Next October 29th and 30th will take place the second IT4Anxiety Hackathon at the Evanglisches Klinikum Bethel in cooperation with Bielefeld University in Germany. This edition will be held online. IT4Anxiety is an Interreg project and aims at supporting the implementation of start-ups’ innovative solutions reducing the anxiety of patients suffering from mental disorders.
Hackathons are one of the major activities of the IT4Anxiety project, a first edition already took place in March 2020 in Amsterdam and two further ones will be organised in France (in January 2022) and in England (in February 2022). The aim of these events is to bring together people from different backgrounds to co-create innovative solutions. Over two days, patients, professionals, start-ups, and visitors will be split into thematic groups and work together on the solutions and projects presented by the start-ups. They will also attend keynotes and workshops on various topics related to mental health innovations.
For this German edition, we have the pleasure to welcome some great speakers who will host the different keynotes: Shalliena Mitev, Patient Representative, EvKB Bielefeld, Martina Bertino, Psycholog. Psychotherapist, EvKB Bielefeld, and Barbara Kasparik, Psychologist, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. Keynotes will deal with different topics on blended therapies in mental health.
The hackathon is also a way for selected start-ups to share their project with patients and professionals in order to get their feedback and to finetune their solution. For this Bielefeld edition, 8 start-ups with creative and innovative solutions to improve mental health will be fighting for the hackathon prizes: the first prize includes 1500€ and an initial pilot study to be conducted at the EvKB Bielefeld to validate and further investigate their solution; and the second winner will have the chance to get 1500€ to develop its project!
The 8 start-ups that will participate in the Bielefeld Hackathon are the following:
Between The Lines is a mobile application which supports users in finding out more about mental health issues. It shows them ways to deal with mental health issues and provides valuable information on where they can find the right help. It includes an information platform; hero stories and offers help by finding organizations in users’ immediate vicinity. The app also answers users’ questions through a chatbot.
Elona is a two-sided digital health application that strengthens outpatient psychotherapy. Elona helps patients to transfer what they have learned from psychotherapy sessions into their everyday life. Practitioners can choose from over 350 manual and guideline-based interventions for depression and anxiety patients.
Digimenz is an application with customizable games for patients with dementia. It allows them to train their brain for a better quality of life and it also provides relatives and doctors with valuable insights on the course of their disease.
minime brings therapy and everyday life together for patients. Indeed, the usual homework after therapy sessions which is now in a paper format will be included in the Minime application in a virtual format. And for therapists it will be easier to follow up the progression of the patients.
Mobile Brain Lab offers a smartphone-based neurofeedback device that is suitable for the brain training outside the clinics. The device will allow users and therapist to get direct feedback from the brain in order to fix or regulate the abnormal brain activity such as attention disorder or stress.
Robomantic develops tactile sensors in order to recreate the sense of touch for people who have lost their limbs.
PsySelect.com provides patients with the right kind of support at the right time. The website will allow patients to quickly know what type of support fits their need and will help them access it at the right delay.
WellBe aims to facilitate access to psychotherapies by reducing the waiting time through a better management of therapists’ waiting list. In parallel, WellBe seeks to increase therapies’ success by providing the suitable form of therapy based on the patient’s needs.
After some working time, start-ups will pitch their solution and the jury will announce the winning teams ! Our jury is composed of:
Prof Martin Driessen, Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, EvKB in Bielefeld
Dirk Hamann, Patient Representative
Prof Frank Neuner, Professor for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at Bielefeld University
Dr Bassam Mokbel, Chief Data Scientist at Semalytix
Dr Karla Munoz Esquivel, Research Associate in Anxiety Technologies at Ulster University
We are looking forward to learn more about the start-ups and discover their creative ideas!