The social network hosts
online communities within a dedicated health
web platform. There are currently over 700 different health communities on the HealthUnlocked website, for a wide range of health and wellbeing conditions. After registering to use the site, users can create a user profile and join one or more of these online communities. Many of the online communities are run in partnership with health organizations,
non-profit organization's (NPO) and
charities worldwide, including
Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA),
British Liver Trust, Endometriosis UK and The Multiple Sclerosis Association Of America. Each month over 4M people from across the world come to the platform, the majority of which are from the UK and US. HealthUnlocked is in the top 20 private health websites globally according to
Alexa Internet. HealthUnlocked is also available through an app for
iPhone A study (2017) by
University of Manchester concluded that use of the HealthUnlocked platform positively affects a person's
Patient Activation Measure and research (
University of Warwick, 2016) found use of platforms such as HealthUnlocked helps people to come together and cope with illnesses and diseases such as diabetes, cancer and mental health problems. The network was identified as a technology that will change health and care by the
Kings Fund, a tech startup that is on track to become one of Britain's next billion dollar companies, and won an award in the
Axa PPP Health Tech & You Awards (2017) while being named as a truly standout, disruptive innovation. HealthUnlocked was one of the first companies selected to join
NHS England's, NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) programme, which aims to have proven innovations adopted faster and more systematically through the NHS, delivering on the commitment detailed within the
Five Year Forward View. HealthUnlocked works with organisations including
think tanks and the
pharmaceutical industry to better understand long-term health conditions and to recruit people from its online health communities to surveys, advisory boards and panels, as well as
clinical trials. An academic review into patient involvement in drug development found that social media and peer networks are evolving to play a much deeper role in innovation and clinical research in industry and changing opportunities for patients to participate in research and development of new therapies. A study into patients experiences on steroids taken from data on the health platform found that the timing of
glucocorticoid administration varies significantly in
patients, potentially influencing effectiveness and
side effects. The company has also worked with the
Institute for Public Policy Research, surveying its users to better understand the attitudes and activities of people with long-term conditions. ==Reception==