The My Health Story team is thrilled to announce its selection as a Melbourne Design Week finalist and is very excited about the opportunity to present at the national level.

Melbourne Design Week (MDW) is an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and has grown since 2017 to become Australia’s premier design event, supported by the National Gallery of Victoria and the design community, which deliver events as part of the festival.

MDW draws upon ‘Design the world you want’ to address the ever-changing opportunities and challenges that designers face. My Health Story qualified for the event as a tech-support idea that fits the theme and also explores a new wave of technologies created to extend care, broaden access, and promote fairness.

The Event

My Health Story: Healthtech Powered by Lived Experience

My Health Story (MHS) is a digital platform that empowers people to organise, reflect on, and communicate their health information across their care journey. Founded by artist and chronic pain advocate Soula Mantalvanos and co-directed with her husband and carer, Theo Mantalvanos, MHS was born from lived experience: years of misdiagnosis, chronic pain, and navigating fragmented healthcare systems revealed design failures that inspired a patient-centred solution.

Questions about the level of care during the 4.5 years of misdiagnosis were endless and continue to this day.

Presented as part of Melbourne Design Week’s Tech-support stream, this professionally facilitated Q&A places lived experience at the centre of digital design. Soula and Theo will share the origin story, the role of caregiving, and how their experiences shaped a platform that improves communication, reduces administrative burden, and gives individuals more control over their care.

The audience is invited to the conversation – please prepare your questions.

The Q&A session aims to explore healthcare as a design problem, demonstrating how putting individuals at the centre of their care improves access to information, enhances coordination, and drives better outcomes.

Key themes include;

  • behaviour change — at the individual, provider, and system level
  • the potential to transform a fragmented system into one that works for people
  • real-world benefits for practitioners, through clearer patient histories, reduced duplication, and more efficient consultations.

Facilitator Gabriel Edwards will invite audience participation and offer insights for designers, healthcare professionals, and investors interested in lived-experience-led healthtech that delivers measurable impact.

Selected for MDW’s Tech-support stream, Design the world you want demonstrates how design thinking, applied to real human experience, can create a healthier, more connected healthcare system — and a compelling opportunity for innovation, partnership and investment.

Ticket-holders are encouraged to email questions ahead of the Q&A session to hello@myhealthstory.com.au

Subscribe to My Health Story on iOS / PlayStore or online.

The Booking Details

MDW My Health Story Healthtech, powered by lived experience Q&A
Date and time: May 19, 5:30 pm for a 6 pm start – 7:30 pm.
Location: MelbourneConnect, The Studio (700 Swanston St, Carlton VIC 3053)

Tickets:

Our Partners

The Flyer Info