England's public health body hopes app will encourage healthy living

Public Health England is calling on tech firms to develop an app that encourages people to live healthier lifestyles.

In a contract notice issued late last month, the agency responsible for the nation’s health and wellbeing said it has a budget of £2.2 million earmarked for the proof of concept project.

According to the notice the project will be delivered by mid-2019, and will assess one or more ways to support people to adopt healthier behaviours.

Public Health England said it has built a team of national and regional experts in areas such as health economics and behavioural science to support the winning bid.

Applicants must have experience of using mobile apps to support people adopting healthier behaviours within the last three years.

They must also have demonstrable experience of working with commercial or public health partners in the delivery of digital intervention projects, and running proof of concept projects.

Work can be performed from any location but is likely to be coordinated by staff in Manchester, London and other areas in the UK.

Those applying are being asked to propose how they would devise a proof of concept that could be used in a region such as the North West or London, and the project will be based overall in the North West of England.

Applications close tomorrow, and PHE said it already has 20 completed applications from 18 small and medium-sized companies and two large companies.

There were a further 53 incomplete applications from 44 SMEs and nine large companies, according to PHE’s contract notice.

PHE said in the notice: “New digital technologies are emerging in the health and wellbeing space that may deliver health benefits to citizens. The effectiveness of these types of intervention needs to be assessed. Thus, a rapid but effective proof of concept approach must be developed and potentially implemented with one or more interventions.”