We give a lot of credit to those entrepreneurs who have energy to go to the gym after their 13 hour days of coding and business development. We know it can be tough to start a company and stay in shape, and sometimes a RedBull doesn’t cut it. Boston startup MeYou Health, which is being funded by Healthways, is helping entrepreneurs and everyone else maintain a healthy lifestyle with their line of “products” that give you simple exercises, tips and games to play, on your cellphones and online.
MeYou Health’s most recent project, Community Clash caught the attention of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was chosen along Google and Microsoft as one of the few projects to present at the HHS’ Community Health Data Forum: Harnessing the Power of Information to Improve Health in Washington D.C on June 2nd.
MeYou Health’s General Manager, Chris Cartter headed to the Community Health Data Forum to launch MeYou Health’s “Community Clash.” Community Class is an online card game that pins cities against each other to see who is the healthiest; based on statistics from categories like major depression, motor vehicle deaths, diabetes, and smoking provided by HHS’ Community Health Data Initiative. Users can see how their cities stack up to other American cities.
We played a round of Community Clash and put Boston against New York City. I am sorry to announce that New York City beat Boston in MeYou Health’s Community Clash, with an overall well-being of 67.5 versus Boston’s 65.6.
U.S. Health and Human Services has been working on publicizing data collected on health and science in communities around the country through the “Community Health Data Initiative.” HHS hopes that this data will raise awareness in communities about healthy living, put pressure on politicians to improve health care in communities, and help and improve healthy living among citizens.
According to Pew Research Center, 40% of Internet users have have gone online in the past year to get government data. These queries range from government spending to political contributions. Americans want collected data to be public, and that includes data on health and sciences. MeYou Health is taking America’s desire for data a step further by turning it into games like Community Clash. They also have plans to deliver other games soon, like Monumental and Health Tennis.
Boston is the hub for health care and the home to a massive game-development community, and those two facts could make Boston the leading city for a health and gaming synergy. Two weeks ago, Games Beyond Entertainment Week was hosted in Boston, and was a huge indicator of the talent Boston holds in both health and gaming technology.
We’re bitter about New York City’s close win over Boston for the healthiest city, but we’ll ask for a rematch once we start playing around with MeYou Health a bit more. — Bring it, NYC!
What do you think is online gaming the answer to getting healthier? Why do you think Boston lost to New York City?
Get healthy and follow MeYou Health on Twitter and Facebook.
To learn more about gaming; follow the gaming topic on Pinyadda. To find more information about healthy living; follow the health topic on Pinyadda.
