When we think about digital tools and technology, we think of them as moving fast. Katie Drasser, CEO of Rock Health, joins me to discuss what a “slow tech” approach to health innovation could look like. It would ground innovation in participatory design, build community trust and aim for long term impact, not just rapid scaling.

We discuss:

• How she’s working to fix the broken investment cycle for women’s health
• Why impact—not just return—should guide the future of health innovation
• The big differentiator for youth mental health companies? Kids are at the table

Katie reminds us that designing for the most overlooked ends up helping everyone:

“There's that theory – the curb cut theory – [that says] if you design for the most marginalized, if you design for the most overlooked, it's actually better for everybody. And so… how might we design for those most left out? And actually, the folks that are always included would actually benefit too.”

Relevant Links

• Visit the Rock Health website
• Listen to Podcast episode with Katie Drasser and Carolyn Witte
• Read the Rock Health report on women as digital health consumers
• Check out MindRight Health’s website - the youth mental health texting resource Katie mentioned in this episode

About Our Guest

Katie is an entrepreneurial leader committed to equality and justice who has launched groundbreaking, inclusive programs that address complex global issues with a focus on public health innovation and the role of innovative financing and leadership in systems change. As the CEO of RockHealth.org, she leads a team of experts in health equity, social enterprise and design to encourage more equitable innovation in digital health. Previously, Katie curated health content for the Aspen Ideas Festival and was Managing Director of the Aspen Global Innovators Group, where she led global leadership programs to address poverty alleviation and human rights. Katie has worked nationally and around the world on initiatives including HIV/AIDS treatment strategies in Romania, private health services delivery in Myanmar, and the scale up of Kenya’s national emergency medical system. She also built a range of start-ups, designing a network of charter schools, and developing Good Capital, a venture fund that invests millions in social enterprises like The Hub Bay Area and the Social Capital Markets Conference.

Source

Connect With Us

For more information on The Other 80 please visit our website - www.theother80.com. To connect with our team, please email claudia@theother80.com and follow us on twitter @claudiawilliams and LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Other 80 on YouTube so you never miss our video extras or special video episodes!

On the surface, what the wellness industry is offering feels like an antidote to our fragmented and fast-paced lives. Influencers and companies use words like "mindfulness" or “whole foods” or “self care” to get our stressed out, burnt out buy in. But, somewhere along the line those promises start to morph into luxury services, expensive memberships and supplements you never knew you needed. In her book “How to Be Well” former fashion journalist Amy Larocca explores the blurred line between healing and branding in a $6 trillion dollar industry.

We discuss:

• Why our current wellness craze mirrors 1930s pre-Nazi Germany
• How Abraham Flexner completely changed how we teach medicine in the US for better – and for worse
• Why the spiritual and community void left by declining religious participation leads people to look to the wellness industry for both

Amy says what attracts people to the modern fitness class has parallels to religious practices:

“So if you look at what happens in ritual religious gatherings… You see a lot of that replicated in a lot of these boutique fitness settings. You have ritual, you have music, you have ecstatic movement, you have charismatic leaders, you have a sermon. And these sermons have increasingly moved away from talk of muffin tops and bikini bodies and losing that whatever it is, to kindness, community, thinking about your place in the world, thinking about taking the energy that you are building up in that room and spreading it forward. ”

Relevant Links

• Buy Amy’s book “How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time”
• Read this Wikipedia page on Martine Rothblatt’s robot replica of her wife Bina
• Check out this article on the impact of the Flexner report on US medicine
• Read the book “McMindfulness” Amy mentions in the episode
• Sign up for Lamar’s SoulCycle class

About Our Guest

Amy Larocca is an award-winning American journalist. She spent 20 years working at New York Magazine as both Fashion Director and Editor at Large. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Vogue, Town & Country, and the London Review of Books, among others. She lives with her family in New York and North London.

Source

Connect With Us

For more information on The Other 80 please visit our website - www.theother80.com. To connect with our team, please email claudia@theother80.com and follow us on twitter...

Loneliness isn’t just a feeling - it’s a public health crisis. The number of hours we spend with friends is rapidly decreasing, more and more Americans report feeling lonely, and loneliness is linked to bad health outcomes like risk of premature death, heart disease, stroke, depression and anxiety. Kasley Killam, author of “The Art and Science and Connection”, joins us to talk about why social health should be the third pillar of wellness alongside physical and mental health.

We discuss:

• The surprising finding that connected communities were more resilient during the COVID pandemic
• Kasley’s 100+ day experiment with acts of kindness
• How small investments in social health have big ripple effects
• Her nuanced views on AI companions

Kasley talks about how vulnerability is key to building trust and human connection:

“When you share something a little vulnerable that goes beyond… surface level and small talk, that is like this magical way of deepening connections, right? It builds trust, it builds intimacy, it makes us relatable, it helps us get to know each other better. And so … there I am with a complete stranger who… I've maybe shared something on stage or in conversation, they're now sharing something really intimate and vulnerable about their life and that just creates this beautiful moment. ”

Relevant Links

• Grab Kasley’s book “The Art and Science of Connection”
• See Kasley’s TED talk: Why Social Health is Key to Happiness and Longevity
• Get more info on the APA poll on social connection
• Read an Article on Kasley’s 108-day experiment with acts of kindness
• Read the Surgeon General’s advisory on loneliness as a pandemic
• See this Article on Scan Health Plan’s “Togetherness” program

About Our Guest

Kasley Killam is a leading expert in social health and author of The Art and Science of Connection: Why Social Health is the Missing Key to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier. As a Harvard-trained social scientist, 2X TED speaker, sought-after advisor, and award-winning founder, Killam has been dedicated to improving well-being through human connection for nearly 15 years. Globally recognized for her thought leadership on social health, Killam’s collaborations with top organizations like Google, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the World Economic Forum contribute to building more socially healthy products, workplaces, and communities. Discover her insights in outlets like The New York Times, Forbes, NPR, CNBC, and The Washington Post and join her newsletter community at www.kasleykillam.com.

Source

Connect With Us

For more information on The Other 80 please visit our