Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) has published a guide for innovators designed to support consideration of how the design, development and implementation of innovations can help in achieving health equity.
The guide builds on Health Innovation KSS’s ‘ten principles of health equity’, which set out considerations to take including use of data to measure and define health gaps and enablement of digital inclusion. For each of the ten principles, the new guide sets out a goal innovators are encouraged to aspire towards, guiding questions to help them reach that goal, and related recommendations for their work.
On data, the goal is for innovators to be able to demonstrate the impact of the solution on health outcomes for each of its different user groups, particularly underserved populations. Guiding questions revolve around identifying the qualitative and quantitive evidence of inequalities in the area of interest and considering provisions for ongoing data collection, reporting and accountability. On recommendations, Health Innovation KSS encourages innovators to “build the ability to disaggregate health outcomes into every evaluation of your innovation”; to build mechanisms to measure social value and impact; and to consider the need to link databases for the assessment of intersectional factors.
For digital, the goal is for staff and users alike to be able to “effectively” use digital innovations regardless of capabilities around digital literacy. The guide asks innovators to take into account adverse impacts or unintended consequences, the way in which vulnerable groups could be negative impacted by technology, and how these impacts could be prevented or minimised. Recommendations revolve around identifying at-risk groups for digital inclusion and supporting tools designed to improve access to health.
The guide is available to view here.
Innovation in the spotlight
In July, HTN reported how Swansea University, with the support of local health boards and Swansea Bay City Deal, has launched The National Network for Innovation In Sport and Health as part of efforts to accelerate the growth of med tech, healthcare innovation and sport tech in the region.
July also saw us cover the annual innovation report for 2023/24 from South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, with highlights including a game designed to help promote physical activity amongst older people along with more innovation champions and staff training around innovation and change.
Additionally, we highlighted competitions from Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare looking for innovations in antimicrobial resistance, women’s health, stroke care and urgent and emergency care.
Tackling inequalities
Earlier this year, we explored the final report from The Department of Health and Social Care on an independent review into equity in medical devices, which made 18 recommendations designed to address “unfair biases” identified through the course of the review.
And we previously interviewed Dr Hatim Abdulhussein, currently CEO for Health Innovation KSS, on how artificial intelligence can be used to improve health equity; click here to read what Hatim had to say.
