SERVICE

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of resilient healthcare systems capable of preparing for, reacting to, and adapting to medical emergencies. Patient logging and tracking technology is emerging to support healthcare professionals, collecting data that is more temporally accurate. This data is only useful if it is usable by healthcare professionals. More effective decision support tools for healthcare professionals could help provide better patient care and reduce costs across several disciplines. 
The SERVICE project was initially funded by an EPSRC Covid-19 grant to research the experiences of older adults during the pandemic and to develop a digital platform to improve their wellbeing. The digital platform was trialled for efficacy with the Trent Aging Panel. This app created a dataset of wellness measures, social support structures, and activities. Continuing efforts were to further explore how such user collected lifestyle and emotional data could help to improve professional services. We have conducted five preliminary interviews with NHS and 3rd sector professionals within England and have been granted research approval with NHS Wales to extend our research there. This additional funding would enable us to determine specific requirements for professional services supporting Covid care within Wales and prepare for a major grant application focused on synthesising and integrating patient generated data into professional workflows.   

Lived experience research
Interviews and focus groups on older adult’s coping strategies, social identity changes over time, and how they used digital technology while social distancing
Co-design and usability trials
Iteratively built a smartphone app from the qualitative research and previous technology trials
Randomized control trial (N=102)
4 weeks use compared to waiting list, found effect of reduction of depression and loneliness.
Impact creation
Publicly available datasets and software, policy briefings, presentations to international audiences, and ongoing partnership engagement