Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Research

The appointment of two professors in the past two years has allowed the rapid expansion of this research group, which currently has twenty research staff, four support staff, three visiting professors and three visiting fellows. The research area requires a multi-disciplinary approach and the group consists of health services researchers, engineers, computer scientists, psychologists, therapists and physicists. The sources of research funding accessed by the group reflect its multi-disciplinary nature, with funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Technology Strategy Board, the EU and charities.

The group has strong links into health and social care services, particularly with Barnsley Hospital, PCT and Council, and increasingly with hospitals, PCTs and councils throughout the region and country-wide, as well as with the Department of Health. The introduction of telehealth and telecare services is high on the agenda nationally, with the advent of the Whole Systems Demonstrators, as well as regionally, through plans for the Regional Innovation Funds, and locally, with telehealth implementation in several local communities. Our staff are involved in advising policy makers and practitioners at all of these levels.

Participation in the South Yorkshire Collaborative for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC – SY) exemplifies our commitment to our work having impact in society. The South Yorkshire CLAHRC´s aim is to improve service provision to people with long-term conditions, with a particular emphasis on promoting self-care, through carrying out and putting into practice excellent research. Within the CLAHRC we carry out a large programme of research in Telehealth and Care Technologies (TaCT). As part of this, we are working with Barnsley PCT to evaluate (using a randomized controlled trial methodology) the effect of a new telehealth service on quality of life and service utilisation. A positive evaluation is expected to lead to greater use of telehealth in South Yorkshire. In addition, TaCT is working with local health providers, service users and industry to identify health and social care needs for which technology could provide a solution. We will then work with industry to identify ways to meet these needs.

Photograph: copyright Cathy Soreny