Coventry University expert leading effort to stop health technology being underused or abandoned
Coventry University researcher Louise Moody
Wednesday 13 December 2023
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Technology designed to help people with long-term health conditions often goes to waste or is underused as it is not designed to suitably fit in with people’s lifestyles or homes.
Patients with conditions such as diabetes, neurological conditions and chronic kidney disease – or those needing rehabilitation - then miss out on much-needed support or treatment, according to Coventry University’s Professor Louise Moody.
The director of the university’s Research Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities hopes to be part of the solution to the problem in her role within a new £3million national research centre. The Devices for Dignity HealthTech Research Centre, hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, is being funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and will focus on developing new medical devices and healthcare technologies to support patients with long-term conditions.
The funding will support the development of technologies and bring a focus to developing technologies to improve women’s health and address the mental health aspects which may accompany long-term health conditions.
Professor Moody has been part of Devices for Dignity since 2008 and together their work has included developing technology that supports therapy after a stroke to help arm stiffness and a Coventry University PhD researcher’s work creating a ‘toolkit’ that can be used to help design clothing ranges for young women with Type 1 diabetes.
She will be the theme co-lead for Methodological Innovation at the new centre and will be bringing people together to enhance the future of HealthTech through research and development.
Too often HealthTech remains underused or abandoned leading to poor management of health, wasted equipment and increased treatment costs. This can be addressed through improved development, evaluation and implementation to ensure HealthTech better meets the needs of users, healthcare and industry.
We seek to inform new approaches that reflect ‘what matters most’ to the end-users of HealthTech by providing a more in-depth understanding of the lived experience and priorities of those living with long-term conditions.
We anticipate significant opportunities to collaborate and contribute expertise from across the Coventry University Group as we advance our own commitment to improving the health and well-being of communities locally, nationally and internationally through research and innovation.
Professor Louise Moody from the Research Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities
The HealthTech centre forms part of a wider Government investment which will see the establishment of 14 HealthTech Research Centres across England from April 2024.
During the past 15 years, Devices for Dignity has delivered significant healthcare innovations which have been recognised for their global impact.
We look forward to building on this success and expanding our capacity and expertise to include mental health alongside physical health in the drive of the development of innovations that will be at the forefront of helping people live a longer and better quality of life.
Professor Wendy Tindale OBE, Scientific and Innovation Director at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Clinical Director of Devices for Dignity
Find out more about the Research Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities.
