Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CHESS (Connected Health Early Stage Researcher Support System)
Período documentado: 2017-09-01 hasta 2019-08-31
Connected Health poses an enormous potential for the health and social care system. It promises a more efficient model of proactive and engaged care against a backdrop of economic efficiency. However, delivering a Connected Health future is far more difficult a process. It is an emerging market and science. It requires “t-shaped” individuals with deep disciplinary expertise allied to a broad understanding of a variety of domains including business, economics, life science, health science, computer science, social science, and engineering. Current research/training programmes in Europe do not address this need and adoption of Connected Health solutions, and consequently, practices are limited. The overarching aim of CHESS was to address this by means of training a leading edge cohort of Connected Health scientists and champions who have a broad understanding of multiple domains, who can communicate in an interdisciplinary world, and who can operate across the education, industry, and health and policy sectors. It is only through development of the next generation of leaders in the field, leaders who have a keen interdisciplinary understanding and collaborative outlook, that we can make true advances in the adoption of connected healthcare models, and deliver the real benefits that Connected Health promises for society.
CHESS is Europe’s first networked Connected Health PhD training programme. CHESS recruited and trained 15 PhD students across Ireland, UK, Spain, Finland, France, and Greece. The 15 PhD students carried out research projects that were spread across 4 thematic fields in Connected Health:
1. CARE
The objective of this thematic area was to investigate how technology enabled models could be designed in close consultation with the patients themselves, and to provide evidence for the effectiveness of Connected Health models
2. CHANGE
The objective of CHESS research in this area is to identify barriers to change and address accommodations that can facilitate the process amongst the different stakeholders involved in the production of health.
3. DATA
The objective of CHESS research in this area was to investigate, develop, and evaluate new algorithms and models to support the acquisition to exploitation lifecycle for “data” in Connected Health applications.
4. SUSTAINABILITY
The objective of CHESS research in this area was to investigate existing business models in healthcare and develop sustainable business and revenue models for vendors and purchasers wishing to engage in the Connected Health market.
The socioeconomic impact of CHESS in the short term is difficult to assess. Some of the ESRs have already gone on to secure additional funding and are engaging in the commercial world with a view to launching spin out companies. Others have seen real change in clinical care as a direct result of their research projects and technologies that were evaluated within the research programme. Other ESRs are still working on the final stages of their PhD submission. The collective impact of CHESS is difficult to evaluate. However, through the innovative and leadership capability of CHESS graduates, the real possibility of delivering truly significant impacts at a societal and economic level in the future exists. At the social level, CHESS will deliver real change in how health is managed throughout the lifespan. CHESS graduates will lead the movement towards a now proactive model of health management that is part of the Connected Health vision. At the economic level, CHESS graduates will play an important role of the services that will underpin this new model of care.