A new occupational therapy (OT) pilot is helping children experiencing difficulties with school-related skills and daily activities and helps tackle occupational therapy waiting lists in Cork.
The founders of MyOT&Me saw a need for an online paediatric OT resource for children who may have developmental delays as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Read all about MyOT&Me and their Octobox pilot here:
https://www.echolive.ie/corklives/arid-40740219.html
This month we are showcasing the Think Bisolution case study in our HIHI spotlight on the Innovator series. HIHI facilitated a feasibility study and ran a focus group comprising of twenty healthcare professionals to inform product development.
Read more on this case study on our case studies page: https://hih.ie/downloads/case-studies/HIHI-case-study_Think_Biosolution.pdf
“Health Innovation Hub Ireland provided critical support in the early days of Think Biosolution. The ability to do clinical validation of our platform and device enabled us to accelerate our development process. Working with Health Innovation Hub Ireland not only helped us understand the challenges of deploying our solution in Europe, but helps us understand the key steps and timeline towards performing feasibility studies elsewhere in Europe and the USA. Health Innovation Hub Ireland has an international team of experts who are super hands-on in helping digital companies in every step of the process. It is a great opportunity for any innovative healthcare company in Ireland to validate their technology early on with real world clinical experts.” Shourjya Sanyal, CEO, Think Biosolution
When: Wednesday 27th October
Time: 13:00 – 14:00
Speakers:
Dr Samson Fung, Fung Consulting Healthcare and Lifesciences
Joanne Thiele , Health Beacon
Dr Henrik, Matthies, HIHI Berlin
Registration: https://nuigalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_q5Pv7XDtSWmpSGcmOHPrYw
Cork children experiencing difficulties with school related skills and daily activities are benefitting from a new Occupational Therapy pilot My OT & Me
Founder Innovators Jess Kennedy and Sean O’Tuama saw a clinical need for an on-line Paediatric Occupational Therapy (OT) resource to help children. Working with North Lee Primary Care Occupational Therapy Department, HSE and supported by Health Innovation Hub Ireland, My OT & Me has successfully launched a pilot programme for this valuable resource. The Covid-19 pandemic worldwide has underlined the need for on-line OT resource to help children and parents in their own home. My OT & Me’s innovative platform addresses that need.
Paediatric Occupational Therapy helps children and young people with different needs and abilities to become as independent as possible by developing the skills they need to perform the purposeful activities that make up everyday life. The HSE Primary Care Occupational Therapy Services are experiencing increased numbers of referrals. This can be challenging particularly in times of limited resources, long waiting lists and redeployment of existing staff to COVID-19 testing duties. There is also a significant demand for private paediatric OT services in Ireland amongst parents, caregivers, educators, professionals and students.
My OT & Me’s platform is a unique solution to this clinical need and the team responded by developing a telehealth based product as an online paediatric occupational therapy resource to support children and families who are in need of OT support. It supports and empowers as many families as possible in an innovative, accessible and interactive way. My OT & Me provides information through structured high quality educational videos for parents covering a range of OT topics. Children are provided with My OT & Me’s product, Octobox, which is a telehealth-based solution to support them with skill acquisition in a fun and interactive way.
Health Innovation Hub Ireland is supporting the My OT & Me Innovation Journey and is currently running a pilot with North Lee Primary Care Occupational Therapy Department, HSE with thirty children and their families in Cork City who are awaiting intervention services. The children and their parents or guardians are currently undertaking a dedicated My OT & Me 12 week programme which will conclude in January 2022. They will avail of resources consisting of online educational paediatric OT videos for parents / guardians as well custom designed programmes including Let’s Get Moving Gross motor classes for children. It will provide parents and children with resources to work on specific skills with their child which have been identified and therefore potentially reduce the need for some families to avail of public services.
Jane O’Flynn, Programme Manager, Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) welcomed the pilot, “HIHI is delighted to support My OT & Me in the pilot of this new service for children with North Lee Primary Care Occupational Therapy Department. We believe that My OT & Me’s telehealth platform can provide much needed support for children and their families not only in North Cork but throughout the country and internationally.”
Jess Kennedy, co-founder My OT & Me said “providing families with access to support as early as possible can drastically improve outcomes for children. With the demand for OT increasing, a scalable solution is needed, and the My OT & Me platform can relieve some of the anxiety and stress parents may be feeling by empowering them with practical strategies they can use at home.”
Sarika Kaushik, OT Manager, North Lee, HSE said “we are so delighted to be part of this project. Our aim is to empower families to help their children in achieving their goals. This additional resource is provided to them in a very structured manner to help them feel supported throughout their journey. The OT’s working with these families are positive that at the end of the project, the children and their families will have the knowledge and the skills they require and will therefore result in positive therapeutic outcomes.”
Photo: Jane O’Flynn, HIHI Programme Manager and Conor O’Mullane, Salaso Health Solutions
Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) is pleased to announce that its consortium member Munster Technological University (MTU) has been designated an Age-Friendly University (AFU). The AFU network consists of institutions of higher education around the globe who have endorsed the 10 AFU principles and committed themselves to becoming more age-friendly in their programs and policies. HIHI congratulates its programme manager Jane O’Flynn and the MTU AFU working group on this achievement.
Being age-friendly is now more important than ever as people are living longer. The number of people aged over 65 is ever increasing and it is expected that 1 in 5 people in Ireland will be in this age group by 2036. While increased life expectancy is a great achievement of public health, the challenge remains to ensure those extra years are as healthy and active for as long as possible. Fuelled by these statistics, there has been a surge in the number of companies developing connected and community based solutions to enable positive ageing. HIHI connects companies developing innovative solutions, with clinical teams and end-users to support the development of their products at idea stage, pre-commercial product stage and conducts clinical pilots of market ready solutions for these companies. Jane O’Flynn leads HIHI’s Engaging Positive Ageing projects and has significant expertise in technology, healthcare requirements and end user needs to support these activities
Technological solutions can help people to age at home. HIHI evaluated Isaac Care, a complete independent living solution that empowers older people to live safely and independently at home, while giving those providing care to them the peace of mind that they’re safe and well. HIHI also worked with Independent Living Ireland and older people in the community to co-design a solution to meet their needs. Practical help is also available from the Age Action Care + Repair initiative which does small DIY jobs and the local authority Age Friendly Healthy Homes programme that helps older people to upgrade their homes so that they can stay there longer.
Innovation in health and rehabilitation allows people to be and remain active while living at home. HIHI is working with Salaso Health Solutions to demonstrate the use of a personalised online exercise programme to support patients on waiting lists for consultation with an orthopaedic surgeon. HIHI is supporting a pilot of ARMED, a Sláintecare funded exercise and weight management programme that can be delivered online or in the community and is aimed at people with arthritis to help them stay active and reduce the need for surgery. Recovering at home following a serious health event can be both isolating and challenging. HIHI piloted Enable Us, a novel online support and wellness service that empowers stroke survivors to take control of life after stroke and brings rehab to the home.
Falling can have a major impact on the health of an older person and their ability to stay at home. As is often been said prevention is the better than cure. HIHI evaluated Balance, a free app developed by Kinesis Health Technologies, to allow an older adult to determine if they are at risk of falls and gives advice on how to improve balance. It is important that carers are aware someone might be at risk of falling. HIHI evaluated AutoBedAlert which notifies a carer when somebody leaves a bed or chair and so may be at risk of falling.
Other projects involved the assessment of the ResHub platform that enables families to stay connected to loved ones in residential care homes, Dental Tech has developed specific training and denture management programmes to ensure this aspect of ageing is well managed.
An Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform expert has recognised Health Innovation Hub Ireland as a sectoral innovation hub example of good practice and acknowledged HIHI as: “A hub accelerating healthcare innovation and commercialisation through addressing healthcare challenges.”
Interreg Europe helps regional and local governments across Europe to develop and deliver better policy. They create an environment and opportunities for sharing solutions and policy learning as well as aiming to make sure that government investment, innovation and implementation efforts all lead to integrated and sustainable impact for people and place.
The Policy Learning Platform expert highlighted that: “HIHI is an example of a good practice that supports businesses in the Silver Economy to innovate and develop healthcare solutions for older adults. This good practice has the potential to be replicated across European regions.”
Interreg Europe’s site recognises that HIHI is as an example of cooperation between two governmental departments that bring their most relevant knowledge to have a successful SME innovation facilitation service. The hub also has a strong partnership in terms of clinical and academic centres. It was outlined “that hubs such as this are a great way of facilitating innovation in companies”. It was highlighted that for SMEs, it is imperative to access expert knowledge to validate prototypes and pilot market-ready solutions in real-life situations. “This practice has a high replication value in other regions. It is a holistic cooperation mechanism that can enable innovation and SME growth in health-tech and silver economy services.”
Interreg Europe’s expert further outlines how HIHI is a valuable resource for SME’s as HIHI https://hih.ie/ facilitates pilot market-ready solutions in real-world healthcare settings, validates prototypes with healthcare experts and verify ideas that meet healthcare and market needs. They also recognised that HIHI provides guidance and advice on health priority needs, product development, regulatory requirements and procurement as well as promoting cultural change in the healthcare system to support and drive innovation from within.
Interreg Europe’s site points to the fact that the Irish government recognises the need for an integrated healthcare system to enable older people to remain at home for longer and recognised HIHI’s role. “HIHI in Cork supported the enterprise ‘CareFolk’, who developed an integrated care platform (web & mobile) for clinicians, health professionals and community services for the assessment, management, co-ordination and review of patients. One clinician reported Carefolk ‘reduced my admin time by up to 50%’. This pilot allowed sharing of patient information between care team members. Following completion, this has been recommended with the addition of extra features to the national health service”.
For more information: https://www.interregeurope.eu/good-practices/health-innovation-hub-ireland/
We are delighted to announce our next webinar in our series of Health Innovation Hub Ireland Webinars entitled “Health Innovation Ecosystem in Ireland“.
We are changing the format a little this time with a panel discussion, this will allow you to ask questions and engage.
The panel will be moderated by HIHI Interim Director Dr Tanya Mulcahy with an excellent line-up of panelists from across the health innovation sector including:
Dr Tanya Mulcahy, HIHI
Dr Sinead Keogh, Ibec
Professor Martin Curley, HSE Digital Transformation
Clare Harney, HealthTech Ireland
Join us for this panel discussion to learn more about Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI), Ibec, Digital Transformation (HSE) and HealthTech Ireland and how Irish companies can engage with each.
Please submit your questions in advance to eimer.oconnell@nuigalway.ie
When: 13:00pm Wednesday 29th September 2021
Register HERE
HIHI will chair the ‘Commercialising Healthcare Innovation’ panel discussion at the upcoming Smart Health Summit, which will take place virtually on Tuesday, 14th September.
The event will be broadcast live from the Smart Health Summit dedicated studio in Dublin.
Virtual care and telemedicine, implementing a vital digital infrastructure and building a cyber resilient culture will be among the topics discussed at the event.
To find out more on the topics, the speakers and how to book tickets, click on link below…
https://smarthealthsummit.ie
Webinar Registration
Topic
Healthcare Innovation Course: Q&A Open Evening
Description:
Developed by Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin’s School of Medicine and Health Innovation Hub Ireland, this Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Innovation combines the academic expertise of Ireland’s oldest university with the entrepreneurial capacity of a world-class innovation hub to deliver something truly unique.
It offers a unique opportunity for individuals to build an entrepreneurial mindset to innovation within a healthcare context. On completion of this short course which takes place over 9 weekends, individuals will have developed the critical thinking skills required to creatively solve problems, confidently present their ideas for approval, and become ambassadors for change – empowered to drive a culture of innovation within their healthcare organisation.
Join us at 6pm on Wednesday 11th August for a 45 minute Q&A session on the course, hosted by Tangent’s Head of Education Dr. Daniel Rogers, and Student Recruitment Officer Jane Flanagan.
The course is generously funded under the Springboard+ initiative and is free to eligible candidates. The course is open to anyone interested in developing ideas for improved healthcare delivery – including patients, healthcare workers and those outside of direct healthcare provision such as life scientists, technologists, and supply chain professionals.
We hope you can join us!
Time
Aug 11, 2021 06:00 PM in Dublin
To register click on below link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_P617818BQzyZsH8XaD8sEQ
