Sue Scotland believes the third sector can help create some of the digital technology that will transform health care
Scotland is facing a major crisis due to the pressures of an aging population. Current models of health and care cannot scale to meet the challenge of demographic shift despite technological advances.
The current model for health and social care is unstainable – we cannot keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect better and better results. We need to significantly redesign our offering, building capabilities and capacities across all sectors, including recognising the phenomenal wealth of expertise that rests in the third sector.
The digital revolution, which has already transformed almost every other industry, needs to be fully embraced in health and social care. Not only is it an important enabler for change, it can help drive a reduction in inequalities across Scotland. Digital technology can facilitate interaction between citizens and healthcare providers and has the power to transform the entire way in which health and social care operates.
The DHI believes that some of the digital health solutions of the future will be conceived in the third sector
Sue Scotland
As mobile apps and devices which monitor your health and wellbeing becoming ever more accessible, the ability for patients to self-manage their conditions is getting easier. The Digital Health Institute (DHI) is at the forefront of this transformation. It was set up by a grant from the Scottish Funding Council, in partnership with NHS 24, the University of Edinburghand Glasgow School of Art. The DHI’s focus is to support the creation of digital products and services that address issues in the health and social care sectors through academic-business-civic partnerships.
One example of its work to date is MyLittleOne, a technological development designed to alleviate stress when a newborn baby has to be separated from its family. Using tablets connected via WiFi to a camera in the neonatal cot, this innovation allows parents to view their baby live when they cannot be together. This helps reduce stress for the parents and facilitates bonding. This simple solution has the potential to make a huge difference to the parents of the 10-12% of babies who are admitted to a special care baby unit in Scotland, a clear example of how effective technology can be in improving the experience of people in a healthcare setting.
In order to deal with the impending health and social care crisis there is an urgent need to provide health and care issues with exceptional, innovative solutions such as MyLittleOne. The DHI and its partners believe the potential market opportunity in Scotland could result in a spectrum of benefits from improved cost effectiveness to better health and quality of life for patients, in addition to the economic benefits of leading this agenda. Indeed the global digital health market is estimated to grow to between $40 and $70bn by 2018 with a compound annual growth rate of over 22%.
The third sector is at the forefront of health and social care in our society, and the DHI believes that some of the digital health solutions of the future will be conceived in the third sector. To this end the DHI is committed to helping third sector health organisations with digital technology ideas to develop projects. Further information can be found at the DHI website.
DHI is joining forces with SCVO for a social care curry evening on Thursday 27 November in Edinburgh. The event is free and ideas for projects will be presented in the form of three-minute pitches, accompanied by a poster or graphic.
Sue Scotland is the industry, health & care engagement manager at the Digital Health Institute.
