Going round in circles?

Another good introduction to the work that the RAT research group do, and to the principles of user-centred design that we subscribe to, is the podcast of Professor Mark Hawley's inaugural lecture.

Mark gave this lecture in November 2011,  entitled Creating Assistive and Healthcare Technologies through research into what people want and need: Are we just going round in circles? Over a hundred people came to St George's Church at the University of Sheffield to hear him talk about the importance of user-centred design in the creation of assistive and healthcare technologies.

Professor Mark Hawley, photo copyright Cathy Soreny

Listen to the podcast

Centre for Assistive Technology and Digital Healthcare to be established by University of Sheffield

One of the exciting announcements that we can make in 2012 is that The University of Sheffield is establishing a Centre for Assistive Technology and Digital Healthcare. This will be a focus for research into technology for people with disabilities, older people and people with long-term conditions.

The Centre will bring together and co-ordinate the input of more than 30 research and clinical scientists with a range of expertise in healthcare, engineering, social science and science, and will additionally invest substantially in a dedicated multi-disciplinary research team working within an innovative ‘living lab’ environment. The Centre will work closely with industry, with the NHS, social care organisations and with users.

The Centre will specialise in areas of personalised healthcare and personal independence. The aim being to assist people to live independently at home for longer without need for hospitalisation or care institutionalisation. Areas covered include assisted living, assistive technology, telehealth, telemonitoring, telecare and telerehabilitation. The Centre encompasses expertise and experience to cover activities across the spectrum, including: identifying healthcare and user needs; carrying out research into future technology; user-centred design and development of prototypes; evaluation in ‘living lab’ and patient/user groups; large-scale trials and health economics; supporting and studying implementation in the NHS.

Teaching telehealth

RAT researchers are spreading the word about telehealth throughout the healthcare professions. Tim Ellis (Telehealth Programme Manager) and Cathy Soreny (Research Associate) have led one of the first teaching sessions on telehealth for pre-registration health professionals in the UK. Twenty Post Graduate Diploma nursing students attended the 3 hour workshop as part of their module on managing patients with long-term conditions. The nurses took part in practical exercises with home monitoring equipment, and group discussions of issues around implementation in practice. Several of the student nurses had experienced small-scale telehealth pilots on their community placements; for others it was a completely new experience.

Telehealth uses technology to support patients with long-term conditions in the home environment, and links them remotely to their healthcare team. It combines monitoring of vital signs and patient education, to promote self-care and proactive disease management that helps avoids unnecessary hospital admissions and complications. Telehealth is proving to be an effective way of delivering patient-centred care within the context of the increasing incidence of long-term conditions, the aging population and uncertainties around healthcare funding.

This will be the first of several teaching sessions facilitated by the RAT groups, and is seen as a core element in paving the way for the implementation of telehealth into health systems in our region.

[written by Cathy Soreny. Photograph: copyright Cathy Soreny]

Our mission

Many groups of people, including older and disabled people, and people with long-term conditions, can increasingly be assisted to live independently in their own homes, supported by new developments in technology. Under the broad heading of Assistive Technologies, these include rehabilitation technologies, telecare, telehealth and electronic assistive technology.

With an ageing population, and a rising number of people with long-term conditions, more people will in future require such support to enable them to live with independence and dignity in their own homes and communities. Research and innovation is required to develop new user-friendly technologies and technology-supported services and to build an evidence base for their use. This is the mission of the Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Research Group.

Here's Mark Hawley, the head of the RAT group, explaining a bit more about what we do...