PhD students from Coventry University are developing digital solutions aiming to help improve healthcare access in low to middle income countries, supported by researchers from the university’s Centre for Intelligent Healthcare and its digital health social enterprise spinout Hope 4 The Community CIC (H4C).
Using a combination of data and software solutions, students have been developing self-management programmes delivered digitally and designed to support patient empowerment and enhance quality of life. One project looks to help women with breast cancer through a programme which incorporates religious and spiritual activities into self-management, whilst another project aims to support schizophrenia recovery by encouraging people with the condition to “take an active role in their recovery by building social support and managing their symptoms”.
The interventions have been designed to support patients in Indonesia, with the university noting that they can also be applied elsewhere.
Gabriela Matouskova, CEO of H4C, comments that the students’ work has “allowed us to deliver impactful digital health solutions in developing countries”. She added that they can create “real positive change for people in Indonesia” and exemplify how “combining research and technology can drive societal impact”.
Advancing healthcare through research
In other news around health research, in July Innovate UK announced that it had awarded funding for a project aiming to research how post-market intelligence can be better captured and utilised to safely accelerate medical device innovation and adoption, run by partners including Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College London, and the Global Medical Device Nomenclature Agency.
NHS England and Prostate Cancer Research also launched a collaborative research initiative called Prostate Progress, which will see the NHS Research Secure Data Environment linking pseudonymised clinical data with patient-reported outcomes, enabling researchers to access “rich, integrated datasets” about prostate cancer care and experiences.
Elsewhere, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust published its research strategy for 2024 – 2029, highlighting how “the digital explosion in healthcare provides us with much data” and outlining the use of this data to support the trust’s key strategic priorities as “core business”.
At the end of July, five new quantum research hubs to be launched in the UK were announced, with an investment of £100 million from the UK government, tasked with developing quantum technology for industries including healthcare, to develop a “more efficient” and “fit for the future” NHS.
Digital access
In May Cheshire and Merseyside ICB’s Access Improvement Plan highlighted the role of digital and technology in improving access to healthcare, noting “less hurdles” and “clear information” for patients when accessing services along with improvements around set times for online consultations, a choice of appointment methods, and a better understanding of the apps and technologies in place for those choosing to use it.
Yesterday we explored an update from NHS Greater Manchester Board on its primary care blueprint, in which the ICB explores progress around work to improve patient online journeys, care navigation and website accessibility.
