CAG Digital Phenotyping for Home-based Treatment and Care (DIGITAL)

Healthcare is shifting towards more home-based treatment and care. This project aims to facilitate this shift by creating a space for designing, testing, and implementing new digital health tools.

Why is this important?

Home-based care is increasingly important due to rising healthcare costs, workforce shortages, and the growing number of people with chronic diseases. Digital tools, like remote monitoring and health apps, can improve care delivery at home, as shown in pilot projects for conditions like diabetes, heart problems, lung diseases, and mental health.

However, there are challenges to overcome. We need to determine the best ways to use home-based treatment, effectively use patient data, and integrate it into current healthcare systems. Technology must be user-friendly, data analysis needs improvement, and AI systems must be transparent and fair. It’s also crucial to consider the patient’s experience and avoid increasing their burden.

To tackle these challenges, we’re building a unique research environment where experts can work together to design, develop, and validate technologies that make home-based treatment efficient, safe, and user-friendly.

The project will focus on understanding the experiences of home-based treatment for both patients and clinicians, designing better and easier-to-use sensor technology, ensuring the reliability and quality of home-based sensors, developing AI tools to analyze patient data and predict health outcomes, and building the necessary technological infrastructure.

The testbed will provide a space to evaluate new devices, apps, and systems in realistic settings. The project will also emphasize training healthcare professionals and integrating these technologies into clinical practice. Ultimately, this project aims to foster the development of effective home-based treatment solutions, improving patient care and healthcare efficiency.