The Challenge

The Hunter New England Central Coast (HNECC) Primary Health Network (PHN) is seeking new and innovative early intervention solutions that empower individuals to: 

Identify a decline in mental fitness and therefore a need for intervention; and

Ensure the early adoption of the proposed solution to achieve or maintain mental fitness; and

The solution is adaptable, accessible, and scalable.

Why Mental Health?

Mental health is a key component of overall health and wellbeing. However, health data from the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network (HNECC PHN) Local Government Areas indicate a significant need for intervention and an uplift in targeted services to address the psychological distress embedded within our communities.

Mental fitness within the community is trending downward, adding pressure to stretched mental health services and staff. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Study of Mental and Wellbeing indicates that in Australia 42.9% of people aged 16–85 years had experienced a mental disorder at some time in their life. Looking closer to home, more adults in our region experience high or very high psychological distress compared to New South Wales and Australia-wide averages.

• Innovation
  How innovative is your solution? Is it an improvement to existing systems or a breakthrough new product/service
• Solution fit
  Is there a real problem? Is your solution really going to solve it?
• Feasibility
  How likely is the project to work and be accepted by the market / community?
• Prototype
  What progress have the team achieved during the hack and how functional is the project?
• Pitch
  In the end everything comes down to how well you can sell your ideas