HealthJam 2014 took place in Guelph on Wed., May 14 and Thu., May 15. It brought together different levels of government, agencies, and citizens to solve challenges around health care promotions.
What’s a Jam?
A Jam is an intense, 2-day workshop that involves different levels of government, citizens, and/or private sector participants. The framework for HealthJam 2014 was based on the annual global initiative, GovJam.
Participants of a Jam are put into teams to design solutions to complex challenges. Over the course of two days, participants build working prototypes of their solutions, test them on users, and refine them, preparing them for potential implementation after the Jam is over.
Anything produced during the Jam is built under a Creative Commons licence and shared with the world after the Jam is over.
What's HealthJam?
HealthJam was dreamed up as a corner-of-desk passion project by a group of public servants who attended GovMaker Day at MaRS in 2013.
The theme of HealthJam was Health Promotion – participants worked on creating solutions for healthy living that break down barriers and inequities, so that all Guelph residents can enjoy good health. Five focus areas we determined prior to the Jam:
- How might we build supportive, healthy environments together in priority neighbourhoods?
- How might we create opportunities for meaningful social connections between neighbours?
- How might we create opportunities for people to be physically active in their neighbourhoods in a way that is meaningful to them?
- How might we create communities/neighbourhoods where people have a sense of belonging/inclusion?
- How might we support meaningful collaborations and strengthen relationships between citizens, service providers, and governments that build healthy communities?
Representatives from all three levels of government, community partners, and citizens participated to work together towards solutions to common challenges in healthcare promotion.
Participants were taken through the Jam by a facilitator who used a design thinking approach.
Who ran the show?
HealthJam was hosted by the City of Guelph in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, Waterloo-Wellington LHIN, Guelph Community Health Centre, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, Guelph Family Health Team (lead, Guelph Health Link).
Why Jam?
The goal of HealthJam was to start opening up how government does things — in support of the City’s Open Guelph initiative — to build a culture of learning, one that allows for exploring new approaches, working hand-in-hand with the community for everyone’s benefit, and looking for opportunities for refinement the next time around.
Another aim for HealthJam was to contribute to our collective impact approach for addressing Guelph Wellbeing’s themes of food security, affordable housing, and physical and social connectivity.
The event helped start solving real problems that all participants have a stake in. This model can be used in the future to help solve other complex challenges that impact communities.
