Hackers takeover Dutch psychiatric prison in mental health contest

A group of more than 200 programmers, hackers, healthcare professionals, innovators and designers will be locking themselves in to the Blokhuispoort Prison in Leeuwarden for a 30 hour challenge on innovative ways to improve healthcare. The Dutch Health Hackathon is a yearly event. This year's Hackathon will be taking place on September 5th and 6th and is focused on improving mental health care. Teams of up to 6 people will be using their talents and technique to come up with and develop the best groundbreaking concept to improve mental health care. The winners get a grand prize of 5 thousand euros and the three best ideas will be implemented in healthcare. "One in four Dutch people deal with psychological problems at some point in his or her life. Innovation is desperately need to improve the quality of life of these people. We challenge all hackers from the Netherlands to dazzle us with their innovative ideas." Louwra Weisfelt, marketing manager, communication and innovation at GGZ Friesland said to TBM about the event. Throughout the weekend there will be talks and workshops by leading people in the field, including ethical hacker Mischa van Geelden and social media expert Gerard Duursma, according to TBM. Professionals, healthcare professionals and patients will be walking around all weekend to help inspire the participants. Participants will also be able to admire the latest gadgets and technology. Registering for the event is free of charge. You can do so as a group or a singe participant here. Individual participants will be placed in teams where their skills can be most useful.