HERON: Health Technology for Chronic Respiratory Disease - Exploring and Mapping Unmet Needs (ID 661)
Nuffield Dept of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
Abstract
Background: Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are incurable but prevalent conditions that account for 8% of all hospital admissions and 20% of deaths in the UK, costing the NHS £11 billion annually. Therefore, CRDs are a key area of interest to deliver government priorities and for the health technology industry to support timely diagnosis and effective management to improve patient outcomes. Resources need to be directed towards accelerating technologies with greatest potential impact. These technologies have to be meeting the needs of those living with or caring for those with CRDs. This project aims to identify key unmet needs in CRDs and explore how new or improved technology can help.
Methods: Our methods are inspired by the James Lind Alliance approach to priority setting partnerships (Figure 1), guided by steering committees of clinician advisers and patient/public representatives with lived experience of CRDs. Digital surveys for those living with, at-risk of, or caring for someone with a CRD and professionals (working across all care settings and disciplines) were designed to collate ideas on unmet needs and areas where technology could help. We will engage directly with participants and community connectors in under-served communities who may not be able to complete the survey online. Surveys will be analysed iteratively alongside deeper exploration of emerging themes in focus groups and interviews with stakeholders. Thematic analysis will be used to analyse qualitative data to create a longlist of unmet needs. Targeted evidence search of existing technologies will be conducted to establish whether these solutions can address the unmet needs identified, including appraisal of technology ‘readiness level’. A priority setting workshop with patients and clinicians will be conducted to agree on a priority list of top unmet needs. The surveys are currently live, and we will present preliminary results at the conference.
Conclusion: CRDs are a major public health concern requiring urgent and coordinated addressal. Through diverse stakeholder engagement to prioritise unmet needs, HERON will produce an inclusive, evidence-based priority list to help researchers, funders, and industry align innovation with the needs of patients and the health system, supporting more effective and equitable care.
Funding: This project is funded by LifeArc, a not-for-profit medical research charity, as a partnership/initiative within their translational challenge themes in chronic respiratory disease and diagnostics development.
Conflicts of interest: ZO, SP, PT, STC, GH, and HA work within, and receive funding from, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre for Community Healthcare at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. In this role they conduct studies and evaluations involving respiratory technologies, where these have been provided at reduced price or free-of-charge by the companies, but they have no financial interest in these companies, or direct payments from them.
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