Abstract

Background: Chronic respiratory disease (CRD) carries high symptom burden and frequent emergency admission, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged populations. Advances in health technology (HealthTech) offer new opportunities to improve early detection, diagnosis, monitoring, and management of CRD and are increasingly prioritised within NHS and UK Government strategy. However, innovation is often developed without sufficient alignment to the priorities of patients, carers, and healthcare professionals, limiting its potential benefit. ‘Health Technology for Chronic Respiratory Disease: Exploring and Mapping Unmet Needs’ (HERON) aimed to identify and prioritise unmet needs in CRD and assess the extent to which existing and emerging technologies address these priorities.
Methods: HERON is a Priority Setting Partnership guided by the James Lind Alliance methodology. UK-wide digital surveys were completed by patients, carers, people at risk of CRD (n=136), and healthcare professionals (n=103). Nine in-person engagement group discussions (n=75) were conducted to minimise digital exclusion. Responses were thematically analysed to generate a longlist of unmet needs. A multi-stakeholder prioritisation workshop involving patients, carers, and healthcare professionals finalised a Top 20 list of potential HealthTech solutions to address unmet needs.
Results: Seventy-three unmet needs were identified across the chronic respiratory disease care pathway. The final Top 20 HealthTech priorities focus on earlier identification and diagnosis, self-management and symptom control, digitally enabled rehabilitation, psychological and community support, remote monitoring and virtual care, and optimisation of inhaler use, medication adherence, and oxygen therapy. The technology scoping review identified areas of active innovation but also important gaps, particularly in integrated care pathways, continuity of support, and technologies addressing the broader physical, psychological, and social impacts of chronic respiratory disease.
Conclusions: HERON provides an evidence-informed, stakeholder-prioritised assessment of unmet needs across the chronic respiratory disease care pathway and the extent to which they are addressed by current HealthTech innovation. These findings can help ensure that future respiratory technologies are aligned with real-world clinical and lived-experience priorities, supporting more targeted research, innovation, funding, and implementation activity.