The One HEALtH Student Challenge

A One Health approach to the health issues that face the planet today requires collaborations across multiple sectors and disciplines locally, nationally, and globally. One Health works at the intersection of human and animal health, with the natural and built environments contributing to and transforming this relationship.

Many One Health initiatives are driven by socioeconomic issues that include, but are not limited to population growth; nutritional, agricultural, and trade practices; poverty; globalization; land use and resource development; urbanization and migration; social justice and conflict; and climate change.
In the CHAIM Centre’s annual One HEALtH (Human, Environmental, Animal Links to Health) Student Challenge, Carleton University undergraduate students work in interdisciplinary teams to tackle a One Health issue facing our world today. Previous Challenges have focused on topics like antibiotic resistance, community rebuilding following natural disasters, and promoting healthy human-animal interaction. ​ All participants develop skills associated with working in multi-disciplinary teams to develop out-of-the-box, community-engaged approaches to a One Health issue. We encourage participation from students not only in health-related disciplines, but also in many others such as those dealing with technology and software applications, design, public policy, and communications.  It's often when diverse perspectives come together that out-of-the-box solutions can be discovered!

The 2021 Challenge
This year, students were asked to consider the issues of systemic neglect, social isolation, and loneliness among older adults in Canadian society that were highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams were given the task of designing an intervention (an application, program, tool, product, or strategy) that brings together young and older adults in a manner that is mutually beneficial, sustainable, and appropriate under the restrictions that exist to minimize the spread of viruses such as COVID. 
The 2021 Challenge was held virtually to comply with COVID-19 restrictions and ran for six weeks, beginning with an online training workshop on January 28th and ending on March 18th, 2021. At the conclusion of the Challenge, each team presented their intervention via a 2-3 minute video pitch and answered questions from an expert panel of judges with expertise in fields such as healthcare, retirement living, and the technology sector.

Congratulations to Together One Forever and BioDem, our first- and second-place winners! Members of the winning teams receive a $100 cash prize and have their solutions featured and promoted through the CHAIM Centre’s networks. This year's winners were also invited to present at Carleton's Life Sciences Day 4.1.