On August 16th, Baycrest student volunteers challenged themselves to develop a solution to senior’s isolation. Five teams pitched to a panel of experts for a chance to win cash prizes and the opportunity to implement their solution at Baycrest Hospital. Teams were prepared to answer the tough questions about implementation strategies, budgets and their solution’s unique attributes. We would like to thank all of the participants for their efforts and dedication to making Baycrest Hospital residents more socially engaged.
We are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Innovation Challenge!
First Place: Team Who’s In?
Lead: Haley Gabel
Who’s In? is an extremely user-friendly mobile application designed to facilitate face-to-face meet ups and interactions for seniors. App users open the app to create an event for an activity they’re interested in and also have the ability to review other people’s event invites. To accept, they select ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and can go on to engage in the activity as a group.
Second Place: Team Phoenix
Leads: Aliya Ali and Noah Draper
The solution is a weekly senior’s book club where they discuss their thoughts about the book they read throughout the week. Groups will be determined based on reading level and reading ability, with audiobooks being an option.
Third Place: Team Harmony
Lead: Nazanin Soghrati
Harmony connects seniors wanting to learn an instrument with Baycrest youth volunteers in a weekly piano program. Using the pianos at Baycrest, the program promotes intergenerational interactions and new skill development for both seniors and youth.
We would like to congratulate the winners!
