Health By Tech

Health interventions can only be effective when they are used. However, it is still unclear in what way interventions need to be used for participants to get the most out of them. In this workshop, you will learn more about two important and related (but not interchangeable) concepts in this context: adherence and engagement. We will cover the background of these concepts, the importance, issues and ways of measuring, in an interactive format. Moreover, we will introduce log data as a way to gain more detailed insights on both adherence and engagement and help you apply these insights to your own field of interest.

We all have a shared goal: improving healthcare. There are multiple ways to increase the chances of success of these (digital) health innovations. During this 2-hour workshop we will focus on the critical first steps of the innovation process. From a (complex) challenge we’ll work towards a prototype that fits into the daily lives of end users and that solves a problem or addresses a need. During the workshop you’ll work in pairs. This workshop covers 1) empathising with the end-user by asking open ended questions; 2) defining a problem (derived from the challenge) that is both impactful and achievable; 3) postponing thinking about the solution for as long as possible; 3) deepening your understanding of the needs of an end user by drawing solutions and receiving feedback; 4) Making a simple paper or clay prototype; 5) and receiving feedback on the prototype and improving your prototype based on this feedback. You don’t have to prepare for this workshop. We’re looking forward to seeing you there

Background. ENTWINE is a 4-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovation Training Network (ITN), funded by the European Union, that started in September 2018. The Network will train 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in 5 countries (See https://entwine-itn.eu) to help dealing with the challenges in informal care. Mostly due to increased longevity and medical advances, the needs of older/ill individuals for long-term care rise rapidly, while the availability of informal caregivers decreases. This “Care Gap” will create huge problems for the sustainability of European health care systems that rely heavily on the provision of informal care.

The aim of ENTWINE’s team is to investigate a broad spectrum of challenges in informal caregiving and issues concerning the development and use of innovative psychology-based and technology-based interventions that support willingness and opportunity to provide informal care. The focus is on overcoming barriers following a user-centered, stakeholder-driven implementation and agile science approach to promote the adoption and implementation of innovative solutions to support informal caregivers. ENTWINE represents a stepping stone towards sustainable informal care throughout Europe.

Content workshop. During the workshop researchers of the ENTWINE consortium, both PhD students and the Principal Investigators (See https://entwine-itn.eu/consortium/beneficiaries/) and some of the Partner organizations (See https://entwine-itn.eu/consortium/partners/), will interactively work in subgroups on strategies how to share the knowledge of the consortium with a wider audience. We would welcome other potential stakeholders (like organizations who are involved in informal care or Tech companies in the area), but also others who are either interested in the content or in communication of science, to get involved in this workshop in order to share knowledge and opinions. In addition, we can hopefully connect with you in order to work together in future years.

Despite international guidelines on chronic pain prescribing education and pain management techniques as primary interventions in chronic pain care, reality is that less then 10 percent of European patients receives this form of evidence based treatment. In comparison, an average of 70 percent receives medication for chronic pain. A huge lack in knowledge, capacity, scalability of interventions and access to proper pain training creates this big gap.

This is why we’ve developed RelieVR. A virtual reality serious game, that gives patients an interactive journey through the nervous system. During this journey, they learn about their own pain and actively learn strategies to cope with their pain better. This way, they’re teaching their brains to perceive the pain differently – so the effects carry on even after they stop playing.