Hi5 Health informatics challenge | School of Public Health Sciences

Are you in grade 10, 11 or 12?

Are you fascinated by technology or interested in computers?

Not tech savvy but passionate about health or considering a career in health care?

The Hi5 (Health Informatics) Challenge is a freestyle competition where you develop creative solutions to tackle current health issues through the use of information technology.

Join us for a chance to win a $200 gift card AND to improve your resume at the same time! Read below for more on information technology and health informatics.

What is information technology and how is it used for health?

Information technology is any technology used for storing, retrieving, processing and/or sending information. It can be used in many fields, including health and health care.

For example:

A Fitbit is information technology because it receives your health information, stores your activities, and informs you of actions to take on your selected schedule.
Doing an internet search for information about your health or health issues is also an example of information technology.

When information technology is used in health care, it is referred to as health informatics . As defined by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, health informatics is the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption, and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management, and planning.

Your challenge!

According to the Government of Canada, almost 1 in 5 Canadian teens have been victims of online bullying on social media. This involves a form of online harassment, typically through the sharing of inappropriate photos, posts, or messages, among others, that can have severe consequences to people’s mental health and self-esteem.^₁

Given this scenario, your challenge is to describe - in a format of your choosing - how you would use information technology to tackle and minimize cyberbullying. In this competition we are looking for ideas, not full prototypes, although we love to see your ideas presented in creative ways.

This competition is FREESTYLE: You may submit your idea in any format that you think is effective, as long as the submission can be submitted via email. We want to see the most creative, yet feasible idea to address the problem.

Suggestions for submissions include (but are not limited to):

A short video - three minutes max
Sketching a prototype of an application - e.g., using phone apps such as “Pop"
A short essay – 1200 words max
Designing a game

To be eligible, your idea must:

aim to solve the target issue
be received on or before December 10, 11:59 EST
involve the use of information technology in your solution


[1] “What is cyberbullying?” [Online].[Accessed: 18-Oct-2021]. Return to Your challenge

What could you win?

2021 prizes include:

$200 CAD gift card for 1^st place
$50 CAD gift card for 2^nd and 3^rd place
Hi5 Challenge Alumni Certificate for Top 5 Contestants
(Virtually) meet and present your ideas to Waterloo Region's entrepreneurs in health tech
Networking with University of Waterloo professors and graduate students working in health and health informatics

Your awards will be graded based on the following three criteria, so be sure to cover them in your presentation:

creativity
feasibility (how easily the solution could be implemented)
cost-effectiveness

Rules

Participants can participate in the competition individually or in a group (only one prize per individual/group)
Participants must be a Grade 10, 11 or 12 student attending a high school in Canada
Participants must submit their proposed solution on or before the deadline

Submission instructions

Submissions closed December 10, 2021.

Top five submissions will participate in a voting with the University of Waterloo Health Informatics class, and present their ideas to Waterloo Region’s health tech entrepreneurs at an online ceremony in the Winter 2022 (dates to be announced). The three submissions with the highest points at the end of the awards ceremony will be the winners

Useful information

Info Sheet: Cyberbullying

What is Cyberbullying

1 in 5 young Canadians cyberbullied or cyberstalked: Statistics Canada

Judges

Laura Fadrique

Laura Fadrique is a Project Manager in the Data & Advance Technologies team at Communitech. Laura has a significant amount of project management experience across a variety of industries. She is passionate about people, data and technology. Laura has a bachelor's degree in Business and System Analysis from Brazil, a degree in Software Project Management and IT management from Brazil, a diploma in Software Engineering from Conestoga College. She also has a Master of Science in Public Health and Health System from the University of Waterloo where she studied how the use of wearables and IoT technologies can improve the overall quality of life with applications in Smart Homes for the elderly population with a focus on privacy, data sharing and trust.

Monica Athayde

Monica Athayde is a senior executive with the management skills necessary to stand out and lead in the creative economy and entertainment market, with a focus on contract negotiation, financial planning, licensing, and distribution of content and digital solutions. She helps companies increase their revenues by creating new business verticals, designing integration strategies between online and offline channels. She has a strong presence in the construction of Storytelling and Brand Development, mainly in the business and consumer market, with the implementation of brand development strategies that help companies to become references in their sectors. Since 2010, she has participated as a judge in the final and semi-final stages of the Emmy Awards and participated as a volunteer consultant for Selo Elas 2021 (ELO Company).

John Gregory

John Gregory has spent 30 years in health care communications working in Canada, UK, USA, and Sweden. He is a former global marketing communications director. Today, he works primarily with a number of health care organizations producing practice standards, best practice recommendations and position statements. John has been part of the Hacking Health Foundation team and mentored several startup/scale-ups in Kitchener-Waterloo. Outside health care, John is an acclaimed international canoeing journalist covering the Olympics, World Championships and World Cups, where he is the host of the ICFslalom podcast.

Questions?

If you have questions or require further information about the Hi5 Challenge, email hi5.challenge@uwaterloo.ca.

The Hi5 Challenge is presented by the University of Waterloo's School of Public Health Sciences, offering undergraduate programs and graduate studies in the field of health and health informatics.

Winners

2021

1^st Place: SHREEYA CHAMPANERI – Stouffville District Secondary School - Created an interactive app called Cyber-stop, which collects an array of applicable resources for users to easily report bullying and harassment based on severity of behaviors.
2^nd Place: DEVESH PREMKUMAR – St. Francis Xavier Secondary School - Drafted a progressive web application using a combination of AI and natural language processing to analyze user data and detect the context in which words are used, encouraging users to develop an awareness of how bullying impacts their mental health.
3^rd Place: VERONICA SZULC – Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School - Designed a gender-neutral self-care app, called Cyberspace for users to reflect on their mental health, how they may be impacted by cyber-bullying behaviors, and educational resources for everyone.

2020

1^st Place: KATELYN WU - Bluevale Collegiate Institute – Designed a mobile platform that allows those aged 18+ from around the world to partner with those who share the same hobbies as them and then meet and perform their hobbies together to tackle and improve pandemic-related psychological distress.
2^nd Place: JAY SHARMA AND SOMESH KARTHI – Harold M. Brathwaite Secondary School - Created a meditation app that focuses on de-stressing the user with positive affirmations and headlines about COVID-19.
3^rd Place: ABDUL HASEEB – Southwood Secondary School - Created an app that uses 143 lines of code to control their information level for the day using Sensory Information Gate (SIG) to allow the user to control the amount of information they consume for the day.

2019

1^st Place: MATHURAH RAVIGULAN – Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute, Grade 12 – Designed a web and mobile platform that helps youth to connect with workout partners, encouraging them to do more physical activity and, in turn, decreasing stress, increasing sleep and improving mental health.
2^nd Place: JALEH KAHNAMI – York Mills Collegiate Institute, Grade 12 – Mapped out a solution that allows teenagers to anonymously express their mental health problems and comment on similar problems from other peers, using Natural Language Processing to filter comments.
3^rd Place: SETAREH GHAFOURI GHARAVI – Bayview Secondary School, Grade 11 – Created a mobile app for panic attack management, following step-by-step instructions to focus the users’ attention, calm their body and reduce stress.

2018

RASHMEET KAUR - Grand River Collegiate Institute - Mapped out a mobile application that provided information regarding depression and available resources along with a meditation feature to help users meditate.

2017

RASHMEET KAUR - Grand River Collegiate Institute - Wrote an essay on a mobile application that trains young adults to read nutrition labels and plan a nutritious diet.

HALEEM MOHAMED ALI - Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute - Suggested collecting points through purchasing healthy foods using debit/credit cards.

NIKOLAS CUELLO CARRIZO - St. Marys District Collegiate & Vocational Institute (DCVI) - Wrote an essay on integrating a notification system on mobile phones to encourage the youth to be physically active.

Image gallery

On November 15, 2019, winners of the Hi5 Challenge were invited to the University of Waterloo to receive their prizes and network with industry mentors, and professors and graduate students from the School of Public Health and Health Systems.

Hi5 Challenge 2019 organizer, Pedro Velmovitsky, welcoming guests to the awards ceremony.

Organizer Pedro Velmovitsky welcomes guests

John Gregory and Jacob George speaking to winners about health innovation, start-ups and hackathons.

Speakers John Gregory, Head of Global Growth at Hacking Health, and Jacob George, Product and Business Advisor to Startups and Scale-ups at Communitech, talk to winners about health innovation, start-ups and hackathons

Plinio Morita discussing projects with the third place winner, Setareh Ghafouri Gharavi, and her guest.

Professor Plinio Morita (far right) discusses projects with student winners and their guests

First-place winner, Mathurah Ravigulan presented with her plaque and gift bag

Pedro Velmovitsky presents first-place winner Mathurah Ravigulan with her prize for conceiving of a web and mobile platform to help youth connect with workout partners and increase physical activity

Pedro Velmovitsky presenting the third-place winner, Setareh Ghafouri Gharavi, with her plaque and gift bag.

Pedro Velmovitsky presents third-place winner, Setareh Ghafouri Gharavi, with her prize for the creation of a mobile app for panic attack management

Hi5 Challenge 2019 recipients, mentors and organizers at the University of Waterloo School of Public Health and Health Systems.

Hi5 Challenge winners, mentors and organizers at the University of Waterloo School of Public Health and Health Systems