online, and they are in the process of forming partnerships with Māori and health consumers. 

Hub content, as a service, will enable seamless sharing and updating of information across platforms, so that organisations can repurpose the content for their specific needs and audiences, she says. 

“White label content — where recipients can rebrand it as their own — will be contributed to the hub via API by approved content partners and overseen by a national editorial team to ensure principles, quality standards and equity focus are maintained,” says Bycroft. 

She says benefits from the hub initiative will include improved access and applicability to more equitable outcomes for Māori, Pasifika, people with disabilities and other high- needs populations and these groups will be prioritised for content co- creation, development and delivery. 

“Content can also be delivered in ways that enable more timely care, decision-making or treatment, including through apps, portals, websites, e-therapy, personalised monitoring and wearable devices,” she adds.

Bycroft says the idea of the hub came about from seeing the national flood of multiple versions of public-facing information, all with varying degrees of quality (safety) and health literacy. 

“From diabetes, hand washing and vaccinations to mental health topics, and everything in between, organisations have been reinventing the wheel rather than sharing key content and building on the innovation of others,” she says. 

“This ad-hoc approach leads to significant duplication, fragmentation, inefficiencies and inconsistent messaging, imposing millions of dollars of unnecessary costs on taxpayers.”

She says the Covid-19 pandemic saw multiple organisations rapidly having to review and update their content, and field enquires and concerns from the public through online content, phone lines or consultations. 

“National experts were inundated with requests to review content and provide recommendations. Once a national response through the covid19.govt.nz website was available, more consistent and efficient communication was seen,” explains Bycroft. 

She says the collaborative and its supporters all acknowledge the sector is failing to maximise the potential of digital solutions to transform the consumer experience.

“The sector could do a much better job if there was a national collaborative working together and focused on putting equity and whānau first,” she says.

If you are interested in finding out more, contact Janine Bycroft.

Picture: Janine Bycroft, Health Navigator executive director