Mark My Words 2.2

Having watched over the conversations about “social media” in the NHS, and other health organisations, there is a lot of discussion and “buzz” around the topic. However, there is little in the way of actually helping the NHS do a better job with digital engagement. I use the term “digital engagement” as it’s very important to make the distinction between “social media” and “digital engagement” which is discussed by Tim Lloyd on the #nhssm blog. This is my elephant in the room. The fact that we have tons of expertise between us, but that we are unable to lift the bar above more than just mere conversation between each other. I mean, conversation is great, but social collaboration is much better.

OK, so what am I doing about it? Well, I’ve created a “hub” over at Healthy Engagement that is searching for people just like you to provide input. The idea is to create mini “projects” that create artefacts that can be used by the NHS or other health organisations. The first project is called Personas. My thinking is that by gathering small “teams” of people to work on such projects, we’ll start to build a great network of helpers. One that I’d love to keep as open and transparent as possible. I’d welcome any ideas for projects, directions for the site, or any other general comments. Time for a step change?