A newly created digital health lab will enable the testing of new projects including those that will benefit the nursing and midwifery professions.
Accelerating the pace of digital innovation will be critical to improving outcomes for ageing Australians, according to Dr Alison Craswell, who will lead the University of the Sunshine Coast’s (UniSC) new Digital Health Productivity Lab.
“Students in nursing and health disciplines could explore how, using cameras and an algorithm, we can detect if someone is at risk of a fall based on their behavioural patterns. Likewise, the camera can notify very quickly if a fall occurs.”
UniSC’s new digital health lab will allow researchers to develop, test and implement a range of digital health innovations using the latest technology, said Dr Craswell who leads the lab as UniSC’s Chair of Digital Health and Ageing.
UniSC will become the first regional university to join the National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN) and a key player in the NIIN Health Alliance. A major focus of the partnership is to tackle staff shortages of up to 400,000 health workers projected by 2050, particularly in regional locations.
Digital technologies will make the aged care system more efficient and responsive and help to deal with critical shortages in the healthcare sector, said Dr Craswell.
“Telehealth is another enormous opportunity. We can already listen to a patient’s chest, heart or bowels via remote connection – but there’s still work to be done on the compatibility of systems and the networking that allows this technology to work seamlessly in practice. “The technology in this lab will be available to staff and research students to be hands on with devices and explore new opportunities,” she said.
A major focus of UniSC is to develop the skilled workforce to deliver care for older adults, but also to develop the technology to make their roles easier and more effective, said UniSC Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Ross Young also appointed to chair the inaugural NIIN Research Program Advisory Committee. “By 2050, one in every five people in Australia will be aged 65 and over, so while many more staff are needed, we also need to look at how they might be best supported digitally, particularly in rural and remote areas,” Professor Young said.
A Professor of Healthy Ageing will lead an interdisciplinary team of researchers in the Healthy Ageing Research Cluster that brings together more than 50 staff in health, science, law, mental health, business and more.
The Sunshine Coast offers the perfect demographic for healthy ageing research, with one of the oldest populations in the country. UniSC researchers will also be able to connect to other existing labs in the National Industry Innovation Network who are developing related technologies.
About the National Industry Innovation Network
The National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN) is a collective of industry partners and universities with an interest in solving critical industry challenges using digital technologies. The NIIN was established in 2020 by Cisco and now includes an array of jointly funded assets with universities across Australia See more here.
